CHRIS JOB - OPERATIONS COORDINATOR AT DIVERSITECH
This week we sat down with Christopher Job, Operations Coordinator at Diversitech. Just two years with the company, Chris has had a number of responsibilities during that time. In his interview he reveals what he likes best about working at Diversitech, how it’s different from other companies and what he envisions for the future.
Q: What is your official job title?
A: My official job title is Operations Coordinator.
Q: What are your responsibilities at Diversitech?
A: Pretty much every order that comes in, whether it’s a standard or a custom, will pass through me and I’ll make sure it goes to the right department to get built. I also liaise with varying departments to make sure we’re doing the custom orders according to the drawings and following the proper process.
Q: How long have you worked at Diversitech?
A: It will be two years in February.
Q: How has your job evolved since working here?
A: Well, I started out as the customer service manager. Working in that role and learning about the products, I took an interest in the machines- how they get built and how the customs work. I learned a lot about the system and sort of transitioned away from the customer service role into the operations coordinator role.
Q: How has the working experience here differed from the other places you’ve worked?
A: Well, here it’s interesting because the business was built in a sort of way where they offer a lot more custom projects than the standard off the shelf solutions- which is great for the customers because they always get something unique to them. So from that stand point it’s fun because you’re not selling the same stuff over and over again. I get to see how the different machines are going work and how we’re going to build them. Every day brings a new challenge, something new to figure out and deliver to the customer so they can be happy.
Q: What past skills prepared you for this job?
A: When I first came to Diversitech as the customer service manager, I already had big array of customer service experience. But in terms of the products they sell here, I really hadn’t seen anything like them before. I had never worked in this industry and knew little about it, which is one of the reasons why I dove into learning about the machines. It was interesting for me to see how they worked as well as the health benefits they provide workers. What I’m doing today is very reliant upon knowing the products inside and out, how we can customize them and so on. Really nothing in my past would have prepared me for that.
Q: What are your biggest challenges?
A: The customs and trying to understand how they are going to work. It’s challenging figuring out what everyone needs to create these machine because sometimes it’s stuff we’ve never done before. Ultimately the client is looking for something that’s going to make their work environment safe. It can be a real challenge to sit and look at a concept and then say ok, let’s build a machine that will do that for you.
Q: How do you overcome them?
A: With a lot of patience. There’s a lot of back and forth which I oversee. Honestly the team here is fantastic. You have the sales staff that does a site visit to determine what is needed. They deliver the concept to the engineering team who has to come up with a design. Then there’s a lot of back and forth for revisions which is where the challenge comes in. But ultimately you can overcome it with really good communication.
Q: What do you find most rewarding?
A: When you get the customers calling back saying they got the machine and they love it. When we get the little thank you emails with the pictures attached to them showing the designed product that’s now on their shop floor or outside the building. Seeing those pictures and getting the thank you is awesome. We get to see something that went from a design on a piece of paper to actually being installed in a photo; it’s incredible.
But more than that, I think Diversitech is a really interesting place to work. It offers the opportunity to get hands on with the company and help build something. Not just a machine but build something internally that you can put your stamp on. In five, ten years time you can look back and go, “I built that. I built that process. I conceptualized that system that we’re using.” I think that’s kind of exciting.
Q: What do you anticipate for the future at Diversitech?
A: I anticipate a lot of really positive, big changes. I think that we’re starting to refine our processes a little better every day. We’re more concise in terms of the way information is passed. The communication between departments has improved tremendously and projects are getting done in a much more timely fashion. And I can see that our business is growing based on the fact that we do custom jobs. We’re offering solutions that other companies just won’t touch. We’re willing to take those risks and do something custom. I see that continuing and growing. As we refine internal processes and procedures it’s going to make it a lot more seamless for the customer. And hopefully we’ll get some of these machines more standardized within our own catalog so we can have new options available that aren’t currently in the marketplace. So I think that’s pretty exciting.