During his more than 20 years with Wil-Kil Pest Control in Wisconsin, Carl Griswold has learned important realities about managing a pest control business. Among them are these facts: Your employees can be both your key to success and your competitive advantage; employee loyalty equals customer loyalty; and employees perform their jobs better when they’re satisfied and comfortable with what they’re doing.
At a recent conference held by the Illinois Pest Control Association, Griswold discussed his experience with an employee profiling methodology his firm adopted a few years ago. Griswold, who is based in Madison, Wis., manages six Wil-Kil branches around the state. His firm employs a profiling system created by Drake International, a Toronto-based personnel placement organization. The system is being licensed to pest control companies by Interview Technologies, a human resources consulting firm based in Sun Prairie, Wis.
“One of our management goals is to do everything we can to satisfy the people working for us,” Griswold told conference attendees. “In fact, part of our company’s vision statement says that we want to make them ‘enthusiastic about being Wil-Kil employees.’” Wil-Kil is one of two Copesan-owned pest control firms.
Griswold explained that if employees are unhappy with their employer for reasons such as pay or treatment, that will show up on the job. “Customers can tell if an employee isn’t satisfied with what he or she is doing,” he explained. Griswold has also learned that some people just aren’t cut out to be pest control service technicians. “Maybe they don’t care to go into dirty basements, don’t like insects, or are unhappy with the pest control routine,” he said. For all of these reasons, pest control company owners and managers need to focus more carefully on how to hire and retain people who fit well into their organizations. And he has found the personality profile to be an important tool in that process.
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Personality surveys must be administered to applicants with consistency and uniformity. |
HIRING IS AN INVESTMENT. “You must realize that hiring the right people is more than a function; it’s an investment,” Griswold said. “Think of how much effort you put into making a $200,000 purchase. You’re not going to make that decision on a whim. You’re going to make sure the right people are making the decisions, looking at all the options and shopping around a bit.”
Griswold estimates that hiring a new technician costs somewhere between $150,000 to $250,000 in the first five years, when you consider salary, benefits, training, and other costs. Griswold also analyzed some of the costs of technician turnover. “If you have high turnover,” he explained, “you’re losing the value of an employee’s experience. And it’s been Wil-Kil’s experience that if you lose good technicians, you lose customers.” Replacing technicians involves such expenses as recruiting and advertising costs, interviewing time, and training.
Wil-Kil began using the Drake system about three years ago, soon after the company went through a reorganization. “A lot of difficult things were going on at that time,” he said. “Basically, we had all of our managers re-interview for their jobs. And a lot of our technicians weren’t happy with their own jobs.”
The management team did some soul-searching and soon realized the importance of hiring the right people, Gris-wold said. “I used to think that hiring was a roll of the dice,” he said. “No matter how much work you put into it, employees could lie on their references or would supply little useful information. So you hired what looked like the best person. If it didn’t work out, you’d try again.”
A NEW HIRING TOOL. Griswold’s hiring success improved in 1994 when he started working with Brad Bartlett, director of Interview Technologies. Bartlett recommended Griswold use the Drake P3 personality profiling and behavioral interviewing system for hiring as well as for employee development of all of Wil-Kil’s employees. Bartlett’s firm licenses the Drake system to Wil-Kil, as well as to other pest control companies across the United States.
The system works on several assumptions, Griswold explained. First, certain personality traits make some individuals better suited to deliver high quality pest control services than others. These traits include dominance, extroversion, conformity, patience and conscientousness. Using the Drake system along with proper interviewing techniques, these characteristics can be identified and to some extent, modified. “We need to look at those traits that will best promise success in our business,” Griswold said.
The Drake system attempts to measure these traits by employing a “benchmark” personality profile, a personality featuring a selection of traits considered ideal for the position being filled. Job candidates are then compared against the benchmark personality.
To come up with Wil-Kil’s benchmark profile, Griswold profiled 10 of the company’s best technicians. He found that all 10 of the technicians had tendencies toward moderate dominance, higher extroversion, lower patience and higher conformity. “We felt that if we had a company full of technicians like the top 10, no one could beat us,” Griswold said. Individuals who are dominant tend to be louder and more demanding than others, Griswold explained. Many managers tend to be dominant, and sometimes, technicians need to be dominant with customers, such as when advising them to concentrate on sanitation. “Most successful pest control technicians have a high trait of extroversion,” Griswold added. “It’s a good sales trait because they need to get to know our customers better and sell them new services.” Griswold also explained that employees with lower patience and higher conformity tend to be committed to high quality, efficient work. And they are fast-paced, like routine, are detail-oriented, and can handle a multitude of details with speed. “That’s the kind of technician we’re looking for,” Griswold said.
Next, Griswold employs the Drake Candidate Survey, a 30-question survey form designed to identify the candidates’ personality traits. All job candidates are asked to fill out the survey. During the interview process, Griswold also asks the candidates “behavior descriptive questions,” or questions designed to help managers understand how the candidate has acted in the past. The theory is that individuals are likely to behave in the future the way they’ve behaved in the past. For example, a candidate might be asked about the busiest time on his or her last job, and then how the individual prepared for the onslaught. “In addition to the personality profile, the behavior descriptive questions are key to hiring good people,” Griswold said.
