T.N.Shivakumar - Manager – Training & Development
T.N.Shivakumar - Manager – Training & Development
- How long you have been associated with the Pest Control field?
- What is your educational background?
- What attracted you to work for Rentokil?
- What do you do as part of your job in Rentokil?
- What is the biggest Challenge for the pest control industry in the next five years?
- What are some of the special Experiences with customers working in your current role?
- What is your advice to people to keep the area pest free?
- What area in Pest Control are you passionate about. How do you combine that with your job?
How long you have been associated with the Pest Control field?
I have been associated with pest control field for the past eighteen years. My initial exposures were limited to fumigation of coffee and general pest control. I was associated with a tobacco major in India, which also gave me the opportunity to interact with several technocrats on pest control from Europe and Asia Pacific. Frequent interactions with global experts have helped honing my skills on integrated pest management systems.
What is your educational background?
I am a graduate in Science, with Chemistry as the major. Subsequent to my graduation, in the year 1973, I have also undergone training in Welding Technology from the Welding Research Institute, BHEL, Trichy. In 1994, I underwent training in Integrated Pest Management from the renowned Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, and have the expertise certification in fumigation from the Directorate of Plant Protection Quarantine and Storage, from the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India.
What attracted you to work for Rentokil?
In the year 1997, undergoing training on general pest control, one of the trainers, from UK, kept referring to a company named, Rentokil, as being the leaders in the pest control field, globally. Since then I have been nurturing a desire to work in Rentokil. Incidentally, at the beginning of 2008, I had expressed a desire to work in an Indian pest control company. However, the interview call came from Rentokil itself. It later turned out that Rentokil had acquired the Indian pest control company, and I was given the offer to be a Technical Manager in Rentokil.
What do you do as part of your job in Rentokil?
I focus on the integrated approach to pest control, and give the importance of inspection, audits and train the team to focus on Quality Pest Management Systems and evaluate the performance by monitoring. The operating team is given full technical input on the pest biology, understanding the material safety data of pesticides, the need for personal protective equipment, and ensuring the health and safety of self and co-workers, and judicious use of pesticides while taking care of environment by all standards. Audits give me a scope to find out the grey area which needs to be tuned in with corrective measures.
What is the biggest Challenge for the pest control industry in the next five years?
The biggest challenges of course remain implementing stringent standards in quality and work procedures in all quarters of pest management applications. As such, the entry barriers of opening a pest control in India, is very low. Additionally, it is a matter of growing concern that the quality of pesticide formulations in actual use can be compromised to keep costs down.
It is of utmost importance for the buyers of pest control services to know the credibility of their service providers, to check their approved pesticide list and the processes within the company. Companies like Rentokil invest heavily in technology and also on the safety of their own employees, thereby keeping the interest of their end customers prominently high.
What are some of the special Experiences with customers working in your current role?
Interacting with customers is always a special experience. Indian consumers are used to aerosol products or locally made solutions for keeping cockroaches, mosquitoes or ants out of their home. However, they seldom realise that the roots of any pests are deep within their house, and all the products in the market only help them eradicate the pests which they can “see”.
To reach the hiding and breeding place of any pest species and to control it from there is the effective solution. For this you need experts to come to your premises. And when customers see the results, the sense of relief in them is moment that brings pride to us.
I have had some interesting interactions with my customers, telling them how effectively they can keep pests out of their house by a little bit of discipline. Pests usually require food, water and shelter. If we cut off this survival triangle of the pests, we can always keep our house to ourselves.
What is your advice to people to keep the area pest free?
I would recommend keeping the area pest free by adopting simple techniques in prevention by practising regular cleaning, screening & sealing of all vulnerable pest entry & hide-out points such as, vents, gaps, cracks and crevices to bar pests from entering the house. In short, the so called exclusion of pests. Apart from prevention and exclusion, sanitation should be exercised. We should also ensure with our local municipal corporation to keep our surrounding cleaner, as a bad environment is a breeding ground for lot of disease causing pests.
What area in Pest Control are you passionate about. How do you combine that with your job?
I am passionate about inspections & by mapping the pest affected area which directs me to the source of infestation either be it a stored products pest or urban pests . The outcome of the inspection guides to help in drawing an effective solution plan. This includes questioning , what are the infrastructure required to address the issue, risks involved in the operation, how safely and effectively the job can be completed.