Maxim Messenger: June 2021

President's Message

Greetings and welcome to our June 2021 edition of our Maxim Messenger employee newsletter.  Our fiscal year ended on April 30^th and what a year it was for Team Maxim!  With the early significant impact COVID-19 had on our business, we anticipated the year was going to be full of opportunities and challenges.  The goal for the Senior Leadership Team was to figure out how to take the challenges brought on by COVID-19 and turn them into opportunities - to set ourselves above the competition for how we could serve and work with our valued customers and meet their needs.  We came into the past year knowing that we needed to have a positive approach and do our best to offer solutions to “make things happen” and be there when our customers needed us the most.

In the last two President’s Messages, I offered that we needed to have compassion and encourage one another through times of uncertainty where people’s levels of stress or comfort may be different from our own.  In the world we live in, we see firsthand that there is no shortage of topics where people have opposing views and it is okay to “agree to disagree” while being respectful and civil to one another.  We need more people being a positive voice and building each other up as we continue to persevere through COVID-19 and get back to a new normal in our day-to-day lives.

After a very volatile first half of the year, the second half of the year saw improvement with the combination of consumer spending increasing (more sales) and continued expense control by the management team.  We started the year with low sales volume and activity and finished the year with stronger sales volume and lots of activity on the go which is a trend that was good to see.  Unfortunately, our suppliers have advised that there will be production delays and challenges related to supply chain issues so we know in advance that we will be working to try and satisfy disappointed customers. I believe Team Maxim will respond in kind and do our best to be better than our competitors in working with our valued customers through these delays and challenges.   

For our sales and financial results, our sales volume was well behind our forecast and down 2.3% vs our prior year, but our management of expense control contributed to better year-over-year results. 

We always like to recognize performance and our Top 3 Branches for financial performance and improvement year-over-year were:    

The focus last year was on Team Maxim and all of us working together to maximize sales opportunities and look for efficiencies in our business to minimize our expenses.  I believe our collective efforts contributed to doing just that and I would like to say thank you for doing your part.

For the year ahead, we are coming off an uptick in sales volume for the last six months and our focus will be on Keeping It Going!  After a tough first quarter last year, we would like to see the sales momentum continue into the first quarter of this year for better results to start the year.

I am thankful to the DLH COVID-19 Committee for keeping us aware and informed so we can do our best to keep each other safe and healthy through this pandemic. I am thankful that we work for a company that is an Essential Service and that we have the opportunity to persevere through the ups and downs of COVID-19. I am thankful for employees of Team Maxim that show up to get it done through the good times and the tough times.

Summer is coming and I wish you and your families all the best for a great summer and a safe & healthy 2021!

Best regards,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Troy Hamilton, President

 

Sales, Lease and Rentals

The Sales, Lease and Rental division (SLR) finished the year 65% ahead of forecast and improved 72% over the prior year. COVID-19 was a major challenge to navigate for the first few months of the year. As a group, we had an increased focus on improving key business segments and with the hard work from the front line sales team, the branch General Managers and the National Sales Managers, our division was able to generate great momentum that led to our improved results for the year.  Some of the factors that contributed to an improved year for the Sales, Lease and Rental Division were:

• Increased Business on Order boards
• Increased customer quoting
• Improved results with used inventory
• Increased sales in key customer segments including; First Nations, Construction, Transportation, Body Builders and Agriculture

Our top three branches for overall performance and our top three branches for year-over-year improvement are:

Maxim Excellence Club

This past year we had nine Sales Account Managers achieve Maxim Excellence Club status.  Congratulations to the following account managers:

On behalf of the Sales, Lease, Rental management team, we want to thank everyone for their efforts and commitment to improve this past year.  We as a division are still not where we want to be, but we have improved greatly year over year. With the increase in our business on order and quoting activity, there is great excitement for the year ahead.

As we continue to improve our results, we as a group need to focus on improving struggling customer segments as well as continue to grow our improved segments.  Conquest accounts and a drive to find new business will also be key to the continued success for our division.

I wish you all great summer, stay safe and take care.

Stay safe,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ryan Sapach, Vice President of Sales/Lease/Rentals

Parts

For our sales and financial results, Parts finished ahead of last year’s net profit results by 11.3%. We are again back into the gain column for sales and have grown sales year-over-year marginally by just under 1%. But we are again heading in the right direction after faltering last year with lower year-over-year sales for the first time in nine years.

