Waste Connections’ Worthing Jackman on Leadership, Culture, Safety and More

Worthing Jackman, president and CEO of Waste Connections, doesn’t like to talk about himself; but he had plenty else to kick around at a WasteExpo Fireside chat yesterday. What COVID-19 reaffirmed for him; his thoughts on environmental justice and zero waste; and evolving technologies are among areas he touched on. And in between, interviewer Darrell Smith, president and CEO of the National Waste & Recycling Association, did score a little personal trivia.  

For starters, Jackman is a Harvard MBA graduate who diverted to the world of trash after years as an investment banker.

Referring to the pandemic, Smith said, “It’s been a challenging year, especially, for leaders. What have you learned about yourself personally through this crisis?”

There was no “I” in his answer. “What we affirmed is if you like your values and culture that things work out. And our culture is one of leadership that believes in serving all our employees. We have to prove ourselves to employees and families every day,” Jackman attested.

Carrying out this commitment during COVID-19 was no different, though maybe more costly. The company put almost $40 million into its employees and their families last year between wages and other support.

“They came to work every day. We had 99 percent attendance throughout the pandemic. Our staff were the heroes; it’s time they got recognition. And we thought it was important to tamp down on anxieties and uncertainties,” he said of the roughly 20,000-person staff that fuel the company with a reach through the U.S. and Canada.

He moved on to acquisitions. If attendees wanted ideas on what to look for if they’re thinking of buying, Jackman’s takeaway would have been to follow the market where it is good, to look at companies’ asset positions in that market, and that there is no time like today.  With interest rates stable and low he said, “I think we will see a lot of activity the second half of this year. Now is the time.”

Environmental justice is getting a lot of play with New Jersey recently passing a law with clear guidelines, several other states proposing bills, and an administration that prioritizes the environment and addressing disparities.

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Administration seem serious about this,” he reflected. But while there are some bad actors out there, he said, he does not think any laws that may be around the bend will hard hit companies doing the right thing in an already tightly regulated industry.

What he does see as a mammoth problem is attracting labor.

“This is a fantastic industry with high-paying jobs, benefits, great people, camaraderie, and relationships. But getting people to come into this industry is not easy. We are all short on heads now.”

Waste Connection’s employee base is down about 45%, and when Jackman looks to the future, he believes the best tactic is to up the ante.

“I think we should do all we can to try and bring people in.  Things are going to get worse.”

He shared what Waste Connections is doing in the arena of zero fleet emissions.

For now, the company runs pure CNG, but he has found it hard to do in some markets.

“Where appropriate we have CNG technology in place but [we are looking into] battery technology to demonstrate full electric units and hope to see six or seven of them by the end of this year.

Though it’s hard to know what year we will have units come out of manufacturer lines to make a dent on electric, but definitely it’s where we are headed.”

He talked about leadership and building a desirable culture.

“It’s about human capital. How do you change a paradigm of high turnover and high frequency of incidents?

Our view of leadership is [delegate] higher responsibility to employees, so we are training constantly. We do a 360 evaluation of employees where they rate leaders every year.”

Compliance is a forever issue in waste management. And companies spend a lot of time both working to keep regulators happy and showing them they are doing it. Jackman said you need a good SPC program to demonstrate compliance, and for every asset.

“You have to profile all your assets to understand where risks might be. You need both a robust assessment and good documentation,” he advised.

When asked about safety he said point blank that management found the path to improved safety is to make it about the people, not programs, departments or software.

“It’s every employee owning safety. It’s not sending them down the hall to talk to a safety director … it’s not having technology; it’s coaching and relationships. It’s more behavior based and gets back to the head and heart. If a company decides to own it, this industry can make tremendous inroads,” he said.

His thoughts on zero waste got chuckles from around the room.

“I think zero waste is possible if we annihilate all humans on earth.”

But he said, “Without a doubt as a society we can control how much plastic we use and do things to minimize the waste stream. Zero waste is the right goal but it [will be] tough to get there.”

He went back to the recurring theme of a putting people first and building strong leaders.

“The focus is on if you care for each other and put leadership in place, people take a common sense approach of caring for each other and will do it at home [too]. So it’s revolutionary. It transforms peoples’ lives.”

In the end he said it’s good for the work culture and ultimately for business.