Testimonials

AT A GLANCE
Matt Schroeder, now President of Truck Equipment Inc., started his career in special education. Though he wasn’t naturally inclined toward engineering and building like his father and brother, he helped the family business during summers off from teaching.

Like most entrepreneurial parents, Matt’s parents wanted him to come on board and eventually take over the business. After some consideration, Matt decided to make a big career change and joined the fold, starting by selling trailers at Truck Equipment Inc.

THE CHALLENGE
As he continued to learn the business and transitioned into more responsibility, he was presented with the opportunity to become president of the company. During this time, he faced many sleepless nights doubting himself. He questioned what people would think as he had no formal education or experience in finance or business administration.

THE SOLUTION
In order to build his leadership skills, he sought out leadership training and coaching by reaching out to Joe Kiedinger of Dignify for guidance. Dignify gave him the tools and the knowledge he needed to understand himself as a leader and to lead his team.

THE RESULTS
Over the course of two years, Dignify systematically deployed Dignify technology and training to vastly improve communication, strategic planning and cohesion among their team.

DIGNIFY IN ACTION
“‘A couple of months ago, one of our painters did a shotty job painting one of our new builds. Our service manager, came to me all fired up and said we needed to bring this guy in and write him up. Sensing the tension rising, I told my Service Manager, “Let’s try something different.”

I brought the service manager and painter together and sat them down with their Dignify Snapshots and photos of the bad paint job. I asked the painter, “You have STRONG-WILLED: I’ll make this happen, and INDEPENDENT: I’ll take care of this in your Top 5. Does the quality of your work in these photos reflect that?”

Our painter looked at the photos for a few moments, grimaced, then looked us both in the eyes and said, “You are right, this is not the kind of work that I take pride in. This will not happen again.” He went back to work and we haven’t had a problem since.

That meeting could have been another contentious shouting match and instead, we had a productive conversation and got to the root cause without the drama because we spoke to this guy’s dignity.'”

– Matt Schroeder

AT A GLANCE
In 2021, Phil Schmidt and Clyde Weycker decided to purchase Haen Meat Packaging and merge it with their other two companies, The Meat Block and BBQ Pits n’ Spits. They saw an enormous opportunity and believed that their new company was only operating at 50% efficiency.

THE CHALLENGE
The transition of melding the companies was challenging for multiple reasons. New owners, Phil and Clyde’s most significant struggle was that the former owners had created a culture of high anxiety and stress where conflict was rampant. Phil and Clyde struggled to get buy-in and change the toxic culture.

Secondly, the new leaders had their own communication challenges. As they came together, they discovered they had very different leadership and communication styles. Phil was a flexible, visionary thinker whereas his partner Clyde was more task-oriented and straightforward.

THE SOLUTION
Phil and Clyde sought out the assistance of Dignify to aid in improving their culture and communication during this time of transition. Dignify’s technology provided a blueprint to build understanding and walk them through healthy communication. After viewing one another’s Dignify Snapshots and having regular one-on-one Dignify Check-Ins about their motivations and personal rules for communication—conflict changed to understanding and acceptance.

THE RESULTS
Phil and Clyde successfully merged two company cultures and empowered their teams—leading to less conflict and stress. In addition, communication between Phil and Clyde vastly improved as they began to better understand themselves, one another, and how to lead their team to success. Overall, the company became more productive and cohesive as clarity was gained and less time was spent in confusion and drama.

DIGNIFY IN ACTION
“‘We had an employee who worked here for many years and struggled with communication. She came off demeaning and abrasive. We had a conversation with her and said if this doesn’t change, you won’t be here anymore. Dignify helped us speak honestly with her, not condemning her.

Today, she’s one of our success stories. She made a choice to get on board and since then has taken on huge leadership roles within our company. She’s learned to speak honestly with her team and set expectations rather than complaining afterward.

It’s really neat for Clyde and I to see some of our people who were not on the right path who are leading the ship now. It’s worth the effort you put into your people to see where you can take them.'”

– Phil Schmidt