Rent One’s DT Rodeo produces sharper delivery teams, a happier workplace, and even a better bottom line.
Google “company mission statements” and you will find links to the top 10, the nine worst, the four questions to help you create yours or, if four questions is four too many for you, try the online Mission Statement Generator. You’ll also find several sites debating whether companies need mission statements and whether companies who have mission statements actually follow them. * SKC Enterprises/Rent one (shoprentone.com) has a clear mission statement: “Our mission is to be the best regional rent-to-own company in the United States and to provide a progressive work environment where co-workers are valued for their contributions and can develop their skills.” And, with just one program, Rent One proves they definitely mean it. * Rent one’s Delivery Technician Rodeo is a hybrid training/competition program held annually among the company’s delivery teams, who are located among 70 stores across nine states. Brainstormed and launched in 2010 by a diverse group of Rent One managers, the Delivery Technician Rodeo- or DT Ro-deo for short- began as a way to sing the praises of the typically unsung heroes of rent-to-own: the delivery guys.
We were trying to give these guys a sense of fulfillment in their jobs and a sense of ownership in our company,” says Rent One CEO Larry Carrico. “They’re the first ones bringing our products into peoples’ homes and they are often the last ones to leave, so the way they represent Rent One is how our clients get to know who we are as a company. These are our frontline people, out in the community every day, doing what needs to be done to make our business look good. We need them to know they work for a company that appreciates and celebrates them, and offers them every opportunity to be top performers.”
Carrico concedes that the DT Rodeo is a big investment of resources, not only financially, but also in terms of upper-management time and energy. Still, he claims the return-on-investment Rent One is realizing makes the program more than worth it, going way beyond the high-fives and chest bumps of delivery dudes rockin’ the rodeo.
The DT Rodeo begins with nine regional rodeos. The main goal of the day-long regional events is training; all delivery teams participate and the first half of the day consists of classroom training and testing. The afternoon features hands-on competition, with five core events:
- VEHICLE BACKING: Drive a delivery vehicle backward through a course without hitting any cones, then back up and park as close as possible to a cone without touching it;
- CONDITION ON DELIVERY: Complete forms to ensure product delivery is done to the client’s approval;
- ANTI-TIP BRACKET INSTALLATION: Install anti-tip brackets on a new range;
- DRYER CORD AND VENT INSTALLATION: Install a dryer cord and vent correctly on a new dryer; and
- VEHICLE INSPECTION: Conduct a Vehicle Inspection Procedure on a delivery vehicle, including fluid levels, cleanliness and proper equipment.
Additional events shift from year to year, according to hot topics in the world of rent-to-own. “One year, they needed to know the differences between HDMI cables,” recalls Lori McGovern, Rent One’s vice president of information technologies and a rodeo organizer. “Another year, they had to reload a computer. This year, we emphasized client support and how they are our frontline representatives. They had to demonstrate how to treat a client properly, how to ask for permission and how to ensure that a client is satisfied.”
The winners from each regional rodeo round advance to the company-wide DT Rodeo finals, an all-day contest held at Rent One’s Service Center in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. The rodeo planners-which include McGovern, Human Resources and Public Relations Director David Keen, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Mark Williams, Co-Worker Development Manager Dusty Ray and Service Manager Bruce Venters- change up the format and events at the finals from year to year, as top contenders tend to return for repeat performances.
“We’ve had a full-scale mock home environment where they had to back into a driveway, interact with a client, deliver and pick up, as well as fix some service issues,” Ray notes. “Once, we set up a series of stations and the teams had to complete a task at each station before moving on to the next one. All events at the finals are timed and a panel of 10 judges grants points and penalties. The competition is brutal because these guys are the best of the best.”
At this year’s October finals, in addition to similar core events, Halloween-themed challenges included:
- SWITCHBLADE SWITCHOUT: Load a 60-inch TV into a delivery vehicle and conduct a switch-out, including remotes;
- DOA RANGE: Set up a range between a washer and dryer, then use sliders to pull it out, slide it around a cone and return it to its original position without spilling bowls of water atop the washer and dryer;
- BOO BUGS: Inspect, notify and quarantine an “infested” mattress; and
- BLIND MAN DOLLY MAZE: One delivery tech, blindfolded, steers an empty dolly around a maze following his partner’s directions; they switch places halfway through.
“The DT Rodeo creates a fun learning environment that evolves,” Carrico affirms. “Innovation causes constant change in our industry. Televisions used to be much heavier, the screen type was different. Washers used to be top-load, now they’re front-load. How we lift and maneuver products, how we pack them into the trucks, is different. And the vehicles themselves- the lift gates are lighter, the racks and how we put equipment into the vans is different. So the events keep changing, too.”
Rent One’s OT Rodeo has many obvious benefits: it promotes extensive hands-on training, consistent company-wide execution of processes and procedures, competitive camaraderie among co-workers and big-time morale boosting among delivery technicians.
“The rodeo has been a great opportunity for us to work with our delivery techs,” says Venters. “It it gives us a chance to bring additional standardized training to the employees and it also allows us to show that we value what the DTs do. As the company’s service manager, I find that the rodeo is a chance to meet a lot of the employees and for them to see that I am a real person. By meeting face to face, they realize that they can contact the service department and ask for help without feeling uncomfortable.”
“It takes a ton of resources to make it successful, but the reward is remarkable,” Carrico effuses. “It brings us together and lets our DTs know they’re part of something bigger. It engages them- not only in their daily work, but also in our company overall, and not just for the day of the event, but for the long haul. Regardless of how they score, it instills a winning attitude.”
Which is exactly what Carrico and his management team had hoped for when they initiated the rodeo four years ago. What they hadn’t necessarily expected from the program was a bottom-line ROI.
