Why Environmental Pest Management is One of Columbus’s Best Places to Work

While cleaning my office, I came across one of our “Best Places To Work” awards from Columbus Business First. We never did a good job of sharing these accomplishments, but I do think it’s important that I express how proud I am of our amazing team.

We’ve even been lucky enough to snag the “Best Places to Work” award from Columbus Business First four years in a row. While awards aren’t our main intention, we are very proud of the ones we have earned.

This particular award means a lot to us because my wife Karen and I strive to make EPM a place where our employees are respected and know that they are valued. Truthfully, we have no interest in being the biggest extermination service in the state; we just want to be the BEST. In order to be the best, you have to attract and retain the best. And this isn’t just talk—we make a concerted effort in all of our processes to make our company a great place to work. It starts with our strategic plan, which allows us to focus on our vision.

Employees Come First

This is our strategy, our foundation. We put the focus on the employee with our recruitment, retention, and development procedures.

Recruitment: We are always on the lookout for great people. We want great people to look for us as well. We host open houses, send mailers, post on social media, and certainly rely on employee referrals. More so than other pest control companies, we focus on fit. I could just hire a bunch of salespeople that know how to sell the heck out of our services; we could be one of those transactional companies. However, we don’t believe in that. We treat our employees like family. We want people that are motivated, have leadership qualities, and want to develop and grow. This isn’t just a “punch-in, punch-out, get-paid” type of company. We care about and respect each other. This family mentality extends to how we treat our customers as well.

Retention: EPM is “fit and in.” People that fit our culture are the ones that stick around (we learn quickly if an employee is not a good fit). We pay top market rates. We offer great benefits: 401k, paid uniforms, medical, vision, dental. We have a technology package, and technicians get a company vehicle. We also offer seasonal overtime and paid continuing education credits. We have a tele-doc mental health line, which I think is really valuable.

Employee Development: We are serious about developing leaders. Once they are onboarded, employees receive monthly training, continuing education credits, and have quarterly check-ins with our C.O.O. This is an opportunity for two-way feedback, which is beneficial for everyone involved. We’ve created EPM University, a robust training program that all new hires are required to complete. We have an employee status report, where I can get a quick snapshot of anyone’s current standing in the company. The C.O.O. regularly checks in with employees to make sure they understand expectations.

Happy Employees Lead to Exceptional Experiences

This sums up our vision. We want to deliver exceptional experiences to our customers. We spend the time and resources to find the right person, develop them, and treat them like family. The mutual respect fostered within our company culture translates to added value for our customers. We don’t look at our work as squashing some bugs and moving on; we look at it as helping someone’s living situation and making a customer’s life better. When our employees are treated with care, we find that they treat our customers to exceptional experiences.

If you want to work for a company that appreciates and treats you with respect, or if you would like to partner with an extermination service that truly cares about making people’s lives better, check out our careers page or give us a call at 614-771-8605.