The Great Game of Business Blog

How One Company Saved $270K in MiniGames™ & Educational Training

Written by Lauren Haley | Oct 25, 2019 6:46:13 PM

Giving employees equity is one thing. Getting employees to think and act like owners is an entirely different story. That’s why SRC Holdings Corporation has an Ownership Culture Committee (OCC) responsible for challenging each company to stay true to the principles and practices of The Game and spreading the culture of ownership to every employee in the SRC family of companies.  

With two major changes in leadership, a dip in the core business, and no sales manager, SRC Logistics, a division of SRC, knew 2019 would hold its challenges. In order to meet their annual plan and the metrics they needed to have a successful business year, their five-member Ownership Culture Committee helped facilitate MiniGames™ across all departments, provide educational trainings, promote cost savings and revenue opportunities, and ultimately close the gaps and have a successful 2019 year. Here’s how SRC Logistics turned their year around:

 

MiniGames

The OCC members challenged each department in their organization to create a MiniGame to focus their teams on behavioral, cultural, or financial improvements. To date, they have completed more than ten MiniGames, and we’ve highlighted the impressive and successful ones here:

Pallet Style—Saving Reusable Pallets 

Theme: Barbershop

Goal: To save 800 pallets in two months to reduce the cost of buying new pallets.

Benefit: Recycling pallets saves $7 per pallet and $13 per heavy-duty pallet. Additionally, pallets can be sold for extra revenue. 

Outcome: Since beginning the MiniGame in May, SRC Logistics has saved 4,941 pallets and $37,000. 

This MiniGame was inspired by a shop-floor worker and is now implemented in all departments at SRC Logistics. Excess recycled pallets are now sold to another SRC division, making SRC Logistics extra money and providing a sister company material at a discounted rate. By the end of 2019, they project to save $78,000—savings that will continue into the future.

Up and Outbound—a PIP Short Block MiniGame 

Theme: Dig Dug video game

Players: The customer service team

Goal: To make 4,000 outbound calls in three months, focusing on getting a specific part from dealers they were short on—PIP short blocks.

Benefit: Capturing PIP short blocks on dealer core returns—getting more of this item to meet their demand of remanufactured short block engines. 

Outcome: In total, the four-member customer service team made 4,010 outbound calls and collected 244 short blocks, resulting in $110K in revenue.

Within the other MiniGames this year, SRC Logistics focused on opportunities in reducing inventory, improved safety, facility cleanliness and organization, efficiency, and process improvement. They are projecting to reach $390,000 of savings or revenue by the end of 2019 from these MiniGames

 

Educational Training

The members of the Ownership Culture Committee were inspired by Ownership Rule#7, “Ownership needs to be taught,” to focus on educational training this year. They've started several initiatives to help the employee-owners understand the company’s open-book culture and learn more about the fundamentals of the Great Game, financial literacy, and benefits of employee ownership. 

This started with presenting two of the Higher Laws of Business and two Ownership Rules during each company-wide Huddle over three months. Additionally, they posted bi-weekly “Toilet Talk” flyers in the restroom with related educational topics.

 

Crunch N’ Munch

A main focus for the OCC members this year was facilitating three educational sessions called “Crunch N’ Munch,” each holding several individual workshops focusing on financial literacy and ESOP education. 

Within these sessions, workshops covered topics like cash flow, MiniGames, the Higher Laws of Business, financial literacy, healthcare and insurance, 401k and retirement, and ESOPs. By the third and final session, they had 85% of their workforce voluntarily participate and complete the course.

The Crunch N' Munch allowed the staff to learn more about these valuable topics and better apply them to their jobs and personal life. SRC Logistics even saw an increase in their employee satisfaction surveys because of employees’ participation in MiniGames and educational opportunities.

With the help of educational initiatives and a focus on MiniGames this year, SRC Logistics is now on track for a successful business year and even increased employee satisfaction along the way. The efforts from the OCC members and employees contributed to the company’s achievement of a level 11 (out of 13) bonus, which was focused on profit before tax.

SRC Logistics can attest that educational opportunities and truly engaging your employees can drastically impact the performance of your employees and company overall—hitting big goals starts with small wins.

 

 

SRC Logistics contributes to one piece of the remanufacturing puzzle at the SRC family of companies. Remanufacturing is a process where used products referred to as cores are restored to useful life—SRC Logistics provides core management, transport and warehousing, in addition to IT solutions for this process. In 2019, SRC Logistics is celebrating their 25 year anniversary. 

 

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