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Across all industries, employers are struggling to find the right talent. The struggle is even more pronounced in industries like pest control and other services, where working from home — at least for field teams — is not a realistic option.
How should companies combat this nationwide economic struggle? While there is no silver bullet to finding talent, Truly Nolen is determined to traverse this challenge like any other obstacle. We have been examining how to be the employer of choice in this incredibly competitive market. As a result, Truly Nolen’s approach is focus on career pathing and challenge our current set of biases to find talent in unlikely places.
THE IMPORTANCE OF A CAREER PATH
Career pathing our partners is critical to training and development. It is not enough to simply show people how to prevent pests. Employers should go beyond initial training and illustrate the career opportunities available in our industry. Going beyond the bugs will not only uplift one’s business, but also elevate an employee’s life. As we all know, our industry is all about the people we serve. There are infinite ways to develop and understand team members a company serves within its organization, as well as its customers’ psyche.
Truly Nolen offers an array of programs that focus on professional as well as personal development. To name a few: Pathway to Leadership class, the Truly Development Program (TDP), the Manager in Training (MIT) program, Train the Trainer class, and Trul-e-learn online training courses are some of the ways Truly Nolen supports our partners in building their career.
In addition, I believe it is a great time to reflect on our own biases of who we are hiring. Just for exercise purposes, imagine a convict. Most will visualize a Caucasian or Black man in an orange jumpsuit. However, did Martha Stewart come to mind? Not likely. Ask someone to list ‘blond celebrities’ and encourage them to use Google as a resource. They might rattle off Britney Spears, Charlize Theron, or maybe even Barbie. However, it is unlikely that even after a long well-thought-out list that Owen Wilson, Chris Hemsworth, or any other male will come up — even after Googling to make the list! These simple exercises expose the gender biases we all share. I challenge pest management professionals to consider what biases that might be holding their business back and limiting their ability to find great talent.
Therefore, as you chart your employment hiring course for the rest of the year and beyond, I hope that by considering things such as career pathing and checking your own biases, you will be able to widen your search of qualified applicants and begin to bring new team members on board. This, in turn, will be good for your overall bottom line.
About the Author
Scarlett Nolen was promoted to president of Truly Nolen of America in March 2019. Nolen has worked for the company since 2012 in multiple roles. Most recently, Nolen was the district manager for the “Growth District,” a district of new service offices throughout Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Prior to joining the company, Nolen graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor’s Degree in Experimental Psychology and Summa Cum Laude from the University of Central Florida with a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy.
Bias has no relevance in hiring pest control employees. Martha Stewart cannot be hired since a felon is not eligible to qualify for a PC license. I am guessing this article is more about CRT than PC professionals.
Your point is well taken regarding felons and licensing, but there’s another point to make that perhaps the average person wouldn’t look at a mild-mannered, older socialite person who looked like Ms. Stewart and automatically assume she did hard time at any point. It’s all about not judging a book by its cover.