When Susan Webb took over as the president and CEO of the
Jervis B. Webb Co. four years ago, the state of the company was
kind of like an old Johnny Carson monologue bit from “The
Tonight Show”:
“Jervis B. Webb was really decentralized.”
“How decentralized was it?”
“It was so decentralized, some customers didn’t even know they
were dealing with a Jervis B. Webb business.”
When Webb assumed the top post at the Farmington Hills-based
company that was founded by and named for her grandfather, it
was a loosely tied group of specialty businesses, each with its own
operations wing, its own customer base, and in many cases, its
own name.
“People in other companies would tell us, ‘I didn’t even know
such-and-such a company was a part of Jervis B. Webb,’” she says.
With no strong central unit governing the various businesses, it
was difficult to control costs and keep the company stable across
the board. Webb says revenues fluctuated widely among the various businesses and keeping all of them focused on a single vision
was nearly impossible.
A more centralized company would be much simpler for customers to follow and would allow the company to pool its
resources to come up with the best possible solutions for customers. The company would also be able to cross-train employees
within several business segments, giving it greater flexibility in
reacting to market shifts and changing customer needs.
Major changes were needed at the 1,000-employee manufacturer
of custom material-handling and conveying systems. It would
require a large cultural and operational upheaval that would put a
lot of stress on the company and the workers within. But Webb
says the future of the company depended on it.
Corralling the company
The first step in Webb’s plan was to perform a comprehensive
analysis of the company, its cost structure, markets, production
capacity, competitive landscape and its leadership. From that
analysis came a list of more than a dozen initiatives aimed at
pulling Jervis B. Webb together under a central umbrella.
“We created a strategy with 12-plus initiatives and then executed
it,” Webb says. “We went through an evaluation process during the
execution phase and, when necessary, adjusted the course.”
But putting a plan on paper was only the tip of the iceberg. Webb
had to get every employee in every facet of the businesses —
which generate a total of approximately $250 million in revenue
annually — to buy in to the plan. Constant, open and honest communication was essential as Webb pulled the reins on businesses
that were used to roaming free most of the time.
“From the beginning, we talked to our employees to get their
understanding and commitment,” she says. “We gave feedback
about our progress, explaining the changes and discussing the
expectations we had for each other.”
Webb conveyed a sense of urgency to her employees, letting
them know that the changes needed to begin right then. She says
she wasn’t attempting to alarm them, but realized that people
aren’t going to become motivated to change unless they are prodded.
Still, the centralization of the company created a sense of uneasiness among many of Jervis B. Webb’s longtime employees.
“It was very worrisome,” Webb says. “We do have long-term
employees, and the decentralized type of structure had been in
existence for so long, then here was a huge upheaval that was like
being turned inside out and upside down. It was just one of those
things where communication was so important because I knew in
my heart we had to make these changes and they were going to be
unpleasant for people.”
Webb says you need to meet with employees many times during
a period of drastic change, lay out exactly what it is you are planning to do, and then listen to the questions and comments they
have in response.
“This change allowed us to develop a stronger synergy among us
for working together to reach common goals,” she says.
The change helped the entire company to improve its methods of
communication. In the past, consistent communication throughout Jervis B. Webb’s businesses wasn’t a high priority, but Webb
says the need for communication during that period got the company’s leaders into the habit of communicating.
“That constant communication is something that we just found
so necessary,” she says. “Maybe in years past it wasn’t, but we
learned about it going through the change, and many businesses
now realize the more communication you have, the better.”
Improving innovation
When you refocus your company along a new, centralized theme,
your customers don’t necessarily see it. They don’t see the
improved internal communication, the streamlined processes or
the revamped culture. What they see, Webb says, is a better product. If they don’t see a better product, everything you did within
the company loses its point.
An important part of the recentralization of the company was
improving the culture of innovation. By drawing all of the company’s businesses together, Webb formed channels that allowed
ideas to cross-pollinate, bringing together the best concepts and methods to
allow the company’s idea-makers to find the best possible solutions for customers.
