What does the trash business and the Russian army have in common?

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There are many similarities between business and the military and war. One of the great business and leadership books is “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu. Terms like strategic and tactical planning, chain of command and the emphasis on training are interchangeable between business and the military objectives.
This article in the link below from CNN is a great story about how neglected maintenance affected the Russian army’s advance into Ukraine.
What lessons can we learn from this article?
Ed Dryfhout ed@vantholenassociates.com

To Keep Your Best Employees, Ask Them These Questions

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From the Harvard Business Review:

 

If you’re serious about retaining the people on your team (as you should be), consider conducting “stay” interviews. These are discussions where you ask loyal employees key questions to understand how engaged they are. The information you gather can help you tackle common retention issues. Here are four questions to try:

  • What’s your frame of mind today? No matter what the response is — positive or negative — don’t negate their experience or move too quickly to solving a problem. Just listen, thank them for being honest, and ask for more information before moving toward a solution.
  • Who do you feel connected to at work? Based on their response, explore what you can do to help them deepen those connections. Perhaps people from different departments can work on a company-wide event, a cross-division initiative, or take part in virtual discussion groups.
  • What do you want to learn that will excite you and help you grow? This question signals that you care about their development and want to help them achieve their aspirations.
  • What barriers can I remove for you to help you do your job better? Then brainstorm with your colleague how you can be most helpful. Ensuring people can do their jobs well is just as important as praise and rewards.
This tip is adapted from “What Stops People on Your Team from Leaving?,” by Sabina Nawaz

Leadership In Action

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From my friend Rhoda Kreuzer:

Leadership In Action
Many companies do not make it to their third-year anniversary. When studies have been done on those companies, many of them quit just before they were about to turn the corner and be successful. In fact, most of them quit because of a debt of about $49.00. They gave up because it was hard work and there was no guarantee of success.
The reality is that there is never a guarantee of success at any point in your leadership journey. Just about the time you think you know the answers, the questions change. Just when you feel like you have the ideal situation, circumstances change. Life is about managing change and pushing yourself to continuously pursue the dream. Dreams are invaluable and we should never exchange them for tinsel.
There is no quick path to success.
It takes planning, commitment, and a determination to keep adapting to new opportunities and challenges that come your way. Every leader would prefer to have a smooth, easy path forward, but that is a dead-end that will not lead to true success.
It is the bumpy, chaotic path that leads to deeper understanding and true knowledge of what success is all about. When you think about success, it is not defined by how much you make or how many possessions you have, but rather the impact you have had on others. Success is about making your sphere of influence a better place for others.
Impacting others is messy, it is complex, and there are no easy answers on how to contribute in meaningful ways to those we lead. However, there is no award or reward that is more important than having others become shining stars because of your leadership. Leadership causes others to grow and be better than they were before we led them.
Begin 2022 with a plan to continue to challenge yourself, stretch into new areas, embrace risk, and never accept the easy path that provides false security, false recognition, and false promises. Let’s seek out true success and plan for the best year yet!
Partners In Action | 967 Spaulding Ave SE | Suite F
Ada, MI | 49301

Safety, Fleet and Driver Audits

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I know this is from Canada, but similar regulations exist in the US as well. This company had the unfortunate experience of two fatality accidents recently, which triggered an investigation of the company.

As you can see in the article, these incidents caused a great deal of grief and loss for the families in the community and the drivers who were involved, but also time and expense for the company.

This article proves once again the importance of a company’s 100% commitment to safety, proper safety training of employees, the documentation of these practices, and the proper procedures and documentation of equipment maintenance and repair. When the auditors come knocking at you door, its far too late to scramble to get this put together as they are sitting in your office going through you whole operation with a fine tooth comb. It doesn’t matter if you have one truck or one hundred. these proper procedures may someday save your business.

I am familiar with a similar audit several years ago where the officers conducting the audit took an entire day just to calculate the fine to be levied on the company being investigated. Fortunately for the company in this article, they had the proper things in place, and while it wasn’t perfect, because of their sincere efforts, it sounds like they came out in as good of shape as could be hoped.

Would your company have the same result?

Acquisitions, an introduction, Part One

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Acquisitions are the fastest way for a company to grow in our business, but it also can be the most expensive.  The immediate influx of revenue producing customers with equipment in place can be a real springboard to healthy growth.   The danger of valuing the purchase incorrectly can be a danger to the long-term profitability of the buyer, the appropriate return to the seller, and the experience of the employees and customers of both buyer and seller.

As I have stated before, I am not a CPA or an attorney.  I am a solid waste professional who has been a participant in a number of these transactions as both a buyer and a seller.  I have often said, a successful transaction may be defined as the buyer feels he paid more than he wanted, the seller did not get what he had hoped, but they both walked away shaking hands and content with the outcome.

