PPC115 | Training
Recruitment and retention of pest management employees are two of the biggest challenges our industry faces. 90% of employees decide whether to stay at a company within the first six months of employment, and as much as 22% of employee turnover happens within the first 45 days of employment.
Employee onboarding is important for providing a consistent approach to training and aligning employees with the company’s culture, values, policies and practises.
Onboarding should be an integral part of the new employee experience, and companies should plan to allocate the necessary resources to ensure that they feel valued and supported.
By investing in effective onboarding programmes, organisations can build a more productive, motivated and engaged workforce that helps to drive long-term success.
Our solution
BPCA’s Onboarding Programme continues to go from strength to strength, with John O’Conner Pest Control and Safeguard Pest Control spearheading the programme since its inception. Both companies kindly agreed to share thoughts about the benefits (and the challenges) of adopting and embedding the programme.
Research suggests onboarding programmes can: Improve retention of new employees by up to 82% (Brandon Hall Group) Improve customer service by up to 10% (Gallup poll) Increase productivity by over 70% (Brandon Hall Group)
Case study 1: John O’Conner Pest Control
John O’Conner Pest Control of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, is a loyal supporter of the BPCA Onboarding Training Programme. Their Pest Control Manager, Karen Green, is responsible for recruitment.
Karen
As a company, we now use onboarding as our main recruitment tool.
We see the BPCA Onboarding Programme as a partnership with everyone working towards the same goal. The monthly review meetings give us all the chance to chart the progress of our new recruits, ensuring that they stay on track and enabling them to ask any questions they might have.
Attracting new people to the industry is very hard, and we find that having a robust onboarding programme in place helps people see the opportunities for a career in pest control.
We always offer interested candidates a trial day to ensure that pest control is something they want to do, and once recruited, the BPCA Onboarding Programme provides comprehensive training and support.
Alongside this, once our new employees have achieved their rodenticides qualification, we assign a team leader to work alongside them for a few weeks as they begin working in the field.
Then, as they progress, we allocate people with a range of different skills to them to provide them with different perspectives. This can be in areas of specialist proofing, problem sites, or simply those with expertise in specific species. All of this helps to build up the knowledge and skills of our new employees.
We put all our new recruits through the RSPH Level 2 Award in Pest Management training. We also enrol them in the BPCA Hands-on Pest Management training course which helps build up their practical skills.
A big part of the Onboarding Programme is developing students’ portfolios, which form the basis of their assessments.
As well as detailing all the training they’ve completed, our employees build their portfolios by reflecting not only on the practical work they’ve been involved with but also, more generally, what they have learned as they progress through the programme.
We believe looking after our staff and valuing their achievements is the best way of retaining our employees and building a strong team.
“...build a more productive, motivated and engaged workforce that helps to drive long-term success.”
Case study 2: Safeguard Pest Control
Daniel began working at Safeguard in November 2022 and joined the Onboarding Programme in December of that year. He was completely new to pest management, so he was an ideal candidate. In this case study, we hear from Daniel, National Service Director Mark Gomar and National Operations and Compliance Director Malcolm Stowell on their experiences.
Daniel
My opinion on the onboarding training course was that it was a brilliant way for me to enter the industry without any experience. Using the combination of in-person and online training assisted my understanding and development.
Having the monthly meetings allowed me to stay focused on the programme and meet the required targets for every meeting.
When taking the Safe Use of Rodenticide examination, the training had set me up for it, and I passed easily. This then improved my work when I started on my own patch. The rest of the programme then sets you up perfectly to take the Level 2 Award in Pest Management qualification and continues to improve the quality of my work.
The completed portfolio is always available to look at and use for all other training methods. The programme gives you a great understanding of all materials available to BPCA members and the CPD points.
Overall, this training programme was brilliant and assisted me with my learning in this industry. It made it easy for me to understand what was required of me and aided my development in a future career in pest control.
“...looking after our staff and valuing their achievements is the best way of retaining our employees...”
Mark
Effective onboarding is much needed within our industry. Historically, once you brought someone in, they would do the RSPH Level 2 qualification and nothing else. I particularly like the BPCA Onboarding Programme as it gives new employees structure and headway about where they should be.
The monthly review meetings bring everyone together to review where we are, make sure everything is on track and cover any questions. These meetings are invaluable as far as I’m concerned. There are downsides, of course. Realistically, when you bring someone brand spanking new into the industry, there’s often a need to get them out on the road as soon as possible. Then there’s the question of how quickly we should enrol someone into the Onboarding Programme if we or they decide the role isn’t for them.
Our answer is that we give new employees three weeks with the company before we enrol them.
From a manager’s perspective, yes, it can be time-consuming, but we have noticed a huge benefit from doing it. In addition to Daniel, we have four others who also did the programme and are now out in the field.
To see them flourish and have the confidence to write treatment reports comparable to those who have been in the industry for many years is a testament to the programme.
“Having the monthly meetings allowed me to stay focused on the programme and meet the required targets for every meeting.”
Malcolm
Having been part of the Professional Standards Committee that initially contributed to the development of the Onboarding Programme, I knew that the only way to really test it was to sign up one of our trainees to trial it.
As a business, we learned that successful onboarding requires ongoing communication between all parties: BPCA, the organisation and the employee. The monthly review meetings provided a platform and a safe space for that communication.
Daniel did everything that was required of him; building up a substantial portfolio, completing his online training and demonstrating a passion in his field work. I believe that our commitment to Daniel in terms of providing solid training, line manager support and encouragement when he was working in the field, ensured that Daniel felt valued and championed.
We look forward to having Daniel on the team for the long term. From Safeguard’s perspective, the Onboarding Programme was a great success and we have now adopted it as part of the training schedule for trainees.
Daniel has now sat his RSPH Level 2, which he passed with flying colours.
On behalf of Safeguard – congratulations Daniel!
“To see them flourish and have the confidence to write treatment reports comparable to those who have been in the industry for many years is a testament to the programme.”
Give your newbies a head start
BPCA can provide you with an onboarding package. It includes a full online training and development programme, regular knowledge assessments, and learner review meetings.
01332 294 288
bpca.org.uk/onboarding