Turnarounds
Firsthand knowledge
How John Kaniuk turned Zircoa around by empowering his employees to solve the problems that affected them most
By Patrick Mayock
Smart Business Cleveland | June 2008
Page 1 of 3
Back in 1990, John Kaniuk viewed Zircoa Inc. as an exercise in
excess.
“What I saw was a company that had many different products,
many different markets and a lot of problems, both internally and
externally,” he says.
Company management at the time thought the myriad problems were all technical. Years of disappointing revenue led them
to believe that processes — not the people — were to blame. In
an attempt to turn the ceramic and refractory products manufacturer around, Zircoa’s management sought out Kaniuk, then a rising star in the research department of a nearby refractory manufacturer, to take over as president.
Despite his technical background, Kaniuk wasn’t so quick to
adopt the previous interpretation of the problems. His experiences in numerous strategic planning initiatives made him think
the issues might be more widespread. By digging a little deeper
and talking to nearly everyone at the company, he eventually concluded that a comprehensive approach was better suited to
address so many ills.
“We needed to get everybody involved to determine how to
proceed because there were so many problems,” he says.
“Instead of trying to just tackle the technical side of the business, my focus became, ‘What do we need to do to get everybody involved to turn this company around and do the things
necessary to be successful?’”
To answer that question, Kaniuk empowered his employees by
making them active players in his quest toward quality. He organized dozens of committees, each consisting of six to a dozen workers, and charged them with fixing processes and developing key
initiatives. His only guideline? Keep it within budget.
That trust and autonomy has helped push the company to 2007
revenue of $30 million, while making it one of only four, nine-time
recipients of the NorthCoast 99 Award, which honors great work-places in Northeast Ohio.
Here’s how Kaniuk turned things around at Zircoa by getting his
employees involved and then holding them accountable.
