Jeff Walters Email & Phone Number

Morrisville, Nc, Us

As the Chief Operating Officer for Yardnique, I have the privilege of steering one of the fastest growing and most dynamic organizations in the landscape industry towards our ambitious True North and Growth targets. Our journey is grounded in a relentless pursuit of excellence, from landscape maintenance to customer service, across the southeastern United States.Key Responsibilities:-Safety First: Advance our goal of getting our team home in the same condition as when they arrived to work. -Financial Steering: Guide our trajectory towards achieving a bold financial target, focusing on profitability and sustainable growth.-Operational Excellence: Oversee the seamless integration of new acquisitions and streamline operations to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.-Metric Utilization: Employ key metrics to measure and drive success, including Quality, Cost, Delivery, Service, Capacity Utilization, and Labor Efficiency.-Accountability: Hold our team accountable for performance, ensuring alignment with company objectives and values.-Development & Training: Foster an environment ripe for growth, where operational leadership continuously evolves through targeted training and coaching.-Lean Philosophy: Champion a culture of continuous improvement inspired by Lean Manufacturing principles, with a commitment to reducing waste and optimizing processes.-Process Optimization: Uphold operational SOPs across the organization, leveraging the Aspire platform to eliminate redundancies and streamline branch processes.-Labor Optimization: Innovate and implement best practices for labor utilization, maximizing route density and minimizing inefficiencies.- Sales Growth: Lead the Business Developers to drive profitable growth.I am nurturing the growth of Yardnique's talent and the beauty of the environments we steward. Our collective passion for the landscape is the root of our success, and my mission is to cultivate that zeal into an ever-flourishing business.

Chicago, Il, Us

• Spearheaded a team of service excellence leaders to advance the standards and operational delivery for a >$1B facility service business.• Nurtured innovation and collaboration amongst service teams to drive Operational Excellence in Maintenance & Engineering and Janitorial service business with 600+ client relationships.• Oversee the start-up of new business, on average $60MM per year.• Active sponsor for client retention and loyalty programs to retain >95% of existing business.• Lead performance improvement and service optimization at accounts requiring hyper-care assistance.Highlights:• Introduced labor optimization tools to improve productivity and facilitated internal collaboration between SMEs and account leaders for the implementation of the Service Excellence Program.• Improved account retention by ~10% from prior year by addressing service quality, introducing client relationship tools, and improving the perceived value of services.• Redesigned the central support team to address gaps while also reducing operating cost by 14%.• Introduced a program focused on service excellence, and implemented client loyalty and retention tools.

Chicago, Il, Us

• Managed key client relationships across 11 sites and 3 mega sites as General Manager, leading team safety, development, and recognition for 525 employees while managing financial performance worth $78MM p.a.• Led comprehensive Integrated Facilities Management and Skilled Trades services, addressing operational needs.Highlights:• Stabilized a relationship with a major account during a turbulent period and successfully negotiated a new 5-year IFM agreement • Added new sites in Utah and Indiana while also expanding services in South Dakota and Iowa.• Safety Performance improved to the top quartile (0 LTIR, 1.45 TRIR)• Improved employee retention by 17 basis points,

Chicago, Il, Us

• Appointed to optimize facility service delivery across the enterprise, concentrating on elevating value for clients, internal operations, employees, and preferred partners.• Converted work that was contracted to 3rd party service providers to self-performed scope - generating cost savings, improved profitability, and unlocking avenues for expansion.• Led market-wide Request for Proposal (RFP) facilitation and Vendor Selection for 46+ properties in Texas market.• Facilitated cross-selling opportunities, while securing best-in-market pricing for preferred supply chain members.Highlights:• Led a special program to optimize service delivery across the full enterprise, successfully converting ~$38MM of expense into recurring revenue for the business at LinkedIn, Google, and a variety of commercial office buildings. • Established best market prices for supply chain individuals while performing rigorous data analysis of total expenditure, supplier, and contracts ($575 MM vendor spend).• Launched a mobile mechanical services team and secured Amazon AMZL Site Support worth $2.5MM to provide customers with seamless delivery service and convert work that was contracted to another provider.

