A PMP’s Guide to Training New Employees

For 16 years, Roscoe Lisenbe, owner of Budget Pest Control, Temple, Texas, has only had to worry about one person in his business: himself. 

Lisenbe has been a one-man show when it comes to service calls and everything related to pest control, which includes being the trainer and the trainee. “Everything I do is hands-on,” he said. “You read the books you get for the test,” but what’s on paper doesn’t always translate to what technicians see in the field, he said.

Lisenbe’s situation proves there is no simple formula on how to train employees — whether it’s one person or 200. 

To help with his business, Lisenbe will have his son come on board in the fall. Lisenbe lets certification classes take the lead for formal training; he takes advantage of various online videos and classroom lectures. But after his son acquires his license and takes the required online training, Lisenbe will provide additional training via ride-alongs and hands-on experience. 

Training new employees in-house has the advantage of incorporating the company’s specialties and values for customer service expectations. Additionally, many PMPs take advantage of training new employees with personalized and creative lesson plans. 

A little bit of everything. Like Lisenbe’s son, a new technician has many ways to learn/retain new information. Quiz employees on the same topics a number of ways: reading materials from your company, reviewing online lessons and sitting in on classroom sessions. Use tests as reinforcement, not for short-term memorization. Bring in guest speakers who specialize in a particular area to give trainers a break from talking and so trainees see a new face. See that e-learning is used when appropriate — if a lesson is better hands-on or in group discussions, recognize this when creating lesson plans. 

Knowledge gap. Effective on-board training can help shorten the learning curve for new technicians, and can lead to more in-depth conversations with customers in the same way longer-term technicians do, said Matt Hagberg, financial and business adviser and Southern California operations manager for EcoShield Pest Control. “It gets them to that point faster and it makes it easier for the entire team because they know the customer is going to be treated right no matter who shows up,” he said. 

Do not overestimate or underestimate new employees’ extent of knowledge. Don’t skip over the basics of a topic if it’s needed. Find a median speed to teach for optimum learning.

Generational learning. Alyson Gilleland, a training manager for Arrow Exterminators, Atlanta, said when training employees, she has found Generation X technicians (those from ages 31 to 51) often prefer traditional ways to learn, such as classroom lectures and opportunities to use their problem-solving skills. They also like to work alone as opposed to in groups, which is what research shows millennials (those from ages 16 to 36) prefer. Younger technicians will expect technology in training sessions as well as group activities. 

Declutter. Because there are so many ways to train technicians, do not overwhelm them with an overabundance of material. Cut out extraneous information. Narrow your lesson plans and use what works for your company and state requirements, if any. Strive to customize. With online training from a company, link it to the hands-on learning so supervisors can expect all new technicians to be on the same level when in the field. 

Get feedback. When customizing your company’s program for new employees, give exit interviews/surveys on how the trainers did and how the materials came across. How much of the material has been used in real on-the-job situations? Was the information clear via PowerPoint used or would have it been better as a worksheet? Would that lesson have been better online or in person? The feedback Kevin McClernon, branch manager for Chem-Wise Ecological Pest Management, Berwyn, Ill., received after training his employees was to pay attention to individual strengths and weaknesses to see what new employees need to personally work and focus on as to not hold up the entire group up.