The gain in sales volume is due to the economy and people stockpiling because of supply issues and product shortages. In particular, we’ve experienced shortages in products made from Steel and Electronics that go into making circuit boards for transmissions, speedometers and engines. The fleets we serve want to ensure they can keep their wheels turning so have been buying up lighting, suspension, oil-related parts and brake products to ensure they can continue business as usual.

Top 3 Performing Branches	Top 3 Most Improved Branches
1. Winnipeg Main	1. Thunder Bay
2. Thunder Bay	2. Winnipeg Main
3. Regina	3. Brandon

 

We had some challenges this year with our Parts Management team; we lost two Managers and have found it challenging to find their replacements. We have replaced the Calgary Parts management position (Stewart Dickson) but continue to search for an ideal candidate in Brandon. We are also running short of four outside sale positions and are actively recruiting for one, and starting the recruitment of two others in the next 3-6 months.

• 

It has been 16 months since our Fusion switchover and I am happy to say that the new system has become part of our regular working days. There were struggles at first because we were in unfamiliar territory but the things I am hearing today continue to be positive and more about the capabilities of the new Fusion system.

We are currently switching our GPS and Route optimization into the SYNNRG platform. The IT department has been working with our group to maximize the benefits of Fusion and their new Metabase system to seamlessly transfer information to our Management and Outside Sales team. I am very pleased to have a program that will allow our outside sales team to optimize their time with our customers and grow their relationships. We are developing a better process to track our customer calls; duration, frequency and quantity to ensure we are visiting our largest potential customers consistently. Having a well-informed team and having them prepared before they even step in front of our customers will take our business and our customer service to the next level.

We will also be testing this Metabase program with our inventory system to better manage the day-to-day orders and control the older obsolete inventory. It’s a new year and we have some great things to look forward to over the next 12 months.

I would like to thank our whole team for their efforts this past year during the COVID-19 pandemic. I appreciate everyone’s effort in adapting to how we do business and being there on the front lines every day. Being an essential service has been difficult because we had to be here throughout the past 15 months for our customers. Thankfully, our safety protocols have kept everyone safe. Great work and congrats to all!

Thank you and I wish you all a great summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve Young, Vice President of Parts

Service and Operations

The purpose of this memo is to give you all a quick update of how Maxim Service and our Fleet fared in the second half of Fiscal 2020-21 (Nov 2020 through Apr 2021).

Service

• Service finished the fiscal year with financial results well ahead of the same period last year (up 58.8%).

Top 3 Performing Branches	Top 3 Most Improved Branches
1. Thunder Bay	1. Prince Albert
2. Regina	2. Thunder Bay
3. Prince Albert	3. Brandon

 

Fleet

• Maxim’s slightly smaller, and slightly newer Lease fleet performed well over the second half of the year, and our maintenance costs continued to trend downward from my last update in December (better than last year by just shy of 1%).
• Unfortunately, Maxim’s slightly smaller, slightly older Rental fleet did not perform as well, and as a result, our maintenance trended up from last year by 0.4%.
• The CFM Group remained very busy, despite the mild Prairie winter we experienced this year, with our representatives in Manitoba and Alberta working hard to support all our Lease and Rental customers.
• Many thanks to Gillian Giesbrecht, Roger Calladine and the entire Central Fleet Maintenance Team for all their efforts.

People

Included below is a list of folks who joined either the Service or Fleet teams since the last newsletter:

• Technicians: Devlin Collins; Derek Bonwick; Harsumit Virk; Thomas Smith; Randy Marykuca; Jordan Wiebe; and OJ Sanderson; and,
• Cheyanne Himbury came over from the Maxim Parts Department at Branch 6 to join Gillian, Roger and the CFM Team.

Congratulations to all of you and we appreciate you taking on these new challenges within Maxim!

Closing

The second half of our fiscal year, while providing a more positive financial outcome than our first half, was chocked full of challenges.  I would personally like to thank each and every one of you for showing up and making a difference each day.

Finally, as we move into summer, and COVID-19 restrictions are being scaled back in most provinces, I hope each of you get an opportunity to reconnect with the family and friends you have been missing over the last many months.

Look after each other! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kyle Cuthbert, Senior Vice President of Service & Operations

Marketing

As a result, our presence on YouTube has grown substantially – I encourage you to subscribe and follow our social media channels that include Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn as this helps our numbers and will keep you up-to-date on our latest news. Sure, we’re not as dramatic or salacious as Keeping up with the Kardashians but we think we have some interesting content nonetheless!

