Harris American Success Story

Creating a Culture of Accountability and Engagement

Harris American is a manufacturer of balers, shears, and specialty size reduction and compaction equipment. It was recently formed by combining three subsidiaries of Avis Industrial Corporation: Harris Waste Management, American Baler, and International Baler.

Avis Industrial Corporation is a diversified manufacturing-focused holding company with 12 locations across North America, including two in small rural Georgia towns: Cordele and Baxley.

Harris Waste Management has been in Georgia since 1889 and now, as Harris American, is committed to bring its longstanding company culture in line with modern worker expectations.

Situation

In 2022, 40% of Avis employees were within 10 years of retirement, while the rest were mostly new hires. Many supervisors had been promoted based on their skills as machinists and welders but lacked the opportunity for formal leadership training. To maintain institutional knowledge and continuity, it became necessary to create plans for workforce development and succession.

Avis leadership recognized the need to equip current supervisors with leadership skills and prepare the next generation for management roles, and decided to contact the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech.

“We wanted an organization that was reputable,” said Avis training manager Danielle Walls-Rouse, adding that GaMEP’s relationship with Georgia Tech boosted her trust and confidence in the program.

Solution

Andy Helm, GaMEP strategy and leadership development project manager, collaborated with Avis to create a customized leadership development program that could be delivered in a 4.5-day leadership retreat.

This condensed approach is different from the typical way the sessions are delivered, which is spaced out over several weeks. Helm said, “It can be lot of information coming at you at once. But it’s worked very, very well with Avis. This approach allows participants to build camaraderie in a very focused way.”

The first cohort took place at Harris American in early 2023. Since then, GaMEP has completed six cohorts, a process that involved bringing employees to Georgia from other Avis locations.

Retreat topics included communication, accountability, and conflict resolution, all supported by ongoing reference material. Managers received follow-ups to reinforce learning and encourage continuing dialogue with their teams.

Results

By working with GaMEP, Harris American has:

Graduated 104 employees from its customized leadership development program.
Begun to bridge generational gaps in its workforce, transforming a culture of knowledge-hoarding into one of sharing
Implemented leadership tools such as SMART goals, regular reviews, and mentoring.
Realized improvements on employee surveys, including:
- 36% increase in employees who feel the company encourages innovation and improvement
- 33% increase in employee sentiment that personnel keep their commitments
- 11% increase in employees who feel their feedback is valued
- 10% increase in employee perception of opportunities for career growth
- 6% increase in employee pride to work at Harris American

Testimonial

“Since the training, our employees have been more engaged. They feel more valued. That trickles down to their direct reports, and it trickles up. All of Andy’s training topics were perfectly aligned with areas where we struggled. In terms of employee engagement and development, we attribute our successes directly to this program.”

– Danielle Walls-Rouse, Training Manager, Avis