Focus on Work Flexibility

Work flexibility was critical in the pandemic with many employees dealing with family health issues, lack of childcare and remote schooling.

In the past 18 months, 43 percent of pest control companies allowed employees in at least one job position to work remotely. Most often this was CSRs or customer service representatives (23 percent), followed by other office (18 percent) and management (18 percent) staff. Twenty-seven percent of PMPs said their companies added or improved work flexibility benefits to attract and retain employees.

Offering flexible work hours, schedules and remote work opportunities helped Fox Pest Control attract new talent. “What we’ve stressed with all our new hires is that we aren’t just being accommodating now, due to the pandemic stresses and unknown. Flexibility and work-life balance is at Fox’s core and that’s never going away,” said Romney.

Mike Rottler of Rottler Pest & Lawn Solutions was “very happy with the results” of CSRs working from home. Pre-pandemic, he was considering how to reconfigure office space to make room for more employees; now this isn’t an issue. He anticipates moving to a hybrid workplace where CSRs come into the office one to two days a week.

According to the survey, 42 percent of PMPs do not anticipate working from home to last indefinitely.

Most pest management companies (56 percent) did not allow employees to work from home. This included Rose Pest Solutions, which took precautions to keep everyone working in the office. It was important for everyone “to understand that if we’re asking our sales staff and our service staff to be out on the frontlines that we could be here safely,” said Angela Persinger.