Transformix Consulting
Surrey, Mainland/Southwest
Transformix Consulting
Surrey, Mainland/Southwest
The owners of blue-collar businesses face a myriad of challenges, such as high levels of stress and long working hours, hiring & retention of personnel, productivity, profitability, quality and more. With 30+ years of past Management experience in Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction, Jaap Siekman, Business Coach at Transformix Consulting, is uniquely equipped to help these owners get their life back, and grow their business. Using his proprietary "Roots, Rocks & Results" program, he initiates company-wide Organizational & Operational Change, that is built on 3 pillars: Organizational Structure, Management Practices and Work Processes. The positive impact on business owners, and their personnel, can be vast, and sometimes surprisingly quick. Examples include a huge uptick of morale within a month at a manufacturer facing 90% annual turnover of new hires, tripled profitability at a window & door manufacturer after eliminating rework, boosted productivity at an assembly shop after resolving their inventory problems, and several owners being able to go on vacation for the first time in years. As a volunteer advisor with Catalyste+, Jaap creates similar impact for small businesses in developing countries and First Nations in Canada. One of his female Indigenous clients was honorably mentioned at International Women’s Day in 2022.
Nominations
Read below to find out why they deserve your vote in each category.
Business Impact Award
Tell Us Your Story. What motivated you to start your business? Why are you passionate about what you do?
After many years in hard-core Engineering, Manufacturing and Management, I got involved in Government funding for innovation, where I connected with many entrepreneurs and start-ups. I recognized many of the flaws described in books like the E-Myth by Michael Gerber. While giving presentations and workshops, I realized I enjoyed teaching and coaching, and that my broad industrial background had given me a great toolbox with which I could help existing and aspiring business owners. Low productivity is a big problem in Canada and a wave of boomer business owners are seeking an exit but have a business that is not sellable or is not worth enough to retire on. These are issues that I am passionate about and can help resolve, without the massive capital investments that are generally suggested as being necessary. When it comes to capacity building in Developing Countries: helping people build a business, employ others within their own community is the best form of "foreign aid" possible.
Describe and demonstrate, including metrics, your community support. How do you support and uplift your community, and how do they show that support in return? Minimum 25 words, maximum 2500 characters.
My community is first and foremost my clients, both my commercial clients as the ones that I work with as a volunteer advisor. I support them with my work around organizational and operational change, they show me their gratitude through formal testimonials, informal emails & text messages, invites to their Christmas parties, requests to help their kids and so on. After a while, our relationship turns to becoming friends, rather than coach-client. Community support also includes the Blue-Collar Business Consultants of BC ("BC3"), a referral group I started in 2023 of specialists supporting BC's blue-collar industry. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jaap-siekman_bluecollarbusinessconsultantsofbc-manufacturing-activity-7206712232452222976-DVzi?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop I'm Secretary of the Dutch Business Club: a group of business owners and other professionals in the Lower Mainland with either Dutch roots, or simply an interest in Dutch culture, that get together for networking.
Why do you deserve to win the Business Impact award?
I would not call it "deserve", but it would be super satisfying if I did win this award. I very much care about my clients and their struggles, and I'm stoked every time a client shares a success that would not have been possible when we just started our collaboration.
Tell Us About Your Culture. How are you creating a sustainable and healthy workplace where everyone feels welcome? Provide examples of leadership you show in interactions with clients, vendors, contractors, staff and others.
My favorite quote on this topic that I share quite often is "People leave their boss, not their job". With my clients, I promote a culture of valuing their staff, through things like having clear job descriptions, proper onboarding of new hires, setting up an effective training program, continuous mentoring and personal development, engaging staff in continuous improvement initiatives, having a clear organizational structure, management practices that exclude any forms of abuse and so on. During the initial discovery phase with new clients, my favorite exercize is an open brainstorm with staff (no management in the room) during which they can bring up everything they don't like about the company, things that they want improved. I then make sure these issues make it into the action plan for organizational and operational change, AND, that they get addressed. This way staff feels engaged in the change program, they see they are being listened to, and their opinions and ideas matter.