Chicago, Il, Us

• Managed service and product innovation labs (MIA, SEA, BOS, and Cadillac Fairview) while establishing service standards, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and solution design templates.• Led Kaizen events and Value Stream Mapping activities to optimize service delivery, employing tools such as Day in the Life of (DILO) and Best in Class/Opportunity for Improvement (BIC/OFI) exercises.Highlights:• Secured a large Canadian portfolio by increasing janitorial productivity through the use of AI robotics, IoT sensor technology, and optimized cleaning practices.• Reduced overtime and produced over $1MM of EBITDA improvement by implementing a scheduling and labor management program using continuous improvement tools and by performing labor utilization analysis.

Chicago, Il, Us

• Oversaw Proposal Development and Cost Estimation Teams while leading new business transitions.• Collaborated synergistically with the Business Development team to conceptualize customized client solutions, meticulously analyzing cost dynamics, and forecasting potential profitability across diverse opportunities.• Partnered with the business to create the business operating system and knowledge management system (KHUB).Highlights:• Developed M&A strategy for business, leading to acquiring 4 projects and integration of 2 acquisitions.• Introduced Go/No Go opportunity review to qualify opportunities; win rate improved by 6 basis points.

• When you donate $100 to a charity, often you wonder if you are making a difference. But when 100 men donate $100 at the same time, they raise $10,000 to a worthy cause. Now THAT makes an impact. And it takes only an hour.• No volunteering, no telemarketing, no event planning, no silent auction donations to solicit. Simply a great way to get together with a great group of guys while giving back to our local community.

Cork, Ireland, Ie

• Assigned to global project initiative, Maintenance Excellence. Facilitated working sessions and deployment. Worked closely with the Six Sigma group.• Worked with business verticals to deploy Global Operations programs and standards.Highlights: • Facilitated multiple innovation sessions with global team to develop a robust Maintenance Excellence Program.

Cork, Ireland, Ie

• Oversaw a global team of 38 change management professionals representing 14 countries to start up and transform new and existing business.Highlights:• The Global Change Management team was recognized with 11 merit awards for service excellence• Developed a program in collaboration with Jim Bohn, Ph.D. titled Pathways, the program addresses change-inhibiting behaviors that occur during outsourcing; received 2nd JCI Innovation Leadership Award.

Cork, Ireland, Ie

• Managed the retail sector of the business in America representing $130MM in annual revenue.Highlights:• Secured 5 year renewal for JCPenney’s contract.• Expanded services at GGP and Manpower

Cork, Ireland, Ie

• Ensured integrity and profitability of the Facilities Management Line of Business for the High-Tech Customer Business Group. • Led facility service product management, generating $150MM in sales and driving pull-through of the other company offerings.Highlights:• Integrated 4 companies to complete the Mid-Market Growth Plan.• Served as Kaizen and Program Leader for an overtime improvement program, yielding $3.4MM in savings.

Cork, Ireland, Ie

• Managed integrated facility management support for Agilent Technologies in >100 countries, supporting all facilities and services.• Served as the interim account leader with Nortel Technologies for the Americas while still managing the Agilent global relationship. Nortel occupied 30MM sf in offices across 12 countries in the Americas.• During the tenure the account consistently exceeded targets on total annual sales of $72MM globally.Highlights:• Received the 1st JCI Innovation Leadership Award.• Awarded Account Leader of the year in 2005 and 2006.• Expanded services by adding global real estate support to the portfolio.

Cork, Ireland, Ie

Primary facilitator for the creation and implementation of the JCI Business Operating System (BOS). Led the implementation of the program once it was developed.

Cork, Ireland, Ie

Managed Operations Support group, which included Call Center, Performance Reporting, Systems Support, Technology Development, Innovation, and Maintenance Planning. Interim Manager of the GxP Calibration group.

Us

Provided Sound, Lighting and Teleprompter support for the President and Vice President. Also served during the George H.W. Bush Presidential campaign.