Lemont, IL

Known as the nationwide company to return normalcy to the lives of facility managers through preventative and on-demand maintenance, Resicom now has its sights on the horizon for global expansion.

Resicom CEO John Fairclough travels abroad this week to the United Kingdom and Western Europe gathering information to ascertain whether international expansion is a sound business initiative.  Resicom was recently approached by one of its largest retail clients in regards to possible interest in partnering with overseas facilities.  Our ability to provide disciplined, successful project management and execution through our standard/process/audit system has led to nationwide proficiency that may translate well overseas.

“To fulfill our quest of continuing to innovate the industry, we need to continue to push ourselves to do things that seem nearly impossible,” says Resicom CEO John Fairlclough.  “Accomplishing this will require a commitment to development, and I look forward to our team solving this challenge.”

CASE STUDY

Communication is a key component to company success- both internally and with clients.  After reading a thought-provoking resource book regarding why corporate America often falls short by having the wrong length and types of meetings, Resicom adopted an initiative to revamp our structure.  Resicom team members are located throughout the country, yet communication must be streamlined between all levels of the team.  We needed to ensure team members are informed, and directed toward common goals each day through these meetings.  

Scope

The scope of work needed to execute the project includes:

1. Develop a meeting outline detailing who would be included in the new meeting structure.
2. Finalize times for each meeting to avoid department conflict and overlap.   
3. Track notes for each meeting in a place with company-wide visibility.

Challenges

The constraints of the project include:

1. Create a format all company members can embrace and maintain.
2. Team members are located in 3 of the 4 US time zones.
3. Tracking the schedule and notes to provide visibility to participants while restricting access to confidential information. 
4. Ensuring that rollout of the new meeting structure is not disruptive to employees’ routine, and increases motivation and productivity. 

Solution

We understood that the rollout of the new meeting structure would benefit the company greatly, therefore, employee input was incorporated to elicit the greatest buy-in.  We alloted sufficient time to create, refine and audit the process.  We ensured that the entire meeting initiative was in alignment with our core value of “clear, courageous communication.” 

Our solution to this project included:

1. Various applications from the reference book were discussed during a company wide staff meeting with everyone in attendance. 
2. A synopsis outlining each meeting type being explored was compiled including information on why each type of meeting was needed and the benefits to the company.  
3. A chart detailing the new meeting structure, times and participants was developed and distributed to all employees.  
4. The meeting system was incorporated into a robust and dynamic computer application already utilized company-wide.  
5. Attendance was tracked to encourage contribution and build routine. 

Summary

After two months traction with the new meeting system, Resicom noticed significantly positive results.  Teams experience better company unification and clarification in daily activities.  Inter-department communication has increased resulting in positive transparency.  Obstacles are identified quickly at the beginning of the day and addressed to boost individual productivity.  Larger issues requiring more focused discussion are tackled during weekly tactical or project meetings, which frees up the day from overwhelming distractions.  Resicom possessed a solid communication structure 2 months ago, but this improved system has led to a world-class communication system.  

How can leadership structure enhance organizational clarity?

Creating the Leadership Team on the organizational chart is important in building organizational clarity. Here are specific basic disciplines of business:

• Sales/Marketing
• HR
• Operations
• Technology
• Finance/Admin

Businesses may have some of these broken out separately, or combine others as their business size and needs dictate. These roles are typically filled by people with strong organizational skills, as they are responsible for reporting verified information to the CEO. These are present in most every organization, even companies with under 5 employees.

What is the missing piece?

Most companies, however, miss the role that I call the “Creative Thinker”. This is a responsibility that goes to someone that is curious and can ponder and think outside of ordinary thought lines. They are usually the person or team that the CEO delegates R&D projects to. Here is a sample of what this role would play in a company:

• The company wants to expand its offerings by exploring different opportunities. The Creative Thinker researches the market, assesses the opportunity and provides a report to the executive team on their findings.
• The company wants to improve one of its processes. The Creative Thinker can research the dangers of keeping things as is, assess the opportunities for improvement, and provide a report to the executive team on their findings, without the bias of having to execute the changes.
• The sales team wants to present its offerings to a potential client. The Creative Thinker can demonstrate expertise in an area of focus without pushing the services offered. This unbiased expertise presented strengthens the presentation.

How do I get it?

Here are the first steps to bringing this structure into your company:

• Identify the traits and skill set needed for this role
• Create the initial project list for this role by identifying opportunities and dangers the company would like to research.
• Review your current personnel to see if anyone can fill the role. If nobody is capable, look to hire someone for the role.
• Once hired, include this person on your executive team so they can be up to speed on everything within the company, giving them insight on things that will help them be more effective in their responsibilities.
• Ensure this person lives and breathes your values, mission, and purpose. 

