The ongoing digitalization of the pest control business requires employees to adopt new skills and improve their understanding of, and ability to master, digitally-enabled solutions. The Group supports employees and develops skills through its online SMART training portal. The portal offers training and tutorials for sales, technician and operational employees, with global coaches for local SMART teams.
The Group tracks employee satisfaction through employee surveys, conducted at least annually and carried out globally, and performance is measured using the established metric Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)[1] among other metrics. As a result of the decentralized Anticimex Model, the results of the surveys are used to undertake improvement actions at all levels throughout the Group, identify best practice and immediately act on any negative deviations Group-wide.
The Group seeks to constantly improve its working environment based on employees’ feedback. For example, an employee survey carried out in Belgium in 2018 identified improvement opportunities and challenges connected to employee’s abilities to relate to the strategic goals. This prompted management to investigate possible causes and initiate measures for improvement. The strategy proved successful and in 2019, the eNPS for Belgium increased by 26 points. The Group further promotes preventive training for relevant employees in safe working practices. This includes mandatory training for drivers and for employees working in potentially dangerous or hazardous environments, such as heat treatment, fumigation or where the service performance requires ladder work.
The Group also considers a satisfactory working environment and promising career opportunities as key to remaining an attractive option when owners of independent pest control companies consider divesting their businesses. Many sellers have joined the Group in management positions, branch manager roles or specialist positions.