Research from the National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce shows 40 percent of employees who don’t receive the necessary job training will leave their positions within the first year.
What impact does that level of turnover have on a company? More importantly, how does it impact their clients, who rely on these trained specialists to deliver professional services for their business?
A company is only as good as its employees. And thse employees are only as good as the resources the company invests in them.
When workers perform poorly in professional pest management, the result is a double blow. Ineffective services reflect badly on the company’s abilities, resulting in a pest issue or food safety situation. This can deliver a damaging blow to the food processing client’s brand reputation, attract unwanted attention from regulators and significantly impact the bottom line.
Sprague Pest Solutions knows that better trained employees work smarter and deliver better service – and reduce risks – for clients. That is why we invest heavily in employee training from day one and beyond.
“We are an on-going learning organization and team members know from the beginning that continuous training and development is a part of their role,” says Leila Haas, PHR, director of human resources for Sprague.
Sprague is committed to making sure its clients have the most innovative and best-trained minds in the industry taking care of their facilities. We have an intensive on-boarding process for our route managers and customer service representatives (the process can extend up to two years). We also encourage employees to earn their Board Certified Entomologist (BCE) or Associate Certified Entomologist (ACE) designations.
“If you attract top talent and grow it by taking care of them, the positive results cascade down to the client through world class customer service and brand protection,” says Haas.
In the case of BCE and ACE credential programs, we have developed a technical development program to help candidates study and prepare for two of the pest management industry’s most prestigious designations.
“Sprague currently has three BCEs on staff and we hope to add to that number as well as the numbers of ACEs this year,” says Haas. “Achieving these designations not only furthers the careers of the individuals but tells our clients we value their business.”
Sprague also ensures that its route managers are licensed in every category needed to deliver a complete pest management service at a client’s facility. This includes everything from a general pest control license, fumigations and stored product pest and bird work accreditations.
“We want to make sure our route managers are capable of implementing preventative pest management plans and handling virtually any pest issue for a client,” says Haas.
Besides technical competence, Sprague’s investment in on-going training creates an atmosphere where best practices in innovation, problem-solving and critical thinking become the norm and that carries over positively to clients.
“We want to send a strong message to our clients that we are committed to their company’s success by continually investing in our employees,” says Haas.
If you are looking for a pest management partner that delivers innovative services from highly-trained, dedicated pest professionals, look no further than Sprague.