How PMPs can battle the employment crisis

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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.

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from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2021/07/28/how-pmps-can-battle-the-employment-crisis/
Sacramento CA