Pride and professionalism are the driving forces at United Pest Solutions. Annually, the National Pest Management Association hosts an international industry event, Pest World. Like other conferences in other industries, the hype begins to ramp up about 2 months in advance. Emails. Postcards. Magazines. Everything begins to promote the big event. This year is no exception.
Last week the first of many ramp up type of publications crossed my desk highlighting various topics, but two topics struck me: Employee Engagement and In Intro to Millennials In the Workplace. At United Pest Solutions , as a business owner, I grapple with these two topics each day. As the Employee Engagement article points out, engagement is the quest of all industries. How do you attract great people and how do you keep them creative, growing, and contributing once you hire them? In regard to Millennials, how do you attract a generation of young professionals who have grown up in the world of technology? How do you continue to change your services, your approach, your tools in a way that millennials will find challenging and current when so much of our industry culture is perceived as unskilled, unhealthy, and unprofessional? These “millennial” questions circle my mind back to the Employee Engagement question.
These are healthy and vital questions for our industry to be asking. They are essential for any pest control company that wishes to attract and keep solid employees with pride and professionalism.
Recently I discovered the NPMA video series, Pride and Professionalism. In the first video we learn that in 1900 life expectancy in America was 49 years, by 2000 life expectancy had climbed to 77. What made such a difference? Sanitation. Better Pharmaceuticals and Medical, and Pest Control. Pest Control!
Pest Control matters! Can you imagine: restaurants without pest control? Hospitals without pest control? Schools without pest control? How about food storage facilities without pest control? We can’t even imagine what conditions we would face. Yet, our industry and culture continue to undervalue the pest control industry and the importance of sound pest management practices.
At United Pest Solutions , we have found the way to engage employees, the way to challenge technology driven millennials, the best way to serve our community is to consistently change the way we do pest control; to keep evolving, as it were, always learn new techniques, employ the latest technologies, and research the latest information. United, like a select few companies, see and fully embrace a complete Integrated Pest Management strategy. Creative, thinking, investigative, and tenacious employees seek ways to offer the greatest reduction of pests, in a timely and cost effective manners, with the least amount of pesticide. Technology and innovation is at the heart of all we do.
Embracing Integrated Pest Management isn’t for the faint of heart. It means exploring technology, writing reports, communicating with your clients and discovering their thresholds for pests, and treating in a manner that is rarely fast and efficient, but rather thoughtful and engaging. Embracing IPM means investing in training and re-training. But regardless of the costs, we have found that the benefits far outweigh the negatives. If employees are to remain engaged, if we are to attract the cream of the millennial crop, then we, United Pest Solutions, and the industry must provide the professional environment and service worthy of an industry vital to the health and wellbeing of society.