Winning strategy with Diversity & Inclusion
Winners of the National Pest Awards’ Diversity & Inclusion category, London Network for Pest Solutions, have seen a strategy with the ethos at its heart has brought immense business benefits that has driven growth, according to Managing Director, Paul Cooper.
My belief is that if you are doing something good and something you think other companies could benefit from knowing about, you should shout about it, explains Paul.
That’s why, a few years ago, we started entering awards. My ambition then was to win the title of Best Small Pest Control Company in the UK. With that award under our belt, I decided to widen my ambition. We started entering not only industry awards, but others that would help to boost our profile and give us more recognition for different aspects of our work.
I was delighted when I saw the 2024 categories for the Pest Awards and that there was a Diversity and Inclusion Award sponsored by Syngenta.
As soon as I read the criteria, I knew LNPS had a very good chance of winning even though I knew we would be up against much larger and longer-established companies. That’s because this subject is so close to my heart and doing the right thing when it comes to diversity and inclusion seems to come naturally.
But, to be honest, the term inclusivity isn’t quite right – it shouldn’t be about including people it should be about not excluding anybody.
One of our key strengths is remote working. Originally, we went down this route for financial reasons, but the spin-offs have been immense. There are big environmental benefits from people not having to travel into the office, alongside the inclusivity and diversity benefits. For instance, one staff member suffers from anxiety and doesn’t drive. So, for her not to have to deal with public transport and still be able to make a living is brilliant. Another member of staff is a single parent with a young child and she now has a rewarding and flexible job with LNPS.
I honestly believe that our staff are more productive than when we had offices. Headsets are connected to Bluetooth, which means team members can walk around rather than having to be glued to their desk. I’m amazed that other pest control companies haven’t done the same as us. We were operating like this long before Covid 19 when many people were forced to work from home for the first time.
When LNPS was set up, making sure we selected the right staff for our customer base and trying to reflect the customers we serve was a key priority.
More than 50% of our staff live locally which is very important as this connection means that staff are proud of the work they do and their Borough and reflect the cultural make up of the area that we service.
Typically, pest control is a straight, white male-dominated sector but, in contrast, the LNPS board has both a female and an Asian director reflecting the diversity of the Borough and areas we work in.
Our administration team is truly multi-cultural with staff from different religions and backgrounds. We also have staff with different sexual orientations.
As we’ve grown and increased profits, we’ve been able to give back to the local community by way of Social Value in a number of ways. For instance, we have sponsored the East London charity Little Imps (a junior motorcycle display team), a local youth football team and two outdoor playhouses for a nursery.
We also offer opportunities for young people to join us for work experience, 80% of whom have been from culturally diverse backgrounds.
This is definitely not a case of wanting to tick boxes so we can look good.
It’s about treating people fairly, treating them with dignity and respect and making sure they get the recognition and rewards they deserve. Do this from your heart, not just because you feel you should, and your customers will notice.
