A commitment to service

By Jake King

The ServiceMaster Story: Navigating Tension between People and Profit by Albert M. Erisman (Hendrickson Publishers, 2020, 208pp $24.95US)

ServiceMaster’s roots lie in simpler times — when door-to-door sales of in-house mothproofing and carpet cleaning were viable businesses — but this company’s singular focus on service-based businesses, God, and people over profit led to voracious growth for nearly a century.

The ServiceMaster Story: Navigating Tension between People and Profit chronicles this business’s evolution under the leadership of seven CEOs, five of whom were guided absolutely by the company’s longstanding four objectives: “To honor God in all we do, to help people to develop, to pursue excellence, and to grow profitably.” Through anecdotes and supporting data, author Albert M. Erisman explains this faith- and people-centered culture by biographing each of ServiceMaster’s CEOs as they navigated changing business climates.

Founded in 1929 offering the above services, ServiceMaster grew to international conglomerate status by the 1990’s, with well over $5 billion in annual revenue and, oddly enough, three initial public offerings.

Faith and purpose were central to founder Marion Wade’s business, “to be accountable beyond himself to do things in the right way, to treat people in the right way, and to value every person made in the image of God.” They have remained so for the better part of its existence. ServiceMaster prioritized employee dignity in businesses like janitorial work that otherwise considered people disposable. New management hires were famously required to spend two to three weeks doing cleaning work themselves to understand the value of their employees.

Servant leadership and attention to employee well-being led to significant expansion for a company with humble roots. It was the subject of two Harvard Business School case studies, selected repeatedly as Fortune magazine’s service company of the year, and continually earned the commendations of Wall St. analysts. ServiceMaster grew to encompass a variety of service-oriented franchises, a hospital cleaning business, lawncare (Trugreen), and pest control (Terminix).

But the company began to lose its way early this century. As the presence of old leaders dwindled, so too did ServiceMaster’s unique ethos. The company hired its first outside CEO, and the original four objectives slowly disappeared.

ServiceMaster today is a shell of what it once was: in culture and in its dedication to the original values, but also in revenue ($2.1 billion in 2019, down from nearly $6 billion in 2000).

I enjoyed learning about the

“Servant leadership and attention to employee well-being led to significant expansion for a company with humble roots.”

ServiceMaster legacy: the pitfalls of losing the soul of the firm, the importance of developing purpose for employees, and the power of values apparent at all levels of leadership. Those who know the ServiceMaster name will find the book of great interest.

But The ServiceMaster Story left me feeling like I’d missed a prequel: what I now recognize as ubiquitous ServiceMaster names came hard and fast. More context on today’s ServiceMaster brands early in the book might have eased the transition. I kept wondering, “Does everyone know of ServiceMaster?”

Despite a career in the public markets, I certainly didn’t. An informal survey of family and friends turned up just two who knew the company. One because he had recently bid against a local franchise, and then my Indiana-raised father.

That’s for the worse. The ServiceMaster Story is an inspiring, if cautionary, tale, a worthwhile read for those of us navigating the world of people, faith, and profit. Just do some light background reading first. w

Jake King tries to navigate faith, people, and profit in his various business ventures. He lives near Lancaster, PA.