Even Corona could not stop RM Group moving from strength to strength. At the very beginning of the crisis, RM formulated a strategy taking various scenarios into consideration, that the company has followed ever since. The company’s founder and CEO, Gerald Hanisch, together with the RM Team, continued to push ahead with major topics such as the growth strategy and ongoing digitalisation. This has also seen further optimisation of the processes at the RM Dungannon location in Northern Ireland. Turnover is expected to grow by another 21% during 2021.
Over the past year, strong internal cooperation, flexibility in daily work routines and permanent availability for the customer have become more important than ever: “Even during these difficult times, our principles and corporate values have once again been confirmed. The strong corporate culture and open information policy have ensured that RM continues to act as a strong team. Each and every employee makes an important contribution to the company’s development,” says Hanisch proudly.
Team spirit proves its worth in the crisis
“The well-being of our employees is a primary success factor for RM Group. That’s why we implemented proactive measures to protect our team at a very early stage, going beyond the legal requirements,” says Hanisch. Since the beginning of the year it has been possible to take part in voluntary rapid testing every week; and there are plans for getting vaccinations at work.
In addition to standard prevention measures, RUBBLE MASTER also pays attention to the social aspects. While employees are working from home, active communication is maintained with colleagues to make sure everyone stays in contact and keeps up the team spirit. A designated COVID representative is available for employees to contact at all times, and employee events have been hosted digitally. As compensation for the Christmas party, each employee received a meal voucher so they could support other local businesses at the same time.
Apprenticeship training during Corona
RUBBLE MASTER stays ahead in the increasing competition for attracting the best skilled employees with a well-established, high quality apprenticeship training programmed. This already has a long tradition at RM and is seen as an integral part of corporate culture – even during the crisis.
As a result, all the apprenticeship positions available in 2021 have already been filled. Four apprentices will start their training as construction machinery technicians, metal workshop technicians and office assistants in August to strengthen the current team of 17 apprentices. Thanks to extensive preventive measures (rapid testing on arrival, wearing masks and social distancing), job application management and this year’s try-out days were carried out safely, even with the pandemic.
“The challenges faced by our current apprentices were also overcome through working together and the mutual support of the RM Family,” says Hanisch. For example, apprentices attending their first year of apprenticeship with distance learning, were provided with extra tutoring in the company. This gave older apprentices and employees who joined the company as apprentices the opportunity to help the newbies get a good start.
Digitalisation in everyday work
During times of social distancing, it was also necessary to adapt the company’s internal and external communications. Thanks to RUBBLE MASTER’s international presence, the digital infrastructure for setting up offices at home and decentralised work was in place from the very beginning. All the documents used by Marketing, Sales and Engineering are available at any time and anywhere on RM Mediaworld – a cloud solution for employees and sales partners. To keep in close contact with sales partners despite travel restrictions, online meetings with international dealerships have become regular events. RM will continue these frequent, short but intensive meetings in the future, because then campaigns can be implemented faster and be more focused on regional markets.
In addition, a digital company presentation called “RM Cockpit” has been developed that can easily be used in digital meetings with customers and completely replaces print documents and PowerPoint presentations. An online spare parts shop rounds off RUBBLE MASTER’s new digital service offering.
