Maxim Truck & Trailer puts the pedal to the medal in recruiting
Troy Hamilton knows the market for high-quality people is ultra-competitive so when new employees join Maxim Truck & Trailer, he wants them to know their voices will be heard.
The president of the Winnipeg-based transportation equipment company takes the first 15 minutes of the monthly online orientation to new staff to welcome them to the team and chat about why
Maxim is such a great place to work.
“People think the grass is greener here or the grass is greener there. The truth is, the grass is greener where you water it,” Hamilton says.
He believes new employees are particularly adept at discovering better ways of doing things because they’re observing the company’s various processes with fresh eyes. “If you see a way we can become more efficient or drive revenue, we want to hear about it. I love giving them that challenge. Know that you’ll have a voice if you can contribute to making things better,” he says.
Part of the online orientation involves Maxim’s Top 10 list of reasons why its people like working there—strong leadership, career growth, meaningful work, appreciation and recognition, work-life
balance, empowerment, transparency, a strong track record, community involvement and fun.
Maxim sells a wide variety of new and used trucks and a full range of trailers for grain, gravel, logging as well as flatbeds. It also offers parts, service and a body shop. And if that wasn’t enough, Maxim is also an authorized school bus dealer.
Its customers are in trucking, construction, transportation, cities and municipalities, food and beverage, First Nations and agriculture. That diversification helps smooth out Maxim’s performance if one area has a slower year.
The company has 17 locations from B.C. to Quebec and Hamilton says he’s always looking to expand into new territories, either through acquisition or building out where Maxim is already established.
Maxim’s goal is to keep its customers’ equipment on the road as much as possible so they can maximize their uptime. “We want to look after our customers from the front of their truck bumper to the back of their trailer bumper,” he says.
Hamilton believes there’s a strong correlation between a staff of satisfied and motivated employees and Maxim recently winning the Presidential Award from International Trucks, the highest
honour an international truck dealer can receive, for the third year in a row. It was one of just 14 dealerships in North America to earn such recognition.
Maxim’s footprint of locations has enabled it to keep employees who have had to leave Winnipeg for a variety of reasons, such as a spouse being transferred. But wherever they live, Hamilton says meaningful work and a career path awaits.
“What attracted me to Maxim was that if I wanted to climb the corporate ladder, with offices from Vancouver to Montreal, I had the ability to stay with the company. I’ve had seven different titles in 28 years, that kind of thing excites me. We’ve had plenty of people start out with an entry level position and move their way up to management. It’s exciting to be able to offer that to new
employees,” he says.
Hamilton is adamant that Maxim’s people maintain a healthy work-life balance, regardless of what stage of life they’re at.
“If your child has a Christmas concert, you should be at that concert. Yes, we need to get the job done but there’s no reason we can’t make various things happen. Maybe you need to drive an aging parent to an appointment. You shouldn’t miss out on life moments when you can still get the job done. Sometimes you just need to manage your time differently,” he says. “People who show up every day with a smile and a positive attitude to get the job done, they’re watering the grass.”
Learn more at maximinc.com/jobs.
Maxim Truck & Trailer
1860 Brookside Blvd
Winnipeg
1-888-242-6126
maximinc.com
