Thinking Outside the Box to Overcome Today’s Labor Shortage

Editors Note: PCT’s recent Business Booster webinar, “Actionable Items to Overcome Today’s Labor Shortage,” sponsored by FieldRoutes, a ServiceTitan company, took place on Feb. 22, 2023 with presentations by Phil Cooper, CEO and certified EOS Implementer at TRNZ4m, and Mark Stewart, strategic account executive at FieldRoutes. Click here to watch the full webinar.

CLEVELAND — In a recent PCT webinar, “Actionable Items to Overcome Today’s Labor Shortage,” Phil Cooper, CEO and certified EOS Implementer at TRNZ4m, discussed how pest control leaders can make the most of their talent acquisition pool while retaining service technicians

According to a recent Readex Research survey conducted for PCT and the National Pest Management Association, 56% of pest management professionals (PMPs) said attracting and hiring employees grew more difficult in the past two years.

How company leaders measure employee happiness and flexibility can be a depiction of finding good quality workers, Cooper said.

“COVID-19 has changed the way the labor force works and how we approach work these days,” he said. “How we do virtual [work], the amount of time we spend with our families, the balance of work versus what we do at home. … It’s all different and it’s never going back, in my opinion.”

Cooper said while it’s the leadership team’s responsibility to find talent, it’s the technician’s supervisor’s job to retain it and instill greatness in their team.

Conducting a “supervisor checkup” is one way to help supervisors view talent differently in the field.

“A fundamental thing that must be present is they got to love their people,” he said. “If they want to love their people, they get jazzed out of making them great and the rest can happen.”

While some people say, “we don’t have people who want to work anymore,” Cooper said he doesn’t believe that to be true.

“The entry of Generation Z, 25 years or younger, coming into the workplace and how they view hours, what they’re coming into the workplace with, all of this is effecting the talent that comes to us,” he said.

EMPLOYEE HAPPINESS LEADS TO REFERRALS

Cooper said each service technician should be referring two candidates a year to their company if they feel valued and appreciated.

“Let’s say we have a 10-person team, and they each give in 2 persons a year. That’s 20 [referrals],” Cooper said. “Metrics are outcomes that we can hold ourselves accountable. It’s so much easier to get people from our people, and the right people.”

Cooper stated some common reasons for lack of referrals:

• Not wanting to recommend someone who doesn’t want to work
• Recommending someone who does not work out will reflect badly on them
• Not knowing a good candidate
• Not knowing anyone who fits company values

As PCOs continue to grapple with the challenge of finding qualified workers, many are offering cash incentives to employees who bring on friends and acquaintances.

Those who responded to a PCT Reader Poll survey said 86% offer a financial incentive to employees who refer qualified candidates to their company, while 14% said they do not offer financial incentives.

Luke Rambo, president of Rambo Total Pest Control, Puyallup, Wash., said in PCT Reader Poll the company offers a referral bonus to any employee who refers someone for a technician role.

How effective the cash incentive has been, he said, is debatable “but we do mention it here and there to keep it top-of-mind. I think if a current employee likes where they work, and they like a potential applicant, that they will make the referral whether there is a bonus in place or not. With that said it is a nice incentive to offer and I think our current team members appreciate it.”

Cooper said many companies have new hire bonuses, but they don’t have a dollar per name program, which means giving an employee lead fee for a referral name.

“Would you be willing to give $50 for every referral that your technicians give if they are hired or not? Most people would say absolutely not,” he said.  “A lot of companies pay their technicians for sales leads, but isn’t a talent lead the same?”

If your company is competitive and service technicians love what they do where their work matters, they’re going to want to stay, Cooper said.

Mark Stewart, strategic account executive at FieldRoutes, a ServiceTitan company, said after years of mentoring young professionals, many of them just want to know that their time and experience is going to be valued.

“A lot of these young people want someone who will help them built up their career,” Stewart said.