When employees underperform...
What often happens?
In most cases, managers are quick to blame employees when results and productivity fall short.
However, in many cases, we’ve seen that people are like plants – their growth and performance are shaped by their environment, not just their ‘genetics’.
Here are 5 lessons from plant cultivation that can be applied to creating a happy and productive workplace.
1. Find the right strains for your grow environment
Just like cultivators select genetics not only for yield potential, but for how well they fit the room (climate, medium, SOPs, team capability), leaders should hire for both performance potential and fit with the mission/culture of the business.
And a truth from cultivation that translates surprisingly well to teams:
“There are no bad genetics - just mismatched conditions.”
When performance is low, it’s worth asking:
- Do we need to adjust the environment (clarity, tools, feedback, incentives, structure)?
- Or is this simply the wrong fit - and we need different talent for this setup?
Great grows (and great teams) are rarely about one factor – they’re about the right match, then consistent execution.
2. Prioritise environment control for maximum output
In cultivation, top results rarely come from one “magic” input – they come from tight environmental control: the right medium, consistent irrigation, dialled-in light intensity/spectrum, stable temperature and humidity, airflow/VPD, nutrition, and clean SOPs.
Teams work the same way.
High performance is usually the outcome of a well-managed environment: clear goals and priorities, the right tools and processes, healthy communication loops, a culture of ownership and feedback, psychological safety, thoughtful leadership, and real progression paths.
You don’t “motivate” a plant into yielding more - you optimize the conditions so it can.
The same goes when leading people in the workplace: get the environment right, and performance becomes repeatable.
3. Proactive IPM ensures efforts aren't wasted
In cultivation, you can dial in genetics, climate, and feeding – but if you don’t run strong IPM (Integrated Pest Management), pests and pathogens will quietly undo months of work. The best grows don’t just “treat problems”; they prevent them with tight hygiene, monitoring, early intervention, and clear SOPs.
The same goes for teams.
Even with great strategy and talent, performance gets drained by workplace “pests” if they’re not addressed early:
- Toxic behaviours (bullying, credit-stealing, favouritism, gossip)
- Poor boundary-setting and constant urgency
- Misaligned clients that burn out your best people
Great leaders build a people-version of IPM: spot early signs, act fast, protect the culture, and remove what’s contaminating the system, so the team’s effort actually compounds instead of getting wasted.
4. Pruning & support shapes ideal growth
In cultivation, pruning isn’t about “cutting for the sake of it” – it’s about redirecting energy toward the right growth: removing what’s unproductive, improving airflow/light penetration, and shaping the plant for better outcomes.
Leadership works the same way.
People don’t thrive on guesswork – they thrive when leaders guide effort with timely, specific feedback, clear expectations, and regular performance check-ins that keep growth on track.
And just like flowering plants need trellis / netting to hold weight and prevent collapse, scaling teams need support structures: documented SOPs, strong onboarding and training, clear ownership, HR capacity, and the right tools/systems.
Growth is great – but without pruning and adequate support, it rarely stays healthy at scale.
5. Creating synergy through 'companion planting'
In cultivation, “companion planting” works because certain plants support each other’s growth – they balance the environment, reduce stress, and create a healthier ecosystem overall.
Teams are no different.
The right mix of people can create momentum; the wrong mix can cause constant friction. That’s why hiring isn’t just about finding “the best” individuals – it’s about building a complementary system.
Strong leaders actively map the team’s current strengths and gaps (skills, ownership, pace, communication styles), then hire people who fill what’s missing and elevate the whole group – not just the org chart.
In summary..
Just as there are many factors that go into a successful cultivation effort, many factors also go into ensuring a happy and productive workplace.
The right plant in the right environment thrives. So does the right hire in the right company.
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