A major utility vegetation management company has reduced employee turnover by 5% and saved half a million dollars in recruiting and training costs by implementing a mobile-first HR platform for its 7,000-person workforce.
Xylem Kendall, one of the largest providers of utility vegetation management and emergency storm response services in the United States, achieved the savings over one year using UKG Pro software to improve onboarding and training for field-based workers.
“We estimate our savings with UKG to be as much as $500,000 in just one year,” said John Coffren, senior director of HR at Xylem Kendall. “Last year, with our UKG Pro suite, we reduced turnover by 5%, or about 350 people, and determined that each percent reduction in turnover saves us $100,000.”
Mobile access improves retention
The company’s workforce operates primarily in rural field locations across the country, making traditional office-based onboarding and training challenging. The mobile-first platform gives remote workers real-time access to onboarding materials and safety training through their devices.
“Our onboarding program is critical given our rapid growth, which included nearly 1,000 hires at the beginning of 2025,” said Coffren. “We have a team of specialists who talk and text with our remote workforce and provide personal support through the onboarding process. UKG makes it easy for our people to start off on the right foot by embedding videos and providing initial skills training in the software.”
The approach has helped the company compete for talent in a tight labour market.
“Our employees tell us they have never been treated so well at the start of any role, and they feel connected to something special despite being out in the field,” said Coffren. “That’s really helped differentiate us from other companies as we compete for talent.”
Training challenges addressed
Previously, Xylem Kendall deployed dozens of safety instructors across the country for in-person demonstrations, creating inconsistent training experiences and high costs. The digital platform standardizes safety training delivery while allowing new hires to complete requirements on their first day.
“Previously, we had to deploy several dozen safety instructors across the country to conduct live, in-person demonstrations. That led to an inconsistent training experience, and our continued growth and scale has made in-person training prohibitively costly and complicated,” said Coffren.
Research from UKG found that nearly one in four frontline workers identify training and skills development as the most important factors when choosing an employer, while 24% said lack of learning opportunities would be a top reason to quit.
Career development tracking
The platform tracks employee training completion and career progression, allowing workers to demonstrate qualifications for advancement opportunities.
“Our learning program in UKG not only gives our employees training for their current job, but also a clear career path with Xylem Kendall,” said Coffren. “If a new, higher skill position opens up in a particular employee’s territory, he or she can show that they have completed the training for that position, and all they need is for HR to sign off on the certification in order to be qualified for that new job.”
The case study highlights how mobile technology can address workforce challenges in industries with distributed, field-based operations where traditional HR approaches prove costly and inefficient.
