Two Cowboys: Building a Business on Old-School Values at Canyon Rigging in Calgary, Alberta

Old-School Values

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"Dig your well before you're thirsty."

In today's world, the principles that make commerce successful is obfuscated by unnecessary complexity. It is confused by things people do that masquerade as a business. It is becoming harder and harder to understand what should be done to succeed in any business.

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It is not easy to know anymore what makes a business success or failure. Is it profit, size, social reach, or the preferential ride with taxpayer funded grants and subsidies?

To simplify the conversation, one should note that inherently commerce is a social endeavour. It is the way whereby people co-operate in large groups. It is a fundamental part of any society that let us act and work together for everyone's benefit. When we are better off, we have an increase in resources, health, and safety with luxuries like self-actualization through art, philosophy and music. When commerce is healthy, everyone benefits.

Basic biological instinct and social behaviours may get us by in a small family unit or band, but it falls massively short of helping to construct large cooperative and prosperous societies. Large-scale cooperation is a relatively new phenomenon on the evolutionary scale of our species. And, it is very much needed if we are planning to stick around on this planet for long.

The rules for co-operation remained fluid through the evolution of society. There have been many successes that resulted in prosperity, safety and progress. There have equally been many disasters, which resulted in war, famine and the death of many people. Finding a way to successfully cooperate is an ongoing human endeavour. That is why we should pay attention and learn from our mistakes.

Core and simple principles serve as ground rules for fruitful cooperation, commerce and ultimately for the health of society. These principles also serve as personal values for the people involved in the group. It is the standards by which we behave. It defines what one personally and as a group consider to be important. The same exist in day-to-day business dealings. Strong, constructive and supportive values keep economic cooperation healthy, and everyone should prosper.

What values are needed to succeed in business?

Every successful business person can contribute to a plethora of knowledge about the values that work in their respective organisations and markets. The company profiles you've seen on this site is a minute collection of the successes and wisdom of inspiring entrepreneurs. There are common themes across the stories. One that continues to stand out is the topic of good personal and organisational values. With effective and supportive values a business tends to be more successful overall.

At Canyon Rigging, we've found another inspiring business that puts core and useful values at the heart of everything they do. As a result, they've prospered. They keep on growing even during a massive market downturn in Alberta, Canada. Gregg Hampton, the founder, succeeded in laying a firm principled foundation for the future of the company, its workers, clients and ultimately for their community.

Canyon Rigging is a family business that was started in 1998 in the foothills of Southern Alberta, twelve miles Southwest of Okotoks. They do custom cargo securement and rigging and manufacture some of their products at their factory in Calgary. Gregg, the founder president of the company, has been in the cargo securement and rigging industry since 1978 bringing almost 40 years experience to the enterprise.

Observations

The values that stand out from Gregg and his company are not just values for business, but foundational personal principles for success. Living by these will have a profoundly positive impact on any business and its customers. Here are only a few we picked up during our visit:

• "Advertise what you do, and try and do it well."
• "Do what you say, and say what you do."
• "The key is keeping your word and honouring your commitment."
• "Dig your well before you're thirsty."
• "You can't make a Dollar and spend two. You're gonna be done."
• "When you get, give. When you learn, teach."
• "Good old-fashioned service is the key to success. It shouldn't go out of style."
• "Employ local people. Employees take pride in what they do because they see who they do it for."

Passing the torch on to the next generation is a challenge for any founder. Gregg is busy imparting his knowledge to Dan, his son in law, the same way he received it when he started his business.

There is no chance for his, or any business to make this transition successfully without passing on the values and principles that made the business successful in the first instance. Technologies change. Industries change. Simple business principles and core values are timeless, for any business, and for every society that wants to keep on prospering. We should work hard at living them every day.

Hendrik van Wyk
Rigging Cowboy

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Where it Started

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Two Cowboys: Customers are the Custodians of the Brand - Swazi, Levin, New Zealand

Outdoor Clothing Made in New Zealand - Swazi, New Zealand

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Levin was New Zealand's fabric and garment manufacturing epicentre until the industry was decimated by companies moving their operations overseas. Headlines such as: "A New Zealand clothing company goes 'global' and shuts all local factories." became too familiar in this part of the world over the last decade.

"Swazi will never manufacture overseas!" Davey Hughes, the founder of Swazi, New Zealand stands proudly behind this statement and his commitment to making their products in the market, where they are the most recognised and respected. We’d get an ‘I LOVE MILEY’ tattoo before we’d manufacture in China!

