The biggest buzz in professional pest control today isn’t about any particular pest. It’s the same buzz echoing across every industry, conference and boardroom: artificial intelligence.
When I visit classrooms at Truly Nolen and open the floor for questions, the topics range from uniforms to our five-year vision. However, no matter how varied the questions are, artificial intelligence is one theme has come up again and again.
Will Truly Nolen use it? How will we use it? And the big one: Will it replace us?
The short answers: 1) Yes, we already do. 2) How we’ll use it is still evolving. 3) It won’t replace you, but it will absolutely change the way we all work.
At Truly Nolen, we’ve always relied on guiding philosophies to empower our teams to make thoughtful, effective decisions. We have philosophies for service, training, marketing, leadership — you name it. Therefore, building a philosophy for artificial intelligence felt like the natural next step.
To shape our company’s artificial intelligence philosophy, I started by looking at what companies around the world were saying. Some businesses embraced aggressive automation with plans to drastically cut staff. Others took a cautious, wait-and-see approach. The example that stood out most was how Walmart doesn’t intend to reduce its workforce, but it also don’t plan to add employees as it expands — choosing instead to let artificial intelligence increase efficiency.
Refine and workshop
Truly Nolen’s director of information technology, George Lawlor, and I pulled together ideas and themes from leaders who resonated with us, refining and workshopping them until they evolved into the following:
Truly Nolen believes that intentional use of AI technology will lead to an environment that fosters growth of our team members while positioning the organization to be able to integrate and align future developments that will drive our company forward while delivering the Yellow Standard [Truly Nolen mark of excellence] to our customer and team members.
AI will strengthen and elevate the Yellow Standard of personalized world-class service. These tools are designed to enhance the experience of every partner, expanding their capabilities while upholding Truly Nolen’s reputation and ensuring the security of the customer data entrusted to us.
Truly Nolen views the latest surge in technology around artificial intelligence as a valued co-pilot for our workforce — one that empowers our teams on their journey, focusing on their goals that best suited for their unique skills. Through thoughtful adoption, AI will help amplify efficiency and creativity at every level of the company.
The speed of development for new uses of this technology is exciting to see. It is our commitment that Truly Nolen will consistently evaluate the concepts and tools as they surface to determine the viability of use in the company. We believe in thoughtful integration — guided by the questions:
Does it make us better?
Does it enhance our strategy?
Does it enhance the experience for our partners and customers?
Today, artificial intelligence is already integrated throughout Truly Nolen — in our Customer Care Center, Operations Analytics, IT Support, IT Security, National Commercial Services, and our Training Department. I am excited to see what heights artificial intelligence will assist us in reaching over the next decade!
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.
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