2022 Leaders Meeting Recap
The Wiers 2022 E3 Leader’s meeting: Empowering Everyone Everyday was designed to inform, empower, and energize leaders and their teams as Wiers continues to make Trucks Roll. This meeting provided an opportunity to build upon our strong foundational core values. Empower leaders to take action, invest in employees, and formulate a solid fourth-quarter strategy. Read more about what the team was up to.
On October 11th-13th, the Wiers leaders met to kick off its annual education year. E3 – Empowering Everyone Everyday was created to encourage departmental managers to take action and feel empowered! The group met for dinner at Union 50 and after being divided into small table-size groups and provided a list of fun starter questions. This proved to be an excellent way for the team to connect with the new members of the Wiers organization.
The meeting opened Tuesday with a note to silence cell phones and to get ready to roll up your sleeves. The welcome presentation was delivered by Wiers President, Drew Hettich and covered an overview of the meeting, a roadmap for leader development for the next 12 months, and a call for enthusiastic participation. CEO and Owner, Tom Wiers delivered a powerful presentation on the Wiers Business Foundation. He shared the journey of Wiers and that we are at an inflection point in our growth. Tom highlighted the opportunity in commercial vehicle maintenance and repair space, citing that demand is growing at 4% and labor only at 1%. Tom reminded the team about our target customer segment and why Wiers is positioned to support it. Lastly, he talked through the rapidly changing technology in the market and how Wiers will capitalize on the changes.
Drew conducted a panel discussion with 2 professional Wiers service managers – Mary and Ken. Both described their journey to becoming a leader and how their teams have evolved over time. Both shared the importance of finding good culture fits for their growing team. Mary described how she is utilizing her team to help her determine who gets on her team. The group then worked through a group problem-solving activity, sharing various challenges we all see in our daily operations. Wiers Service Director Mike led the group through the process. The team was fully engaged and was able to share several experiences to help others with their problems. Drew shared a moving presentation on the four common errors that leaders make. He said, “knowing the errors isn’t half the battle.” He shared that failing to plan, make a decision, utilize all available resources, and self-care were the common errors. Drew described the various causes of the errors and offered techniques to try. Tom presented materials on Growth and Comfort and how to find a balance between the two sides. The meeting participants were asked to understand the growth and comfort connection, feel increased self-awareness of this and work with tools to engage our teams. Tom said, “It’s our job to get our people operating in the growth zone for as much time as possible!”
We ended day one with Wiers International Trucks General Manager Dave leading the group through a Lost in the Desert exercise. Individuals evaluated and ranked 15 items in terms of importance. The groups worked together to build a list by consensus. The individual rating and group ratings were measured against the expert. The group departed for dinner and activities at Punch Bowl Social. Wristbands were provided and our area was closed so individuals could bowl, throw darts, and play ping-pong or foosball. We also reserved the karaoke room and that became the major attraction for the group!
The following morning Drew opened the meeting with an outline for the day’s activities. The team was led in a team exercise utilizing Lego to illustrate the importance of selecting a leader, managing time, and creating a plan. Wiers CFO – Matt Leinheiser led a panel discussion on KPIs with two of our leaders Mike and Mike. The panel discussed the daily update, sales trend report, and departmental scorecards. The group was very engaged, and time was extended because of the value of this session. The team shared how valuable the information is and how it is used. The team discussed improvements or recommendations. In my opinion, this was one of the best sessions regarding engagement.
We were given a refresher session on SMART goals and the team broke into small groups to build their own SMART goals. The team returned and each manager presented their SMART goal for 2023. Overall, the group enjoyed the interactive nature of the meeting – citing the various activities. Before departing the group did the Step-In Circle exercise to help gather feedback and common themes during our time together.
The 2022 E3 leader’s meeting was a great reminder that Wiers is constantly driving to help each team member dream more, learn more, and achieve more. We are building a growing company. Wiers is a workplace where employees can do their best work and become their best selves, by prioritizing growth, hard work, and collaboration. At Wiers, we make sure we treat our employees fairly and give them access to training and development. Our business grows when our people grow and the time, we spent together was invaluable to building relationships and growing.
