Dear Colleagues,

I can’t believe it but July 10th marked my one year anniversary at D&H United. And what a year it’s been! We have opened new official branches in Omaha, Rio Grande Valley and Austin, we closed on the acquisition of the #1 compliance company in our industry – Tanknology, hired over 180 front line team members in just this calendar year alone (!), and grown our break fix service business over 25%! And that’s just the huge stuff. Every team in the company has accomplished something amazing in this last year, and I love hearing the stories – congratulations and thank you. I work with the best team in the industry and it has truly been one of the most wonderful years of my career.

We continue to get great feedback about the new company values we launched in the Spring. In this newsletter, I’d like to focus on one value in particular – We are accountable and we learn from our mistakes.  In our company, we want people to try their best at all times, but we also know that everyone makes mistakes. Everyone fails at some point. And that’s ok. It’s what you do with the mistake or that failure that matters. Do you try to blame others or complain about the circumstances or maybe even try to hide the mistake? Or do you take responsibility for it, attempt to fix the issue, learn from it yourself, and teach others about it so they don’t repeat the mistake? The second approach is what we’re going for at our company!

Below are stories from a few of your leaders (including yours truly) about mistakes they’ve made and how they’ve taken accountability and responsibility for them. I’m proud of our leaders for the growth they’ve shown through these stories. I hope it inspires you too!

Take care and stay safe out there.

Tracy Long, CEO 

When I first started at D&H United, I was really excited to learn about the Tyfoom app and how it could help our organization improve our safety culture. I downloaded the app and spent several hours playing it, watching videos and collecting badges. It was fun to use and informative! However, over the next several weeks I watched with dismay as my engagement score dropped from 100% to 50% to 0%. My problem was that I would get the training reminder from Tyfoom when I was often busy and not in a position to watch the video immediately. Sadly, I’d forget and miss the window to get credit that day. I felt embarrassed and guilty – I can’t be the CEO of a company trying to drive to a great safety culture when I myself can’t stay 100% engaged with Tyfoom!  I had to hold myself accountable to watching these videos on time. I implemented a few “process changes” for myself, like outlook reminders, and told a few of my colleagues my goal so that they too could hold me accountable. I’m happy to report that I haven’t missed a Tyfoom video in a few months now… I’m certainly not perfect and I can’t promise I won’t miss one while travelling or something, but I’m committed to Safety at D&H and to Tyfoom! I am accountable and I learn from my mistakes.

Brad Hoffman, VP Engineering and R&D

I began my career as an Exxon field engineer in 1988, and one of my first projects was to replace the old steel tanks at a gas station with new fiberglass tanks.  As the job progressed, the concrete tank pad was removed, and the excavator dug to the top of the tanks.  I watched with anticipation when suddenly there was a “crunch” sound as the excavator bucket tore through the top of the FIBERGLASS tanks!  OH NO!  To my disbelief, they were not old steel tanks like the database showed!  How could that be?  How did fiberglass tanks get installed without the correct information being recorded?  How was the dealer using steel tank charts to keep daily inventory?  But back to me: Why didn’t I take a few minutes to confirm the tank material before the project started?  Or ask a few more questions during the tailgate meeting?  And was I going to get fired?  (Luckily, no!)  I learned many things that day, like the meaning of “TRUST BUT VERIFY.”  And to ask questions or speak up if something doesn’t look or seem right. And correct any incorrect information in reports because it might mean a lot later on.  I am accountable, and I learn from my mistakes.

Mark Kellar, District General Manager

We have always worked safely at D&H, but safety was not our priority. We had sporadic meetings, and once Tyfoom came out, we thought that was good enough training. When the company started pushing the near-miss reporting, I admit I was not a fan of it and thought It was a big waste of time. It was another burden on the employees to try and find a near miss while also being productive. A few months back, we had a project where I needed to be on-site to assist due to our backlog. In the first 4 hours on the job site, I witnessed at least four near misses. At that time, my eyes opened, and I realized that we have so many daily hazards on our job sites/service calls that we must be mindful of. So, I changed my attitude and expressed this in our safety meetings with my team. I am very proud of how everyone responded and changed their attitude for near-miss reporting, we have now been at 100% the last three months and will continue to be diligent in being safe. I am accountable, and I learn from my mistakes. & I work safely – no exceptions, no excuses.

Marc Kirk, ERP Implementation Leader

Throughout my career as a manager, I have always believed that personal accountability is the foundation of effective management. This belief was put to the test several years ago. Our branch had been growing rapidly and we had added quite a few new technicians that needed training. Call volumes were high and so was the backlog. These are good problems to have as a branch manager. As time went on, I began to notice the stress on the techs and the office staff. One day after most had gone for the day, I was talking to one of my team members about the crew and how things were going. The mood in the office had changed. During the conversation I mentioned that if there were any issues that I had an “open door” policy and that if anyone had any issues that they should come talk to me. I had mentioned this many times to my staff and felt sure that they all new this. This particular employee felt comfortable enough to give me some valuable feedback. He said Marc… “everyone knows you have an open door but there are many that don’t know what you consider drama to be”. Having “no drama” in the office is something else that I had said many times. It occurred to me that some didn’t feel comfortable to express their concerns. I had to hold myself accountable and make a concerted effort to change. From that day I made sure to engage employees every chance that I got and made sure that I was available to support them any anyway whether it was business or personal. We all get busy but we have to make sure to take the time to communicate with each other. I am accountable and I learn from my mistakes.