Recruitment & Development: Diversity Matters

We asked Mike Pearce, Chief Development Officer at ServiceMaster Clean, what role diversity plays in his brand's recruitment and development process. Here's what he had to say.

At ServiceMaster we highly value diversity. Diversity has been a key ingredient for our successful growth. Our corporate diversity statement reads as follows:

"Working with associates and franchisees from diverse backgrounds improves our thinking, makes us more creative, and allows us to better achieve our collective goals for our associates, our customers, and our communities.

Diversity is every way that we reflect and share our unique experiences. Guided by our corporate values, we believe diversity and inclusion allow us the best possible chance to succeed both individually and as a company.

Embracing a diverse work environment is key to how we treat our associates, customers, and suppliers. Diversity embodies all the differences that make us unique, including, but not limited to, race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, familial status, disability status, veteran status, genetic information, gender identity, and sexual orientation."

We have a high percentage of franchises that are women- and/or minority-owned. We also have a large international base of franchisees representing countries and regions all over the world, including Japan, Russia, the Middle East, and Europe. Some of our franchises with the highest sales volume are owned by franchisees who bring the greatest diversity.

We believe that through developing a diverse family of franchisees we are better positioned to serve the most diverse groups of customers. The insights we gain from minority- and/or women-owned franchisees are invaluable to our efforts in gaining market share and dominating the service industry segments we perform in.

We would be missing so much of what is possible without the knowledge and culture of many different groups. We make concerted efforts both corporately and through franchise marketing to ensure that the company and its franchisees are represented by every point of view in our society and in countries throughout the world.