Engaging your employees through a clear vision and real solutions to problems

How does the company manage to engage its 45 drivers, 15 office staff, 8 mechanics and 4 owner-operators? "First of all, I don't spin tall tales. We don't make anything up. We move freight," says Michel Boisvert.

"I try to listen to our drivers and our office staff, because they are the lifeblood of the company. I can have 50 trucks in my yard, but if I have no drivers to run them…"

At 18, this Sorel native caught the bug for trucking, a job he likens to a calling. For 16 years, at 70 hours a week, he drove the roads of North America. He knows every road condition, from heavy traffic to summer heat waves and snow-covered winter roads. At 36, in 2011, he launched his transport company with a partner, Richard Villeneuve. Hence the name Vilmik.

For his part, the boss, himself a father of three, feels it's important to recognize the contribution of the drivers' wives. "We always invite them to our parties. They live on their own with the kids during the week. They welcome their man home on Friday night and help him unwind from his week. They matter to us."

Turning problems into solutions

"If our drivers have problems, we try to find solutions. I like to throw down the challenge: we build our company together. And the most important thing, in my view, is feeling that sense of accomplishment in our work," he says.

In this era of labour shortages, Vilmik faces the same recruiting struggles as its competitors. "We could complain and moan that we can't find employees. Instead, we hold round tables and we find solutions."

Michel Boisvert sees hiring potential among people nearing retirement. "People aged 55 to 65 make up 16% of the population. The 8-to-19 age group accounts for 8.9% of the population. In between, there's a gap." And he doesn't sugarcoat the reality on the ground: "Trucking is a hard job. You realize that not everyone has the capacity to put in 70 hours of work a week."

Human resources director Élisabeth Aussant explains that the company is open to giving a first chance to someone with no experience in the trucking world. "Michel has a knack for spotting potential in people who don't necessarily have experience. We've had some great successes by giving a first chance to someone with the right attitude, aptitude and appetite for a new challenge."

An example? A high-school teacher wanted a career change. "If all they're missing is the technical skills, we're able to train them."

Vilmik gives back to the Sorel-Tracy region by sponsoring events such as the Festival de la gibelotte (Gib Fest), the local youth centre and sports associations. In 2011, the company had only about twenty jobs. Some fifty jobs were created over seven years. "People from Quebec City and other regions moved here to work with us, helping the region grow," says Michel Boisvert, visibly proud.

As you step into Vilmik's front lobby, you immediately come across this quote from Henry Ford.

The future, he knows, will eventually bring semi-autonomous trucks. Will we one day see trucks heading to Toronto with no human on board? "How are we going to take that turn? We're already preparing for it. We're looking for people at the cutting edge of technology, ready to work in operations and in the garage."

In the meantime, Vilmik is a fine example of a workforce that operates in a family spirit. "We live in an era where everyone can't wait to get home. Here, we have barbecues and social activities, and we all want to take part," says Élisabeth Aussant. The proof? An employee recently got married and invited all of his coworkers.

Seeing clearly with organizational intelligence

Michel Boisvert's story comes down to one sentence: listen to your people, because they are the lifeblood of the company. But you have to hear all of them, not just the loudest voices or the ones you bump into in the hallway. That's where gut feeling shows its limits, and where measurement takes over.

Amélio is organizational intelligence: an organization's ability to know, on an ongoing basis, what its teams are experiencing and where to act to engage them. Where intuition catches the loudest voices, organizational intelligence hears everyone, and turns what your people already know into decisions your managers can act on.

Our questions draw on a proven scientific model, the Job Demands-Resources model (JD-R), which distinguishes what weighs on an employee from what supports them. More than 750 organizations already use it with Amélio to replace the fog with a clear reading, theme by theme. Instead of measuring a bit of everything and understanding nothing, every answer points to a specific lever.

In concrete terms, Amélio's engagement diagnostic gives you a reading by theme, comparisons over time and prioritized courses of action. Want your vision to be lived day to day, not just posted on a wall? Our approach to engaging people through your values shows how to anchor direction in concrete actions. And if you first want to understand what fuels a team's momentum, our guide on ways to motivate employees is a good starting point.