Swazi is an outdoor clothing and niche garment manufacturer that is proudly making its products in Levin, New Zealand.  Swazi produce innovative and practical agricultural, hunting and outdoor leisure clothing, hand in hand with an assurance to make the voice of the outdoors heard by promoting adventure, hunting, conservation and a sense of responsibility among young people.

It’s made by a passionate bunch of people who live close by. So close, that many of them walk to work every day. For Davey and his team, it’s about community, something that’s easy to forget about if you have your product made on the other side of the world. Creating jobs for people who live in their town is pretty much the best community oriented thing they can do. It’s awesome to see people develop pride in what they do every day. It’s awesome to watch that pride spread through their families and whanau (family).

Impressions

It is initially hard to place Davey in his garment business.

Here is a hunter and trapper in a country of possums. Let's face it. Regardless of the country's breathtaking beauty (which everyone knows, thanks to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings), New Zealand is not really known for its animal wildlife, is it? What is a big game hunter doing there?

Davey is a rough outdoorsman, world traveller, and television personality, but with an unwavering commitment to the success of everyday people in an age-old and very competitive industry. He is in an industry that seems to have departed from New Zealand some time ago. That he makes garments and design clothes in Levin, is not something that comes to mind when you watch the fella trying to spear a Grizzly in the Canadian outback.

Not even the name "Swazi" fits. It is the name of an African people and tribe from Southern Africa, thousands of kilometres removed in the distance and in culture from Kiwiland.

Maybe, it is just this initial confusion and contrast that makes the Swazi story and its values so attractive and intriguing. There is a surprise around every corner!

Here is what stood out for us:

• Patriotism: While from Scottish lineage, Davey has an unwavering commitment to his country, New Zealand and its people. He demonstrates this with the loyalty to his workers and town, by continuing to manufacture in Levin even though the country's own Government decided to pass its production over in favour of manufacturing in China.
• Niche Product Innovation: Swazi's clothes stand out because it keeps people alive. Davey found a niche in outdoor garments because of the harsh climates people face working in the rain, snow, and wind. It is not only recreation clothes, but safety gear, high visibility gear, and even speciality suits that keep helicopter pilots from getting hypothermia. 
• Global Online Business: The majority of Swazi's products is sold online. This was bold, and some would consider risky move they made five years ago. It is paying off for the business. Products are shipped all over the world. It is no longer a local success story. It is a global one. More so, because five years ago there were still a lot of scepticism about selling apparel over the Internet. Today, people on every continent wear and love their Swazi gear they ordered online.
• The Brand: Davey's personal brand is probably the strongest selling point for Swazi. Not because of the hunter, adventurer and traveller persona. It is because of his down-to-earth honest and practical approach to overcoming life's obstacles, and the changes were thrown at him and his team. "Every change has an opportunity" is Davey's motto. He is the person you want to know when "chips are down". Because, when you have to rely on someone like many individuals rely on Swazi's clothes to keep them alive, you want to count on Davey. As we say in Canada: "He's got your back."

The most notable comment in the conversation with Davey is his acknowledgement that Swazi's brand is no longer his brand. "We are merely custodians now for our customers," Davey says that the customers of Swazi own the brand. They get married in it. Buried in it. All he and his team can do is not disappoint the loyal and the faithful.

It was an excellent adventure to spend a day with Swazi in Levin. We hope to be back for much more soon.

Hendrik van Wyk
Producer

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Bad Bad Training

Another Induction

How many times have you attended an induction or compulsory company training that is an absolute waste of your time?

I've recently sat through another one with a new client. While the trainer (the Safety and Compliance Officer) was trying her best to do a good job, the material was not helping her. The slides must have been wordsmithed by a recent MBA graduate and junior manager at head office that drew the short straw. Attendees are still digging their way through: "correctional remediation and compliance validation...". This was induction material for digger drivers and welders!

The "cheap and easy" alternative to "out of place" in-person induction and training is to take the toddler approach: Pop in a video/DVD, add some lollipops and popcorn, and hope for the best that something sticks. At least the attendee box is ticked. The checkbox for "made an effort" still comes up empty.

Once the consultants get involved, you are trapped in the LMS maze (Learning Management System). Here you are really held captive. The dreary voice-over, the bad cartoons, and the static contextless images is only trumped by the mindless infantile quizzes that follows. You have to click through it. Click, click, click, if you like it or not, else it keeps coming back like a boomerang from hell.

