Organization Background
Global Recovery Corp. (GRC) was spun-out of a department of SRC Logistics back in 2013 with just five employees. The company works with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to help maximize their return on aging, obsolete core inventories and scrap. More recently, the company has diversified by expanding into remanufacturing irrigation power units.
Challenge
While the GRC team came out of the gate strong with $8 million in sales their first year, they also had challenges to overcome, such as $1.5 million accounts receivable and a $3 million loan balance they needed to pay back. They needed to find a way to work together in running a sustainably profitable business of their own by focusing on expenses, cash flows, collections, and inventory turns.
Solution
As SRC employees, GRC’s founding team has been practicing The Great Game of Business® (GGOB) for years. But now they needed The Game even more to help them grow their business as an independent unit. “We needed all of our employees capable of making day to day decisions while understanding the kind of impact those decisions would have on the business in areas like costs, inventory, and investments,” says General Manager Neil Chambers.
Results
Practicing GGOB from Day One has allowed the GRC team to paint a strong financial picture while also establishing a solid foundation for future growth. PBT growth alone has been strong, growing 84% in 2021 with forecasts for another 52% bump in 2022. “Our communication through the High-involvement Planning™ process gives us the information and motivation needed to work through contingencies, diversify our sales, and improve profitability,” says Kelly Mullins, GRC’s controller who has worked for the company since 2013. “It drives ideas, alignment, and commitment to the overall goals. It also helps that we’re all just a bit competitive.”
“The Great Game of Business not only teaches us all how to learn the business side of things, but it helps us create an entire culture that makes showing up every day a lot more enjoyable. We have a great team environment that is second to none. We each know what is expected of us and how that impacts our fellow employee-owners, as well as the company’s bottom line. This seems to foster accountability and a sense of pride that organically brings out the best in everyone. We would not be the outstanding company that we are without practicing the principles of The Great Game of Business and playing the game at such a high level.”
~ LaCinda Young, Accounting Specialist (five-year employee owner)
Pain Points and Opportunities
As with many companies tied to the manufacturing industry, GRC is fighting supply chain issues daily. But as a result of the tremendous growth they’ve experienced over the past few years, they’re also looking to hire. The catch is finding the “right” people to bring on board. “We’re not looking for bodies,” says Mullins. “We want people who want to learn, develop, and grow with the organization. Our GM Neil also says that we won’t hire anyone we wouldn’t want to have a beer with. We know how damaging it can be to the culture if you hire the wrong person.” Strangely enough, Mullins says that the team received a letter from a former associate who left GRC a few years ago. He was writing to let them know how much he’d like to get his job back—as soon as he gets released from prison. “It just shows you how GGOB and this culture affects people and sticks with them,” says Mullins.
“The Great Game of Business helps you understand how things work in the business world. At my old company no one wanted to tell you what the numbers were or what they meant. They didn’t want you to know what was going on in the business because they were afraid you would ask for a raise. Things could have been a lot different if they would have shared the numbers. I’ve got a stake in this game. Understanding the numbers means I can influence the future of the company with my decisions and this influences my own future.”
~ Jeff Stegner, Head Mechanic (five-year employee owner)
MiniGame™ Highlight
The GRC team played several minigames in 2021 which aligned to their drivers and Critical number. One example was a MiniGame built around using tradeshows to connect to new customers in different regions of the country. They also played a MiniGame which targeted their warehouse and production layout with a goal to restructure racking and move product to create a better flow and increase efficiency in the shop. The team also excels at setting individual challenges and goals for themselves—almost like personal MiniGames. “It’s very informal but it works for us,” says Mullins. “And we all enjoy celebrating when we beat our goals.”
What’s Next
One of the areas that Mullins and her fellow employee-owners want to focus on in the coming year is formalizing their communication processes a bit as they continue to grow. “We’ve always been more of an informal group and titles don’t mean much around here,” says Mullins. “But sometimes we can’t include everyone in every discussion now, which means we need to work harder at making sure everyone is engaged and bought into where we’re headed over the next five years.”
“The Great Game of Business has made our job not just a job. It makes our jobs more personal and adds challenges every day. We always know whether we are winning or losing so we can make adjustments and control our own destiny. It helps us win together as a team, but when we aren’t winning it helps us learn together and grow as a team.”
~ Jason Taylor, Core specialist (eight-year employee-owner)
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