14th Annual NPMA Academy a Mix of Business Management Sessions and Team-Building Activities

PHOENIX, Ariz. — The  14th annual NPMA Academy, sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, was held last week in Phoenix and approximately 300 industry professionals attended, a 20 percent increase from last year’s event.

National Pest Management Association Executive Vice President Rob Lederer said because of the economy, reports out of the association industry are that attendance at various events throughout the country is down 40 to 50 percent and thanked attendees for being at Academy. “We’re thrilled that you are here,” he said.

This is the second year in a row Dow AgroSciences has been the sponsor of Academy. Dave Morris, commercial leader, Dow AgroSciences, said Academy is a great way for attendees to renew friendships and a chance to create new ones, as well as network with colleagues. He said Dow agreed to sponsor Academy again this year because it’s the right thing to do. “This is a long-term investment in the industry for us,” he said. “We’re a part of this industry and it’s important to give back.”

The theme of this year’s Academy is “Growing Your Business in Challenging Times,” and speakers yesterday hit the ground running with lots of tips to help pest management professionals. Terminix International’s Bill Sublette, who is also the chairman of NPMA’s Leadership Development Group, kicked off the meeting yesterday by introducing Lederer and Morris.

Morris then introduced the keynote speaker, Chip Eichelberger, founder, Get Switched On!. He offered lots of inspiring words to help pest management professionals lead better lives overall, thereby enabling them to be better spouses, better parents, better friends and better managers. “The formula for failure is committing a few errors in judgment and repeating them every day,” he said.

Eichelberger, who formerly worked with well known motivational speaker Tony Robbins, told attendees they should type their personal goals and aspirations on a piece of paper, laminate it and then post it in the shower so they see it every morning. “It is a myth that you get better when you just keep doing your job/activity,” he said, quoting from the “Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance.” “Elite performers engage in deliberate practice — an effortful activity designed to improve individual target performance. You have to be innovative in the way you do things.”

The second speaker, Lance Holmes, director of measurement systems, Hilti North America, discussed building and keeping the right team.

He said there are several common interview and selection problems that managers encounter, including suffering from the “halo effect”  (meaning all of the candidates look good, like an angel). In addition, managers may not secure enough critical information during the interview process or they may buy into stereotypes that impact their judgment. In other cases, the interview/selection cycle takes so long the job candidate is hired by another company or managers make hiring decisions based entirely on a single interview without checking references or taking other steps necessary to ensure a successful hire.  

Holmes provided Academy attendees an interview guide that provided a number of valuable suggestions about how to make sure the interview process is as thorough and professional as possible.

The evening wrapped up with the first Olympic event, in which each of the six teams built two bicycles to be donated to local children. Academy wrapped up on Sunday from the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass with more speakers and additional team-building activities.