Parker’s trademark is a history of solving the greatest engineering challenges, but one of the main reasons for its success has always been its people. The company’s unique culture is one that fuels innovative solutions—and the reason Filtration Group President Rob Malone now calls Parker home.
Known previously for his leadership as President and CEO of a leading filtration company, Malone joined Parker in 2013 to make a difference by continuing the corporation’s commitment to support individual contributions for the ultimate success.
“I was excited to come to Parker because I felt that I could come and make an impact quickly with the support of such a strong team. Both the Filtration Group’s and Parker’s executive leadership were open to new ideas to improve an already outstanding filtration operation.
One of the ways I was able to contribute was through helping the Parker executive leadership to refresh the Win Strategy™— it was really an honor being asked to contribute to a refresh of the strategy that has been so important to Parker’s success.”
People first
Since its introduction in 2001, the Win Strategy has been instrumental in transforming Parker’s operations and optimizing performance. The concept provided a toolbox to guide over 50,000 team members worldwide on the company’s goals of premier customer service, financial performance and profitable growth. What was unique is that the strategy evolved due to employee input—contributions that then CEO Don Washkewicz collected as he traveled the globe to gain insight from Parker’s people.
When Tom Williams took the helm as CEO in 2015, he looked to how the Win Strategy could further strengthen Parker’s future. To do this, he also turned to input from employees—and Malone was quick to offer his insight.
“It was unanimous that safety had to be elevated as the top priority. While safety had always been a focus at Parker, we started talking about the need for a real breakthrough in our safety performance with the goal of people leaving work the way they came to work – unharmed. We want to create the safest work environment in our industry with zero recordable accidents across the entire corporation.”
To prioritize the message of safety, Parker turned its Win Strategy’s attention to engaging people. With this first pillar, strategies focus on environmental, health and safety and entrepreneurial efforts to enhance ownership of performance, along with an emphasis on skilled high performance teams and leaders.
“Early in my career, there was a person who was seriously injured in one of my facilities and it left a lasting and very emotional impression on me – and I think it should be very personal – if you’re a good leader. If you’re going to lead thousands of people and you don’t care deeply about their safety, I think you are probably in the wrong job.
The new Win Strategy in total is an outstanding transformational strategy that will guide Parker to even greater success as we begin the next 100 years.”