Wasted Opportunity

Considering the indirect cost of poor induction, it is unbelievable that companies are not trying to do a better job. A quick tally of the direct cost alone, is frightening (and this excludes any compliance training that is mandated by the authorities): Ten attendees and a trainer in 2 hour training at an average direct cost of $100/hour: $2,000 per session. Do this once a week, and you are looking at $8,000 - $10,000/month in overhead. A whopping $100,000 a year, exlcuding expenses such as travel time, coffee and pencils! Add to this the mistakes, re-do and fixes due to poor induction and policy awareness: Huge costs. Inefficient employees not knowing what is expected. More cost. Staff loyalty: Don't get me started on that one.

Companies have no choice. They have to induct and train. Basic coverage is now mandatory for health and safety. It is the law in many jurisdictions. Why then waste the opportunity when companies are paying for it anyway?

Here are the basic areas where companies no longer have a choice:

• Induction: Some form of orientation about the company's culture, policies and procedures. Considering the rate of change in many businesses, these may require refreshers at least once a year.
• Health and Safety: The law requires this be done, and compliance have to be proven.
• Policy Compliance: Key policies vary from industry to industry, but the good old ones stick around: Conflict of Interest, Environment, Diversity, etc. Training usually covers the policy, and is light on the application.

In some areas companies can maximise their training investment. Those have the potential to substantially benefit a business:

• Systems and Processes: I've lost count of the number of software deployments and process changes that fail simply because training and orientation is not done, or poorly executed. Why spend millions on a new IT system, and not show people how to use it properly?
• Efficiencies and Improvements: Companies can help people to learn how to do their jobs better. Amazingly, not only will the business be better off, but people may actually like their jobs if they are given a chance to learn new things.

The available methods for corporate training is a huge growth area. There is an explosion of resources available to companies that takes training and education seriously. There is video, animation, simulations and more becoming available due to on-demand and mobile technology.

However, as with most resources, it is not having it that makes it valuable. It is how you use it that makes the difference. One such resource is the use of Online Video in training. Here are some thoughts on how to make video work better for your company's training efforts.

Video Doesn't Train: 

Here is news for you: A video doesn't train or induct. It merely imparts information in a more or less effective way.

Pointers for effectively using video for training:

• Involvement: For video to train, it needs to involve/include the viewer and mentally/physically encourage participation. Many current training videos are from an observer's perspective, not a participant's view. When one makes training video with the staff of the company imparting the information, it entices and incentivise their commitment through involving them in the material. The video must be entertaining to encourage involvement. Stories and scenarios entertain, and is foundational to this approach.
• Participation: Viewers engage when they can identify with the characters in the video. By using staff, one shows what they do through familiar images, language and instruction. If they "teach each other" it has more value than if a voice over with pictures, animation, or trainer lectures on the material.
• Good Structure: Videos need to be better structured and the topics more clearly delineated. A good practice is to clearly demarcate every idea/topic in a separate video. A good practice includes a scenario where one: "Tells it, Shows it, Explains it, Reviews it."
• Tempo: The video topics need to be communicated in an upbeat and faster pace, else the viewer becomes distracted and bored. It is better to use a collection of short videos, than one long video. Most people cannot focus on a video for more than 3-5 minutes (no matter how entertaining). Television advertisement interruptions have conditioned us for short video. A long video needs a material scene/topic/emotion change at least every 3 to 5 minutes to be engaging (if a long video is used at all).
• Key Messages: The key messages must be enforced with titles, freeze frames, recaps, examples (stories/scenarios) etc. to improve retention.
• Refreshers: No one view of an induction video or series of training videos is enough to ensure effective material retention. People simply cannot remember when only exposed to it once - no matter how entertaining. Retention improves dramatically if the messages are reviewed, refreshed and reminders included. The recommended refresh rate to commit material to long term memory is three to five times within a 3 week period, and refreshed once every 6 months subsequently.
• Enforcement: In today's compliance climate a company has to demonstrate evidence of the training, participation and comprehension validation. To meet these demands, training must be complemented with notices, quizzes, contests and more, with positive incentives for participants. Training cannot stand alone anymore. It must evolve to be part of the companie standard communications strategy.
• Commitment: When staff is part of "training each other" by being involved in the process (the making of the video, feedback, quizzes, competitions, etc.) then it builds commitment and co-responsibility. The company's "training" becomes a key communication channel that can contribute to better staff engagement and effective communication. 

Conclusion

Video training has the potential to transcend the training event by building a campaign for safety, orientation, compliance and effective communication.

Companies that take care to train their staff is halfway towards building a great business. If these businesses can do it well, with our help then training becomes a real competitive advantage.  It only makes good business sense that if a job has to be done, one might as well decide to do it well.

We have some expertise to help. Give us a call today.

Hendrik van Wyk