Via le blog de Cyril Huze et cet article en particulier.
Le nouveau directeur des opérations chez Harley-Davidson, Matt Levatich, qui entrera officiellement en fonction le 1er mai, s’est permis une lettre ouverte au réseau nord-américain des concessionnaires H-D.
Il y dresse les grandes lignes de ce que sera sa philosophie de travail auprès du réseau, tout en y allant des vœux pieux habituels pour toute nouvelle affectation.
Pas de grande révélation ici (la lettre en VOA ci-dessous), mais tout de même 2, 3 choses intéressantes.
Il reconnaît d’entrée de jeu que les temps sont difficiles, mais que ce n’est qu’une question de conjonctures défavorables, rien à voir avec Harley-Davidson qui en est victime. Le seul réconfort offert aux concessionnaires est de faire preuve de patience, et que s’ils ont des solutions, il est prêt à écouter. En d’autres mots, c’est arrangez-vous avec vos problèmes, j’ai assez des miens, c’est la jungle en ce moment, que le plus fort survive.
Son seul engagement est celui de créer du silence (create silence), ce qui dans un pays où le credo est «Loud pipes save lives», le risque d’être mal compris est présent. Son silence réfère bien évidemment au bruit de fond généré par les problèmes du quotidien, mais ça, ce n’est rien de plus que de la tâche ménagère quotidienne, la base d’une saine gestion. Avec 106 ans d’histoire, comme il se plaît à le rappeler, l’intendance du bruit de fond devrait depuis longtemps être affaire classée. Qu’il se soit trouvé un slogan pour le travail qu’il DOIT faire, d’accord, mais rien pour écrire à sa mère, suffisant par contre pour son réseau de concessionnaires.
Autre point abordé par monsieur Levatich est celui d’une future croissance (to grow and grow profitably). J’imagine qu’il a des chiffres, des graphiques et une boule de cristal, parce que la croissance pour H-D, personne ne la voit venir. Sa base est vieillissante, la génération suivante regarde ailleurs, la division finance croule sous les dettes, car elle a soutenu sa croissance justement par le crédit et que c’est maintenant le temps de payer, et que les nouveaux marchés, les pays du BIC notamment (Brésil, Inde, Chine) n’émergent pas aussi rapidement que prévu.
La solution, s’il la possède, Matt Levatich la garde pour lui. Hé! Il est celui qui a en sa possession chiffres, graphiques et boule de cristal.
On lui souhaite quand même bonne chance.
…
Dear Dealers, “You hear us say it often – a key reason for the success of Harley-Davidson is our outstanding dealer network, and the passion, dedication and business acumen that you bring to the retail experience as we create customers for life. So, as I begin to prepare to assume my new role as President and Chief Operating Officer of Harley-Davidson Motor Company next month, I wanted to share some brief thoughts on how I am planning to approach working with you—the best dealer network in the motorcycle business, bar none.
First, I want to express not only how honored and excited I am, but also convey what an awesome responsibility I know it is to lead this legendary 106-year-old company that I have come to love over the past 15 years. And I want to assure you that I will do everything possible to provide for our continued mutual success.
There’s no doubt that the market is tough right now, and I fully recognize the challenges that you are facing. But I also know that businesses with strong fundamentals, like the Harley-Davidson motorcycles business, can emerge even stronger and more disciplined from environments like this, if time, energy and resources are properly focused. And because I’ve seen the commitment and dedication you have to this business and the Harley-Davidson brand, I am absolutely confident about our long-term future of mutual success together.
Some of you may recall from when I was the Vice President of P&A in 07 and 08, my belief in working hard to “create silence.” Simply put, “creating silence” means eliminating the noise created by problems—fixing them and delivering results – so that we can all enjoy our mutual success. As we go forward together, my philosophy hasn’t changed. I intend to create silence for you, so in turn, you can focus on taking care of your customers.
And beyond creating silence, I look forward to doing everything we can to take advantage of the many opportunities that lie ahead for all of us to grow and grow profitably – especially through the great products we produce. Dealer profitability is a vitally important part of the decisions we make throughout the organization and how we go to market. After all, profitability is what enables you to provide the kind of customer experience that is so critical to our value proposition.
As we get to know one another better, you’ll learn that what drives me is working hard and finding ways to do things better. And in working hard and doing things better, we create space for having fun, which I also believe is critically important. Fun is the payoff, along with financial reward, and there is no better business where this can all come together with power and purpose than ours.
Speaking of hard work and having fun, those are traits that absolutely describe the Motor Company President for the past eight years, Jim McCaslin. I’d like to thank Jim and acknowledge his tremendous contributions to Harley-Davidson and to the dealer network. Jim has worked tirelessly with you to achieve an enormous amount of success and forge a strong partnership based on trust. We all owe Jim our gratitude for his many accomplishments.
I’m looking forward to building on this foundation to drive future growth, along with Jim in his new role, all of you in the dealer network, our new CEO Keith Wandell and the entire team at Harley-Davidson.
I begin my new responsibilities on May 1 and my first official duty will be traveling on one of the U.S. Dealer Town Hall circuits. The timing couldn’t be better and I look forward to seeing many of you then, and listening to your thoughts and ideas for making this great business even greater”
Sincerely, Matt
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