Professionalism Begins At Home

Each year PCT and Zeneca Professional Products sponsor the Leadership Awards in which they identify and honor leading industry professionals. When you look at the cast of players, it’s often easy to pick out the winners. Most are successful businessmen and women who have built stellar pest management companies or have taken inherited ones to new heights. The leadership qualities of these individuals are exemplary, and for this reason top-notch technicians typically surround them.

But enough about industry leaders. This article is about the technicians who are the backbone of the industry and the people who make or break a company. Professionalism truly begins at home, in the company environment.

Just as pests are a product of their environment, technicians are a product of their life experiences and corporate environment. Typically, once an individual is recruited as a technician, the corporate environment will have a profound effect on that person’s development as a pest professional. This corporate influence will set the stage for the degree of professionalism exhibited by that individual throughout his or her career.

While professionals typically stand out in a crowd, it is often difficult to characterize their specific attributes. However, there are characteristics of leaders and professionals that are easily recognized despite individual differences. The following 10 leadership attributes were taken from one of my (nearly 30-year-old) U.S. Army officer efficiency reports.

In examining these characteristics, it is easy to see how they can play a major role in the success or failure of a service business, such as pest management. While these leadership traits may be taken from an old document, they still apply to most of our industry leaders and pest management professionals. Here are some thoughts on how these traits can affect our day-to-day operations.

Adaptability (adjusts to changing situations). Pest management is continuously changing and only those who are able to adapt will be successful.

Ambition (seeks and welcomes additional responsibilities). These are the types of technicians we need — those who are willing to take on new responsibilities. Ambition encompasses a broad range of activities: increased sales, better service, increased productivity, reduced callbacks, training opportunities, increased education, etc.

Cooperation (works in harmony with others as a team member). In our industry this goes far beyond co-workers; it extends to our customers. Our industry is a service industry that relies heavily on the satisfaction of our customers. Working with customers to resolve their problems goes a long way in ensuring that they will remain customers for a long time.

Dependability (ability to reach conclusions and plan out a definite course of action). As technicians mature, they should be able to operate more independently. This trait involves numerous activities, such as quality of service, timeliness, ability to work with others, completing scheduled work, etc.

Decisiveness (ability to reach conclusions and decide a definite course of action). The ability to do this separates the professional from the average technician. Technicians in most companies operate semi-autonomously. They must be able to appropriately analyze pest management problems and make timely decisions on an appropriate course of pest management action.

Enthusiasm (motivates others by his/her keen interest and personal participation). This is a characteristic typically affected by the company attitude. Happy employees with a vested interest in the success of the business generally exhibit a high degree of enthusiasm.

Force (executes actions vigorously). Force is the corollary to decisiveness. This also reflects the confidence the technicians have in themselves. Confident individuals will act decisively and do the right thing.

Ingenuity (creative ability in devising means to solve problems). Of all the traits listed, this is the one I feel is most important, particularly for those companies truly practicing integrated pest management (IPM). Each pest management situation is different and there are no “cookbook” answers. Each situation requires a critical analysis, i.e. inspection, pest identification, determining the cause of the problem, setting a course of action and executing the plan.

Initiative (takes necessary and appropriate action on his/her own). This epitomizes the trust a company has in its employees. Many companies stifle initiative by requiring that technicians follow prescribed treatment techniques and/or the use of specific products. There are few products and treatment techniques out there that could get technicians and their company in trouble, so why not let your employees grab the ball and run with it?

Integrity (adherence to principles of honesty and moral courage). This characteristic raises my hackles more than any other. Generally, technicians will exhibit integrity representative of their company. If the company is prone to selling a job based on false representation, the employees often embrace this business approach. A lack of integrity, particularly as it relates to preconstruction termiticide applications, has forced many companies to abandon this type of service and prompted a Federal Trade Commission investigation. It would be easy to resolve this issue.

Although these leadership traits may be dated, they are attributes we should all strive to attain. Leading by example is the best way we can ensure our technicians will develop professionally.

Dr. Richard Kramer is president of Innovative Pest Management, 18100 Darnell Drive, Olney MD 20832, 301/570-7138.