Successes in Workforce

Clean technology market leader improves organization through new scheduling systems and enhanced leadership roles

Company

Progressive Recovery, Inc.

Location

Dupo, Illinois

Number of Employees

90

Solutions

  • Workforce
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“It is a work in progress but I am certain we could not be producing the volume we are now producing without the team lead program in place.”
Tim Giddens
Chief Operating Officer - Progressive Recovery, Inc.

Situation

Progressive Recovery Inc. (PRI) located in Dupo, Illinois is the market leader in clean technology equipment for three different markets: the printing industry, the life sciences liquid waste sterilization industry and the life sciences solid tissue sterilization industry. With a mission to triple their business in the next few years, PRI knew their current organizational structure and business practices needed to evolve to the next level.

Since their clean technology products are highly technical and customized for each customer, PRI faced the challenge of building a highly skilled workforce capable of keeping up with expanding sales while maintaining the world class quality their customers expect.  Tim Giddens, Chief Operating Officer at PRI, understood the difficulty of attracting new employees while maintaining the dedicated workforce that has helped PRI become the leader in their markets. “The competition for skilled labor is extreme right now and we have to ensure that we can offer an attractive opportunity both financially and culturally,” said Giddens.

IMEC Solution

PRI leadership engaged the improvement specialists at IMEC to address the issues that confronted them.  Starting with a focus on standardizing project flows, then job scheduling, they are now working to develop their senior technical people so they can become group leaders.  To implement the project scheduling system, IMEC facilitated a cross functional team that developed a room-sized visual scheduling board that helps PRI visualize and communicate major project milestones and allocate resources to the most critical jobs.  Giddens noted “the new scheduling system has enabled us to manage a significant increase in production better than before.”

Moreover, as sales increased and business grew, PRI realized it needed to prepare the next generation of leaders. With the help of IMEC, PRI implemented a team lead program where they identified their most experienced technical contributors and asked them to step into a team leadership role. IMEC provided initial and follow up training to ensure they had the basic tools to successfully assume a leadership position. Training included the DiSC behavioral assessment, conflict resolution, effective communication and general leadership training.  As a result of IMEC’s coaching, the team leads then identified their own training program focused on developing front line leadership proficiencies.  These actions have enabled PRI to grow the company while not losing the dedicated workforce that allowed PRI to achieve their current levels of productivity.

Results
  • Doubled sales in the last 5-6 years
  • 50% increase in workforce
  • Developed an advanced project scheduling system to support increasing sales
  • Implemented an internal leadership training program
  • Built the foundation for further growth