By Mathieu Godon
Through my 25 years of experience working with recyclers and helping them reach their potential, I have observed a recurring pattern. In many recycling yards, one key individual – the salesperson, typically – gets involved in all operations. Often feeling a lack of control over the process, this person puts everything on their back: making the sale, checking inventory, making sure the item is shipped to the customer, and double checking that payment has been made. Meanwhile, the other employees end up feeling less involved, less valuable, and less motivated. In this context, employee retention and lack of profitability can quickly become issues.
Of course, it doesn’t have to be that way. Balance is the ideal we should strive for. In a balanced organizational model, each employee has a clearly defined role: the salesperson contacts customers and guides them through their purchases, the inventory technician identifies the parts and keeps track of what’s in stock, the shipping team prepares and ships the parts, accounting sends invoices and processes payments, and so on. In this model, each employee feels like they matter and bring value to the organization; and because everyone can fully focus on their role, customers are better served, the business becomes more efficient, more productive and more profitable.
Reaching that balance may seem like a daunting task, especially as organizations become larger. Two of the main challenges are clearly defining operational roles within the organization and finding a way to communicate and share information efficiently.
Of course, change must first come from within, but fortunately, there are tools out there that can really help you achieve organizational balance, raise the value of each member of your team and power up your business.
For instance, you could put a standardized process in place, along with an easy-to-use yard management system, such as ProgiPac, that tracks sales, from the moment the order is placed until it arrives at the customer’s doorstep. While the standardized process gives everyone in the organization clear guidelines to carry out their respective tasks, the management system keeps everyone in the loop, since they are all part of the same framework. Being able to keep an eye on the order status at all times puts everyone at ease and helps them make decisions with confidence. What’s more, a web-based solution that’s accessible from anywhere can enable employees to work remotely on days when the plumber has to drop by or the kids are sick. Finally, an intuitive and easy-to-learn system helps onboarding new employees, who quickly feel confident and efficient.
If we think back to that salesperson who worried about every detail, it’s easy to see how a standardized process and a good yard management system can put their mind at ease and help them focus on what they do best: make sales, keep their customers happy, make their business profitable and successful.
Mathieu Godon is an Operational Manager for ProgiPac. He has been working with recyclers for over 25 years and has successfully implemented ProgiPac in many of their businesses. In his spare time, he is also involved in minor league baseball. If you wish to power up your business, you can reach him at 1-877-GO-PROGI or at sales@progipac.com.