In addition, because all of our regular tradeshows and events have either been cancelled or postponed, we have pivoted to email marketing, which continues to keep Maxim top of mind with our customers, and prospects. And our “old school” Maxim Flyer continues to promote the Maxim brand and our products and services to over 40,000 contacts across Canada each issue. 

In case you missed the announcements, we’ve been in the news this past six months for a variety of awards and recognition including:

• Maxim Donates $5,000 to Thunder Bay Food Distribution Group: news/2021/05/07/maxim-truck-trailer-donates-5-000-to-thunder-bay-food-distribution-group
• Maxim Wins Best Heavy-Duty Truck Centre: news/2021/03/15/maxim-wins-best-heavy-duty-truck-centre
• Maxim Becomes Diamond Edge Certified: news/2021/03/15/maxim-becomes-diamond-edge-certified
• Maxim Earns Prestigious Presidential Award: news/2021/01/26/maxim-truck-trailer-earns-prestigious-presidential-award
• Maxim Technician Talks About Providing Good Service: news/2021/01/13/maxim-technician-talks-about-providing-good-service

Happy Summer,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harry Dornn, Vice President of Marketing

 

Lightning Round

With over 500 employees spread across 18 branches from Vancouver to Montreal, it's hard to know everyone at Maxim. Each issue we feature two employees answering our fun Lightning Round questions so you can get to know Maxim employees from other branches. Be ready for when your turn comes for the Lightning Round.

Human Resources

The HR Team helps you with; Recruitment, Employee Relations, Employment Legislation, Performance Management, Policy Development, Disability Management, Training & Development and Compensation 

HR Team 

Recruitment

Across our Maxim branches, we had a net loss of 22 employees this year.  However, our attrition rate (people choosing to leave) went in the right direction with a decrease of 3.4%.  I encourage managers to continue to follow best practices for recruiting new staff. 

We are looking to hire Technicians at several of our branches, most notably Brandon and Montreal.  A reminder about our Technician referral program:  refer a Technician candidate to Maxim – if they are hired and stay with Maxim at least 6 months, they will receive a FREE iPad and $1,000.  This year, three employees received this incentive. 

Retirement

• Kathy Pearson, Parts Accounts Payable, Winnipeg – 26 years
• Julie Klym, Bilingual Lead Generation Specialist, Winnipeg – 5 years
• Paul Graham, Asset Manager, Winnipeg – 30 years
• Charlotte McDonald, Service Coordinator/Reception, Thunder Bay – 31 years

Outstanding Service Award

This monthly award recognizes employees’ internal or external customer service excellence.  Forward your nomination to maximhr@dlhgroup.ca or contact your Branch Administrator. Stay tuned for more information on new prizes!

To see recent winners, go to: http://synnrg1.maximinc.com/synnrg_cms_maxim/index.php/help-center/hr/outstanding-service-award/osa-2021/outstanding-service-award-2021

You will need to be on the Maxim network to view this link

Employee Assistance Plan (EAP)

An Employee Assistance Plan is a confidential, short-term, 24/7 counselling service that supports you and your family’s well-being.  Maxim’s EAP service is provided by Lifeworks.  Masters-trained professionals offer free advice and guidance on a variety of topics such as work-life stress, finances, relationships, retirement and health concerns issues. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa Parent, BA, CPHR, Human Resources Manager

 

COVID-19 Committee

This year, Maxim had 10 positive cases of COVID-19.  Thankfully, these employees have recovered.  With the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic upon us, it’s easy to develop ‘Covid fatigue.’  However, please continue to be diligent with following Maxim protocols and recommendations for the health and well-being of all employees. 

Protocols:

• Stay home if sick
• Physical distancing, 2 metres or 6 feet
• Wash or sanitize hands
• Wear masks
  • In public places
  • When leaving your workspace
• Clean and disinfect surfaces regularly
• Report all sickness to HR
• Use the Return to Work checklist

As you may know, when someone is deemed a “Close contact” of a positive COVID-19 case you must isolate for a period of at least 14 days from last contact.

“Close contact” is defined as within 2 metres or 6 feet:

• For more than 10 minutes
• Cumulatively over 24 hours
• With OR without masks
• Vaccinated OR not

To reduce your risk of exposure, please be aware of any situations that could break the 2m/6f rule such as chatting at a colleague’s desk, training in close quarters, smoking breaks, eating lunch.  Think of alternate ways to communicate (Teams), use a meeting room for training, etc.

Take care of each other.

Questions or concerns?  Contact us:  covid19committee@dlhgroup.ca

Alex Ethier, OHS Coordinator       Lisa Parent, HR Manager           Michael Rosenbaum, SVP & CFO