Leadership Development Benefits Employees...

Sheryl S. Jackson

Leadership is not a job title, but a role that someone assumes in a company. Whether it is a supervisor guiding a group of technicians or an employee mentoring and training another, the importance of developing leaders within the company cannot be overstated. Creating an in-house pipeline of aspiring leaders who are prepared to assume new roles boosts employee engagement, reduces the headaches and costs associated with turnover and positions the company for future growth.

Accel Pest and Termite Control has grown from two employees to 70 and reached $8 million in revenue in 13 years. “We were caught off guard by our rapid growth, and we did not really know what we needed in place to handle this growth,” said Shon Vodila, president of the company. Although supervisor and manager positions were created throughout the growth, the concept of identifying potential employee leaders within the company and developing them has only been in place for a few years.

“We’ve learned from the past that the best technician does not always make the best manager, but technicians often believe that their only option to progress is to step into a management role,” said Vodila. “We created a career path for technicians with specific titles that reflect different levels of responsibility, skills and licenses, and every year we talk about the path with each technician to see where they want to be in three, five or 10 years,” he said. A chart that outlines each step of the progression, which does not require assumption of a formal management role, clearly shows technicians that they can continue to learn and develop new skills with the same company. “This helps with recruitment and retention because people see opportunities to advance.”

“I like to send employees to conferences, chapter meetings and training sessions to let them learn from people outside our company, then I watch how they react to the opportunities,” said Vodila. He looks for employees to interact with people from other companies, to attend and talk about learning opportunities and to come back to the office with ideas. “Future leaders look for ways to solve problems, don’t wait for direction and are self-sufficient.”

One of Vodila’s success stories is Jon Furdek, who started with the company as a termite technician. “He saw a way we could better serve our customers and came to me with his ideas,” he said. Furdek continued to learn, develop his skills and share ideas to improve the company as a technician and technical director, and is now director of operations. “He has also been accepted into the NPMA Executive Leadership Program.”

I like to send employees to conferences, chapter meetings, and training sessions to let them LEARN FROM PEOPLE OUTSIDE OUR COMPANY, then I watch how they react to the opportunities.

-Shon Vodila, President, Accel Pest and Termite Control

Rapid growth also presented challenges for Pest-End, which grew from a $5 million company with 50 employees to $10 million and 92 employees in five years. “We struggled with leadership and span of control and at one time had one supervisor for 20 technicians,” said Courtney Carace, chief operating officer. “Hiring experienced supervisors outside the company was proving to be quite challenging. Though we had successfully hired three individuals, we had another opening and knew we had to start cultivating talent internally but did not know where to start,” she said. “We used Phil Cooper’s vetting program and Accelerated Gross Profit class to evaluate four team members who we believed demonstrated leadership skills. One of those individuals was promoted to supervisor after the conclusion of the course.”

It’s important not to try to put “a square peg in a round hole” when identifying leaders, said Carace. “We don’t want to set up someone for failure, so we allow time to coach, let them shadow other team members and take on small projects to see if moving into management is right for them and for the company,” she said. Pest-End’s human resources director offers training on how to conduct performance reviews, handling difficult conversations and other skills needed at sessions attended by all members of the management team as well as aspiring managers during the slower seasons of fall and winter.

The company also sends team members to conferences and industry training opportunities and will cover tuition for outside courses and meetings depending on budget flexibility, time of year and value of experience to the team member’s personal or professional development. As a graduate of NPMA’s Executive Leadership Program, Carace saw the benefit of learning from others outside the company. “I saw the value of networking, mentoring and sharing ideas,” she said. “I was part of a small cohort of five people, and we still talk daily, but I also met others in the industry when I need advice or want to brainstorm ideas. In fact, I’m now mentoring someone and that relationship has been mutually beneficial.”

While finding good supervisors is difficult, the acquisition of several family-owned pest management businesses in Pest-End’s service area by larger companies resulted in several qualified supervisors who wanted to continue working for a family-owned business applying at Pest-End, says Carace. “In addition to hiring people from other pest control companies, we also received strong applications from, and hired, people with management experience in other industries.” The willingness to look outside the industry led to the hiring of one person who had worked as a pest control technician for a few years but also had management experience in a different industry. She began as an assistant supervisor, has been promoted twice and is now an IPM director.

“We are intentional about identifying and developing future leaders,” said Timson Green, branch manager, JP McHale Pest Management. “Technicians may have their initial pesticide applicator license but are they also working toward obtaining more categories,” he said. “The people you want to develop as leaders are those who are constantly learning and growing their skills.”

Green also looks for employees who take the initiative to suggest better ways to serve customers and who take action to solve a problem or help others. “On inventory day, is there a technician who takes the lead to help pack everything away,” he said. “The technician who sees a need and takes action without being told to do so has the potential to be a leader,” he said.

“Leadership development begins with a conversation about career paths, but not everyone should be or wants to be a supervisor or manager,” said Green. “Leaders need the technical skills and soft skills, but more importantly, they must be dependable.” Even if an employee is qualified to lead, be aware that there may be circumstances that make a supervisor or manager position wrong for the person at that time. “My best skilled employee who would make a great supervisor doesn’t want the position because he now works at night so he can be at home with his children while his wife works as a teacher during the day,” he explained. “His schedule is built around his personal and family needs now, but they may change over time, so I respect his priorities and hope to offer the role to him in the future.”

In addition to offering classes at his branch to help his 40 technicians add categories to their licenses, Green also invites outside speakers to his branch meetings to talk about best practices and procedures. “I think it’s important for people to learn about more than new products from vendors and to learn how other people handle complex scenarios,” he said. “The speaker may describe the same process or technique that we implement at JP McHale, but the message coming from a different voice often reinforces the fact that this is a best practice.”

Being intentional, offering career options and providing resources to learn new skills so they can become successful supervisors and managers are the keys to successful leadership development as well as the retention of talent.

Although a natural leader doesn’t have to have a title, Pest-End created different layers of management with a tiered career path for field staff. This strategy provides an opportunity for team members to grow personally and professionally while staying at the company, said Carace. “Our program includes roles such as quality control director and trainer so field staff who are highly skilled but don’t want to supervise others also have a way to advance.”

The technician career pathway developed for the field staff was so well received that Vodila was asked to create pathways for customer service representatives and the administrative staff—by the customer service and administrative employees. The extra work was worth it, he said. “I get more satisfaction from developing people than anything else I do.”

Executive Leadership Program Prepares Future Industry Leaders

NPMA’s Executive Leadership Program (ELP) identifies and trains aspiring association leaders to establish a pipeline of engaged members that represents NPMA’s diverse membership. Each year, NPMA selects a cohort of participants to go through a two-year curriculum that involves professional development, association training, monthly mentoring and attendance at NPMA events.

The 2025 ELP Class application is now open, with applications due on November 15, 2024. For more information or to complete an application, go to www.npmapestworld.org/elp.