This structure will prove to be key in developing a world class organization. It reinforces organizational clarity, helping keep the company on its desired course.

How can internal communications enhance organizational clarity?

Internal communications keep the company’s team current on the happenings within the organization. Typical forms of this communication are newsletters, company updates, and memos from upper management. These play the role of delivering a message. The other, informal forms of communication are the ones that reinforce this message. These are the ones that are powerful. Here are a few examples:

• When the company measures something, it tells employees it is important (customer satisfaction)
• When the company rewards something, it communicates that the action is in alignment

• When the company disciplines an action, everyone learns that it conflicts with the company goals

It is similar to body language coupled with words. If they line up, things are clear. When they are not in unison, there is confusion, doubt, and angst. 

Why do I need to do this?

The way a company communicates internally needs to be just as effective as the way it communicates or markets itself publicly. There must be organizational clarity for the company to reach its potential. Growth and profits will be limited and there will be more issues arising from the team acting outside of what the company promises. 

A company risks its viability and the management risk their sanity when organizational clarity is missing. A small company may be able to endure this because the leader has a pulse on everything going on, however, as the business grows, the company has a higher likelihood of imploding.

How do I get it?

Here are the first steps to bringing this type of internal communication into your company:

• Review your discipline and reward processes to see if they are consistent with what the company goals and values.
• Mention the components of the strategic plan when rewarding or disciplining an action. This reinforces how important they are and work towards weaving this importance into the culture of the company and its employees. 

• Measure the things that line up with the values and mission. For example, if one of your core values is around customer satisfaction, figure out a way to measure it. This will reinforce that this is so important to the company that management tracks it.
• Celebrate when people act in accordance with the values and purpose.
• Make this a part of your management discussion. Ask questions related to the values. For example, when someone does something questionable, ask them “Does that line up with our core values?” or “Does that bring us closer to our goals?” 

This approach to internal communication will prove to be key in reinforcing the company strategy and deliver organizational clarity. This will help the company capture opportunities and avoid dangers.

How can approach to business enhance organizational clarity?

Our company uses the Verus Methodology of business management. One of its principles is that an organization must leverage clarity to operate optimally. There are multiple components to a business structure that can enhance this organizational clarity. They include: Business Strategy, Internal Communications, and Leadership/Executive Team Structure. When effectively leveraged, a company can enjoy a clear sense of direction and operate in great alignment.

How can strategy enhance organizational clarity?

A business needs to know its purpose, vision, goals, and core values. The purpose helps define the reason for being. The vision is what we aspire to be. The goals are intermediate points that are met during the life of the business. The core values are the boundaries that underline the behavior of people within the business, a set of constraints. 

When the business manages through its strategy, the team goals are clear, and management is able to keep the team accountable to them. It is important for the core values and purpose to come through in the way the business operates. It can become the thing that energizes employees to excel. 

This must be the central piece that unifies the company. This needs to be the common thread shared by all employees, and all things need to align with it.

How do I get it?

Here are the first steps to building a strategy for your business:

1. Examine the purpose of the business. Why does the company exist? Ask “Why?” multiple times and when you cannot ask it anymore, you are close to your purpose. This is typically the purpose of the founder of the company. This is not an easy thing to identify. There will need to be a lot of reflection by the founder and revisit the things that helped shape their perspective. The critical junctures in their life helped influence this purpose. Once identified, it will become magnetic to the people you need to attract. 
2. Identify your vision – what you are trying to become. Here is an example: Dell computer’s was “To become the IBM of the 21st Century”.
3. Identify your core values. Be careful to not focus on marketing catch phrases. These need to be things that will not change, and that you would be willing to suffer financial losses to hold true to them. You also must be willing to fire someone because of violation of them. They should be a couple of words each. Simple statements of a theme. You can support it with information, but the statement needs to be fast. Examples can include “Keep promises”. Then support that with “We keep promises to each other, to our vendors, and to our clients…”
4. Document it.
5. Preach it, teach it, post it, live it, and reinforce it. The strategy needs to be visible everywhere in the company, in the way it operates, manages, markets, etc. 
6. Hire people who have the desired skill set and align with the strategy.

This approach to strategy will give the company a sense of direction and deliver organizational clarity. This will allow the company to look at action and structure and measure it against the strategy, helping keep the company focused on what it is trying to accomplish.