 

There are no two acquisitions alike, just as there are no two companies alike.  Some of the variables involved in transactions such as these are:

  • Financial health of the buyer and seller,
  • What is the local competition?
  • What is the level of synergy between the buyer’s and seller’s work?
  • When was the last rate increase?
  • What is the local disposal situation, public or privately owned?
  • Is there any “flow control” in place?
  • Is there real estate involved?
  • Is equipment such as containers included?
  • Is there an adequate fleet of trucks to perform the work included?
  • What is the seller’s safety record and what safety plans are currently in place?
  • Is support infrastructure such as mechanics, a garage, shop tools, office, and equipment part of the deal?
  • Will sellers or other key employees be staying on to help run the expanded business?
  • Will rank and file employees be needed and offered jobs at the buyer’s company?
  • Is the customer base, residential, commercial, rolloff, municipal contracts?
  • What percentage of the customer base is secured by some kind of contract or agreement?

 

In negotiating the acquisition, there are two primary elements, Terms and Price.  Some variables that can affect Terms and Price are:

  • Is the seller willing to hold a note for the financing of the business, and if so, what terms?
  • What amount of down payment is expected?
  • How will the Accounts Receivable of the seller be adjusted, collected, and accounted for?
  • What provisions of a non-compete agreement will be negotiated?
  • Will there be a revenue guarantee made by the seller as a stop loss for the seller?
  • Who will assume the indebtedness on any equipment?
  • If only a portion of the seller’s business is for sale, what guidelines are in effect to assure fair competition between buyer and seller after the transaction?

 

Next time, we will look at some of the methods of valuation that are common in our industry.

Grow a Healthy Organization and Culture

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Struggling with strategic planning? How to get from where you are to where you want to go? “We don’t rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our systems”, James Clear in the book “Atomic Habits”. Turn off the TV for an hour and listen to this podcast.
https://www.entreleadership.com/blog/podcasts/craig-groeschel-strategic-planning

What Every Waste Company Needs.

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What Every Waste Company Needs.

Communications

  • Develop a strong, consistent brand.
  • Communicate the company Mission Statement to customers, community, and employees in a clear and concise manner.
  • Have a concise message to customers, team members and the community.
  • Commercial Service Agreement that is fair and easy to understand
  • Website maintenance
  • Social media monitor and responsiveness
  • Sales and Marketing

Operations

  • Emergency Response Plan
  • DOT driver qualification files
  • DOT driver alcohol and controlled substance files
  • DOT substance abuse testing
  • Separate personnel (non – DOT) files for each driver
  • Regular driver’s / safety meetings, complete with meeting agendas and attendance documentation
  • Operations Safety Manual
  • Light Duty / Return to Work Program
  • Inventory control of carts and containers
  • Identify and track operational KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators)
    • Lifts per hour.
    • Lifts per mile.
    • Miles per gallon.

 

Fleet Management

  • Pre- and Post-trip inspection procedure
  • Preventative maintenance schedule
  • DOT annual inspection schedule
  • Truck spec files for each vehicle
  • Maintenance files for each vehicle
  • Shop Safety Manual.
  • Identify and track fleet KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators)
    • Preventable road calls.
    • Trucks are serviced when they are scheduled.
    • Repair costs per unit.
  • Have a Predictive Maintenance mindset.
  • Parts inventory control and ordering system.

 

Administration

  • Employee Handbook.
  • Identify and track financial KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators).
    • Monthly billing totals by type.
  • Company Calendar, what gets done when, billing, collections,
  • Procedures manual.

 

Leadership

  • Provide and communicate a culture that is transparent and reflective of the company’s Values, Mission and Vision
  • Core Values – What makes us uniquely us.
  • Mission Statement – What we do and how and why we do it.
  • Vision Statement – Where we are going.
  • Goal setting in the other 4 areas.
  • Industry and Government relations and involvement by City, County, State, Region
  • Financial responsibility as it regards pricing, vendor relationships.
  • Exit / Succession plan

The Game of Work by Charles Coonradt

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A book I have been recommending to all of my clients recently is “The Game of Work” by Charles Coonradt. I learned about this book at a Waste Expo seminar presented by a manager form Republic Services, and contains valuable information any waste company large and small can benefit from. If you want a fresh approach on the old management adage, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure”, this is the book for you. I’ve often said success in our industry is measured in inches and feet, pounds and yards, minutes and seconds. Transforming numbers into fun and challenging objectives is what this book is all about.
 
Available on Amazon:
 
https://www.amazon.com/Game-Work-Charles-Coonradt/dp/1423630858
 
 
Read a great review here:
 
http://geekswithblogs.net/bbrelsford/archive/2005/03/13/26213.aspx