Orkin reviews about "upper management"

Everything, shift location staff upper management

Pay, hours, upper management, commission rate

upper management, work load, b

Upper management forgets what it’s like out in the field and expect you to overwork your team to reach goals set by the division and stock holders

The salary is laughable. Management has the tendency to raise their voice and scream at times which is odd. The proposal expectations, rate card increase to the point of being priced out of competition, and the sales expectations from region on branch levels takes large leaps. This is all justified by the proposal expectations, which is justified by the price increase that ultimately prices you out of competition in a market (depending on the service) that has you already competing with companies that specialize in that specific work. I was told countless times that customers have to make the logical decision to go with the company that specializes in the service, offers better quality, and is cheaper. The actual expectations that justifies that high price at the region level isn’t conveyed or obeyed by management at the region level. This has also been communicated, and at the time of my leaving, the people that it seemed to be at the helm remained at the helm. Not to mention, just to add to the situation, the large marketing budget doesn’t have a dime spent towards “ancillary services” which is what you’d be offering. Unless I mentioned it, none of my customer knew we did gutter guard, attic remediation, crawl space work, ridge guard, landscaping, insulation, dehumidifiers, etc. Merely word of mouth was often either too late or not enough to beat out quality, certifications, industry, industry standards, and price. $12k isn't even minimum wage and is grossly low for a job that you have to crawl in tight spaces with dirt, poop, rats, snakes, possums, skunks, racoons, etc. Your ability to make money is fully dependent on the demographic in the area. If you're in an area that has the slightest bit of competition, you'll be relying on the customer to not get other quotes because you'll always lose that battle (contrary to mngt saying that the "Orkin brand" will outsell competitors because you'll be selling the "gap"). Their sales philosophy is grossly outdated. The market is getting over-saturated because the business model is very profitable, hence the insane profit margin. Companies that specialize in crawlspace work and pesticide treated insulation consistently beat my quote in quality and price. I consistently was told by customers that I sold myself over my competitors, but contrary to what mngt says, that one thing I couldn't sell was Orkin. When you can't beat quality or price, you'll always lose. Numbers were on the way down and the top inspectors were flooding out and Division/Region's solution is to pack the branches with sales reps. The leads/starts (for many branches) are slowly declining and in the adverse, branches are forced to hire more inspectors. The average inspector is making overall less money and remaining at a $12k salary. This puts stress on everyone because the state of everyone's career will rely on you and you're consistently reminded that the service crew will have to be let go if sales are down. Ironically, your paycheck will rely on everyone else. Did someone put your job on the schedule for you, do we have the right parts, is the schedule overbooked, did the job have a work order made or financing submitted, did the crew collect payment, did the office put the job in, did the customer back out, did the customer refuse to pay, did the did the customer cancel service and charges you with a negative commission back pay, did you miss quota resulting in a lower commission % and Orkin taking more of your money, did someone else's lack of communication impact your ability to be paid? Not to mention, for me specifically, my managers had the pest control techs send my leads to another inspector. Additionally, commercial termite sales seemed to be a hush hush club that if you found a way into could result in $50k+ termite sales. Nobody ever has a clear answer on anything and your pay will consistently be messed up. You hear stories of other regions and the vast differences. It's clear who the issue is and it's either ignorance or corruption that keeps these specific individuals in leadership. These individuals also consistently redirect blame to the point of relocation for others. This model and pay structure of this position is simply outdated and the stress of that will be placed on you. In the process of dealing with this stress, you'll be fitted in a less than desirable uniform. I was consistently told I looked like a “sailor man” or asked if I was really told to wear that I was consistently told that I resembled a “sailor man” or asked if I was actually told to wear that outfit, which we always got a kick out of. Additionally, you'll need to keep a clean shaven face, ironed shirt, shined black shoes, a tie, khakis, and haircut. The look is comical when the whole region fills a room where everyone dresses in this manner. I currently work in a new position that was rated a top place to work on Glassdoor. While at Orkin, I remember looking at the Glassdoor reviews for Orkin and this company and being appalled by the difference. In the time that I have been gone, the differences are even more apparent. The change of having reliable co-workers, actual meaningful sales training, and in-touch upper-management is truly refreshing. I laugh at the times of being told that the only reason sales are down is lack of effort (given the salary this was particularly funny), not pitching every service imaginable instead of what the solution actually is, not having a clean truck/ appearance/clean shave, not working enough 6 day weeks or long enough days. It is nice to actually have tangible advice and measurable strategies. I also love not being micromanaged and having to fear having my GPS watched or having to randomly find a way to multiply my daily proposal dollar amount as if that is the issue. Situations where I was told that I am not selling enough because I am not pitching enough and then having a member of upper management ride with me and realize we didn't have one legitimate proposal opportunity at 7 houses. If you enjoy the daily fight between being lied to, embellishing or dramatizing an issue to a customer, stress about $400-$600 paychecks, the constant stress of a new requirement being set into place, the endless ways your pay can be messed up, 6 day weeks when it's a struggle enough to find places to go in the 5 days and having to get up and drive around looking for somewhere to go while your family and friends enjoy their weekends, the beeping of the car monitor when you exceed 70mph on the interstate, the hot/dirty/tight attics and crawlspaces, the constant and understandable loss of being underbid by competitors, and the frustrating gif in the GroupMe asking you why you aren't selling after having dealt with this list of problems all in the span of a day... then this is the job for you!

Bad micro management from upper management

Upper management didn't seem to care as much and encouraged selling services that might not be needed

Upper management changed and the atmosphere changed

Lack of training in this region. the company has a great model but the sad truth is that turnover is so great that most employees are pushed through with no regard for how that might hurt them later.