With the HARDI Annual Conference behind us and last year’s business in the books, it’s time to take our organizations to new heights this year. Our businesses today are complex customer service platforms that face constant pressure to innovate and excel in service delivery. Understanding customers, opportunities, technologies, and the market has become a task that only a well-trained, committed management team can execute. Having been involved with the HARDI Emerging Leaders program since its inception, I am convinced that the only clear path to a successful future for the wholesale distributor lies in the organization-wide engagement of staff in the entire spectrum of education, training and career path development tools offered by HARDI.
The world has moved well beyond the day when application and system knowledge was limited to the few practitioners of a dark art at each business. Today, HVAC and refrigeration system detailed knowledge ERP system familiarity, business value proposition, and key performance metrics must be known by a broad base in every firm. Beyond this base level, application expertise, new technology introduction, and constantly rising service expectations make change inevitable and require continuous learning by aspiring leaders.