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ON THE RECORD: Give Your Team the Tools to Win
9 Dec, 2009 By: Frank H. Andorka Jr. PMP Buzz Online eNewsletter |
The economic struggles of the past 18 months have made it difficult to think about investing money in new tools for your team. For many pest management professionals (PMPs), the idea of planning for anything beyond hitting next month’s revenue numbers is as foreign as Atahualpa.
But, I ask you to take a moment to step out of the day-to-day operations of your business and start thinking about 2010. It’s the beginning of a new decade, which means it might be time to open up the checkbook and give your staff the most up-to-date tools they need to succeed.
If you want to succeed as a PMP, it’s not enough to say, “Well, those computers have worked well for the past 15 years — we can probably get at least one more year out of them.” Or “Those trucks are not the most fuel-efficient, but at least we own them now.” In the end, investing in new equipment across the board — after asking your team what they need to succeed — accomplishes two critical goals every business should have for itself.
First, it’s one way to show your team that you value their contributions to the company’s profitability. When you ask them for their input and then act on it, they feel greater ownership in the company and its overarching aims. A workforce that knows the owner values them is more willing to put in the extra effort that’s necessary to succeed.
Second, the economy won’t stay down forever. Eventually (and there are tentative signs it’s happening already), the housing market will return, commercial enterprises will start investing again and people will return to a level of economic comfort that will allow them to purchase your services again if they dropped you during the recession, or start new services if they haven’t.
But the time to upgrade your software, purchase new trucks and upgrade your equipment isn’t after the economic downturn is over. By then, you will have already lost ground to the forward-thinking companies who decided to improve their businesses with an eye toward taking full advantage of the recovery.
Stop what you’re doing and call a staff meeting (keep it brief so the eye-rolling is kept to a minimum). Ask them what you can do for them to help them do their jobs effectively. It will put you in a better position to succeed in 2010.
You can reach Andorka, editorial director of Pest Management Professional, by e-mailing fandorka@questex.com.
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