Because of the cost factor, Wil-Kil doesn’t run profiles on each candidate, but instead only on those candidates who have passed the initial interviews. The results of the profiles are then compared to Wil-Kil’s benchmark personality before the final hiring decision is made.
By using this system, Wil-Kil has noticed a steady improvement in the quality of employees hired and a reduction in employee and customer turnover rates in the three years the system has been in effect, Griswold said. The company’s productivity has increased about 20% in the last few years, he said, while the number of technicians employed has not changed. “We’ve been able to grow by making our technicians more productive,” Griswold said. “The new technicians we’ve hired fit in better with us and are turning out impressive numbers in sales and production that were unthinkable just a few years ago. According to Griswold, PCOs can also use the personality profile for the coaching and developing of employees, as well as to gain a better understanding of themselves and employees. Used correctly, it could also help prevent personality conflicts.
According to Griswold, the company’s commercial client turnover rate for the last two years has been less than 9%. “That’s really a good measure of our quality,” he said.
A FEW LIMITATIONS. Jean Seawright, a human resources management professional, is also a proponent of personality profiling programs. She points out, though, that a personality profile is only “a piece of the puzzle” when making a hiring decision, and managers must be aware of its limitations. “You get a picture of the person in the narrative form,” Seawright said, “but you never know how those qualities are manifested.” For example, she explained, an individual may score as sociable, but may not necessarily have a high level of maturity, a trait that is not measured by personality profiling systems, Seawright said.
Nonetheless, she adds, personality profiling systems are excellent tools for understanding who you are about to hire or for coaching and development of current employees. And there are literally hundreds of personality profile tests on the market, Seawright points out. The tests available vary widely in price and in the amount of information provided. Individual profiles typically cost anywhere from $50 each to more than $200, and provide the manager with a few pages of analysis, up to in-depth reports of 40-plus pages, and prices vary depending on the volume of profiles run. For instance, the profiling system Griswold uses costs between $45 and $85 per 14-page report. Companies with 50 or more employees may find it more advantageous to purchase a license for the Drake system which allows them unlimited use.
Seawright, president of the management consulting firm Seawright & Associates, based in Winter Park, Fla., recommends that PCOs consider using profiling systems for hiring as well as for employee development. Most PCOs will want to select a system that costs under $100 per profile, she said. And when looking for a system, she points out, it’s important to choose one that is validated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This ensures that the test won’t have a greater negative impact on minorities and females.
PCOs will also want to consider that different tests may be better suited for different applications and different types of occupations. For instance, a profile designed to measure characteristics vital for a service technician may be different than a profile geared toward sales candidates. And some profiling systems are designed to measure specific aspects of personality, such as honesty and integrity.
Furthermore, some applicants may feel apprehensive about completing a personality survey, and in fact most will have concerns about the extent to which the survey will impact the hiring decision. To head off fears and put candidates at ease, Seawright said, the purpose of the survey needs to be conveyed thoroughly. “If it’s explained properly, it’s viewed as fun and interesting and can be a learning experience for everyone.”
Bartlett points out that surveys must be administered with consistency and uniformity. “If you give the profile to applicants at the same point in the selection process every time, then everyone is being treated the same,” he explained. On the other hand, if the profiling tests are not administered to all candidates at the same point in the interviewing process, then possible problems with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission could arise.
Wil-Kil’s Griswold agrees that while personality surveys are powerful tools, they have to be used correctly in order to be valuable. “The biggest limitation is it’s a rather involved process,” he said, “and you have to really be committed to it. It’s very easy to shortcut the process and not get the results.” A strong proponent of the system, Griswold emphasizes the importance of understanding this hiring process and committing the time and necessary resources to it. “You’ve got to stick with the program, even in crisis situations,” he said, in order for it to be worthwhile. But with commitment and an understanding of how to employ them, Griswold says, personality profiling systems can deliver promising and measurable results.
Jordan Fox is a freelance writer based in Milwaukee, Wis.
A Sampling of Personality Surveys |
| Wonderlic Personnel Test Inc. Libertyville, Ill. Comprehensive Personality Profile (CPP) The CPP is geared for management, sales and administration professionals. Compliant with EEOC and ADA guidelines. Catalog available. Cost: Varies with quantity, $12.50 to $25 per report Phone: 800/323-3742 www.wonderlic.com |
| Profiles International Waco, Texas Prevue Assessment Notes: Can be customized for the position to be filled. Complies with EEOC and ADA guidelines. Cost: about $20 per report Phone: 800/880-2909 |
| Drake P3 Profile Interview Technologies Sun Prairie, Wis. Comprehensive Personality Profile (CPP) Notes: Can be customized to the position. Complete brochure is available. This system complies with EEOC and ADA guidelines. Cost: between $45 and $85 per candidate profile. Software licensing available. Phone: 920/348-6357 |
| Lousig-Nont & Associates Las Vegas, Nev. Phase II Profile Integrity Test Notes: The Phase II is an honesty and integrity inventory. The test complies with EEOC and ADA guidelines. Other tests available. Cost: varies with quantity; $18 and under per report Phone: 800/477-3211 |
| The Omnia Group Incorporated Tampa, Fla. The Omnia Profile Notes: The Omnia Profile is customized for each employer based on each unique job situation. Complies with EEOC and ADA guidelines. Cost: $100 to $150 per report Phone: 800/525-7117 www.OmniaGroup.com |
