What baseball can teach pest control about building winning teams

I love baseball. There are many things that resonate with me involving our boys of summer.

First, no sport follows statistics the way baseball does. Business key performance indicators (KPIs) are a natural stepping stone from baseball analytics. 

Second, baseball is a grind. They play 162 games in just 187 days. For most pest control companies, we push our team members very hard during that same period of mid-March through mid-November. The mental stress is trumped only by the physical toll our bodies take by the end of our busy season. Pest management professionals (PMPs) understand the daily grind that baseball professionals go through. 

Baseball also shows a team member a clear path up the career ladder. A player gets drafted out of high school or college and goes to rookie ball, then Arizona Fall League, onto Low-A, then High-A, maybe eventually Double-A, then finally Triple-A before the Major League parent team calls up the promising rookie. 

Once they make the majors, they can become a utility player, an everyday player, an all-star and maybe a Hall of Famer. 

Drafting a winning roster

Motivating team members by creating a clear career path for your employees is one of my favorite business topics. In Lawton, Okla., Environmental Pest Control (EPC), owned by Chad Highley, ACE, is looking to take his employees to the next level. Highley has been working diligently on motivating his employees since he bought EPC in July 2019.

Chad Highley

The 50-year-old worked as a medic, handyman, Home Depot floor manager (where he met his wife, Stacy), assisted-living facility manager, deputy sheriff and car salesman before finally landing with Terminix in 2012. 

EPC has been growing steadily under Highley’s leadership. He has raised revenue from $408,000 in 2019 to nearly $1.2 million last year. He is on pace to hit
$1.35 million this year. 

EPC’s growth can be attributed to many things, not the least of which is training. His wife homeschools their three children and also is responsible for implementing the “Tator-to-Tech” (orientation-to-technician) training program she created for EPC. Highley attributes EPC’s growth to answering the phone, doing the right thing, and most importantly, depending on God’s guidance and blessing.

Step up to the plate

Because you can’t have a clear career path at a company if you don’t know how to do your job, Highley makes sure his technicians feel confident. 

To help employees stay motivated, EPC offers several interactive programs. For example, “Feedback Fridays” give employees a chance to voice their ideas or concerns. At the weekly meeting, with an emphasis on “CEG” (community, education and growth), Highley and his team give presentations, play games with employees and do a weekly deep dive into a scheduled topic.

In addition, from Monday through Thursday, Highley puts $5 into a jar for every five-star review. Gold stars are given for the five-star reviews received during the week and stapled to a designated wall in the office. During the Friday meeting, names of everyone who earned a star are put into a random drawing for all the money in the jar.

EPC also hosts an annual winter shoot-out event and a year-end employee appreciation dinner.

Coaching champions

As EPC grows, its leadership will need to show their techs and office staff there is a clear path for advancement. 

“We have great people but I feel like Chad and I struggle with how to motivate,” Stacy told me. Chad echoed her thoughts and explained, “I believe we are good leaders but sometimes, it is hard to instill our passion into others.” 

I provided five action items they currently are implementing:

1. Create a company hierarchy chart. Company owners are at the top, and then below are boxes showing various positions within the company that are filled or
   need to be filled within the next year. This needs to be regularly revisited and tweaked as the company evolves.
2. Institute leadership classes. Most PMPs are learning on the job. I suggested holding an hour-long class each Tuesday morning with a group of employees they want to put on the management track. Leadership resources include the Society of Human Resources Management and the Harvard Business Review.
3. Set goals for employees. I always gave a $1 per hour raise for each additional license or certificate my employees earned. EPC is working on a “badges” program to reward employees who reach a certain level of expertise.
4. Don’t just hand out titles. Don’t hand out titles before they are earned. This lowers the bar and gives undeserving staff members a sense of entitlement. Make employees earn their title and coach them into their new positions.
5. Listen to feedback. This is EPC’s “Feedback Fridays” program mentioned earlier in a nutshell: If your people think they have an opportunity to make a difference within your business, they will take ownership of their department and strive to make your company great.

<p>The post What baseball can teach pest control about building winning teams first appeared on Pest Management Professional.</p>

from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/what-baseball-can-teach-pest-control-about-building-winning-teams/
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