Webb began building a new innovation culture by creating an
example herself. As with every other aspect of the company’s
recentralization, it came down to clear, concise and consistent
communication.
“You have to go and reach out to others,” she says. “You have to
be the first to initiate contact, asking others what they see, what is
of concern. I think (communication) needs to be kept as simple as
possible, and I am a student of communication that says it needs
to be repetitive.”
The newfound emphasis on face-to-face meetings has become an
important part of promoting innovation. While Internet conferencing and e-mail allow for a degree of interaction and debate, Webb
says there is no substitute for having someone present an idea to
a group in person, and then opening the floor to discussion.
“Obviously, that type of one-on-one and two-way interaction is
preferred, but it might not always be feasible in a larger company.
But you need to have some small group discussion.”
Honest, clear communication breeds trust. Webb says that if an
employee thinks you are taking a genuine interest in his or her
idea, they will start to believe that you have a genuine interest in
how they can help the company.
If you must remain tight-lipped while considering an idea or
forming a new plan, say so.
“People are so pleased when you can tell them something,” she
says. “The hardest thing that ever happens to us is when we’re going
through a period where we just don’t know anything and we can’t tell
anybody anything. That’s so hard for all of us, but you can say that
you don’t know, too. It’s honest.”
As the company’s engineers develop and cultivate ideas, they
document and review them through an operating procedure instituted by Webb. Every idea, no matter how humble its beginnings,
is documented and submitted for review by a more experienced
member of the engineering staff, who then works with the less-experienced members to refine the idea.
Webb says there are very few, if any, throwaway ideas. If your
company values innovation, every potential innovation must be
seriously reviewed.
“Our engineers use this (review procedure) to identify and document their ideas and how they work, even ideas that might have
started with a napkin sketch,” she says “We want to lock in our
Webb ideas, and they really can come from anywhere. That’s why
we have teams of less-experienced people working with more-experienced people.”
Listening to customers
As part of refocusing the company, Webb created a renewed
focus on listening to customers and implementing their ideas in
new products.
Though Jervis B. Webb is in the relatively uncommon position of
producing exclusively custom-made products and solutions, Webb
says the importance of listening to customers is universal in business.
“You have to build confidence and be very connected with the
customer to understand their needs. It would be very horrific if we
just worked on our own and put in something that they were not
happy with, or something that wouldn’t work. Customers are
always looking for improvements, so we have to talk about what
they want.”
In addition to having engineers and managers travel to customers’ facilities, Webb also invites customers to her company’s
facilities. She says it allows her employees to gain more familiarity with customers’ needs while giving customers a sense of familiarity with how Jervis B. Webb does business.
“When you think about a customer, you have to know what their
requirements are,” Webb says. “In some cases, we have customers
with very specific specifications and standards. Others are looking
for expert material-handling consultation.
“In each of those cases, it involves a possible sale for Webb, so
we have engineering and project management meetings at their
facilities. We can see where the equipment will be installed. We
also invite them to our plants where they can see their systems
being made and they get a sense of quality and value. We also take
them to customer installations so they can see how other customers’ systems work.”
Webb views customer relationships as essential to the outside-the-box thinking that will prevent a business from stagnating. In an
ever-changing marketplace, she says a stagnant company is a company with no future.
If you can’t meet a customer’s needs, someone else will, and your
customers will become their customers. That’s why you must be
vigilant about maintaining productive working relationships with
the people who use your products and services.
“Every day we wake up, it’s a new reality,” says Webb. “It’s not a
matter of what we did in the past was wrong, but every day things
change and we have to come up with new ideas.
“One of the things we are finding with our customers is that they
are much more price-conscious than they used to be. So a customer will come to you with their needs and wants, but you have
to find a way to do it that’s cost-effective. If you can’t, maybe someone else can. So it becomes very important to meet those customer needs.”
HOW TO REACH: Jervis B. Webb Co., www.jervisbwebb.com