CASE STUDY

Proper vehicles maintenance is something people don’t always consider until something goes wrong or a strange rattle starts.  However, a business can’t afford the downtime from out-of service vehicles because maintenance was overlooked or delayed.  Resicom’s entire fleet must be readily available so that our technicians can respond on short notice to the emergency and preventative maintenance facility needs of our clients.  To ensure no vehicles miss routine service, Resicom developed a detailed procedure to monitor the longevity, reliability, and safety of our fleet.   

Scope

The scope of work needed to execute the project includes:

1. A mechanic must be secured and pricing is negotiated for consistent, standard maintenance including oil changes, tune ups, rotation of tires, etc.
2. Vehicles must be logged into company database with all pertinent information including make, model, VIN#, license plates and all prior maintenance history.
3. A checkout procedure including inspection and recording starting mileage must be created when vehicle is assigned to a driver.
4. Upon return of vehicle, a post checkout procedure must be developed to assess condition of returned vehicle and mileage. 

Challenges

The constraints of the project include:

1. Coordinating the drop off and pick up of vehicles at mechanic.
2. Ensuring that drivers are notifying us of all issues regarding the vehicles that are not visibly noticeable.
3. Time span between projects utilizing fleet vehicles is condensed making quick-turnaround maintenance a necessity.

Solution

The key to the effective service of our fleets is to contract a reliable mechanic, and to keep detailed and accurate records of each vehicle’s history.    

Our solution to this project included:

1. A local, reliable mechanic is chosen in close proximity to our headquarter to facilitate convenient drop off and pick up of vehicles. 
2. Mileage is checked in and out on a regular basis and appointments are scheduled in advance for all oil changes or maintenance needs.
3. During inspections drivers are provided a written checklist including items such as faulty brakes, tire issues, cracked windshield, etc. to ensure such issues are reported. 
4. Returned inspections requiring service are scheduled immediately before the vehicle is reserved for the next work project.
5. A reserve mechanic is located when our primary provider is unavailable to expedite maintenance turnaround.  

Summary

Preventive Maintenance is a standard term at Resicom and what drives our business.  However, it is not only a definition we understand to meet our clients’ needs, it is also an integral part of our internal processes.   We strive to prevent failure before it occurs so it is imperative that our vehicle fleet remains in optimal condition.  This prevents the possibility of costly repairs due to procrastinated maintenance and downtime of productivity when vehicles are inoperable.  

Resicom blends the use of our employees with established partner vendors to successfully execute projects nationwide.  We leverage our buying power and approach travel spend in a manner where it does not impact our client.  Often, it is more cost effective for Resicom to fly its own crew to a project site rather than contract with local vendors.   In order to maximize our travel buying power as well as keep itineraries organized, Resicom created a detailed process for how we utilize and schedule travel.  We rely upon our tried and true method of standard-process-audit to deliver more value.  

Scope

The scope of work needed to complete this project:

1. When a traveling crew is designated for the specific project, all pertinent information needs to be compiled by the project manager including passengers names, location, arrival and departure dates and times.
2. Airfare needs to be booked according to schedule dates of jobs.
3. Car Rentals need to be reserved with size of rental vehicles dependent on size of crew and work scope involved.
4. Hotels need to be reserved, dependent on crew size.
5. Once all travel has been booked an email should be sent to entire crew with all travel information and confirmation numbers.

Challenges

The challenges of this project included:

1. Finding competitive & cost effective rates on flights, hotels, and car rentals to maintain established budget.
2. Last minute changes of flights due to delays or unpredicted changes of schedule.
3. Flight delays can prevent crews from arriving at destination with enough time to acquire all materials from suppliers prior to close of business.  

Solution

We understand that flexibility amongst travel providers will be critical to the success of our ability to service facilities nationwide.  By having a set process in place, we are able to coordinate travel quickly and efficiently, and pass along the cost savings to our clients.  Our solution to this project included: 

1. Choose a preferred vendor for airfare, hotels, and car rentals that offer the most competitive pricing.
2. Maximize all benefits and reward programs from vendors to receive any free tickets, free night stays or free car rental days.
3. Book travel 7 days in advance to secure best fares available.
4. Choose a airline that waives fees for last minute flight changes or cancellations.
5. All airfare, hotels, and car rentals are paid for in advance to minimize ticket counter delays for the traveling crews and to ensure confirmation.
6. Project Manager relays all travel information to crews.  

Summary

Resicom is a company based on standard- process- audit.  An established process for travel allows us to leverage our technicians to complete emergency and preventative maintenance nationwide at minimal cost to our company and clients.