Keeping the focus on our people

Scarlett Nolen

Keeping the focus is an important trait to have as a business. However, in a year with unprecedented inflation, unsteady gas prices, the lingering upheaval from COVID-19, the record heat, and especially the war on talent, it can be hard to do so.

So where should companies be focusing? My father, Truly David Nolen, taught “focus on what you can control and forget the rest.” This timeless advice is particularly relevant now more than ever. We are in the people business and we happen to kill bugs. Our people and the wide range of talent they bring to the table is our top focus.

Like all companies, we strive for growth, and the talent we have is key. Indicators point to the employment challenges many companies faced in the past year will diminish marginally, but it still needs to be top of mind for business leaders. Data indicates a whopping 4.3 million people quit their jobs in May. This is double the number compared to a decade ago. Moreover, there are approximately 11.3 million current job openings. Regardless of the cause, it is an employee’s market and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

Where does this leave Truly Nolen? Our three main areas of focus are recruiting, retention and the employee experience. Millennials and Gen Z make up the overwhelming majority of our current workforce. Both generations demand career growth opportunities and robust benefits.

Truly Nolen of America offers career pathing for every partner, from frontline employees to executives. This includes extensive internal trainers, training facilities and a complete online training program. We focus not only on someone’s industry skills with classes like advanced termite control strategies, but also interpersonal development with classes like “Pathway to Leadership” and “Train the Trainer.”

In addition, we consider our benefits to be beyond the typical offering. In honor of our annual wellness month, for example, we put an emphasis on mental health support. In fact, all partners enrolled in our benefits program have access to unlimited sessions for mental health support.

Going forward, we will continue to focus on the employee experience in an evolving world. We believe that companies around the world will need to realize that the employees of today have more options than ever before; therefore, the importance of training and retaining employees has arguably never been more important.