United Rentals Organization Change Essay

Concordia University

MBA 503 – Leading Organizational Change

Fall 2016 Term

Organizational Change Essay

Presented by Kate Schimmel

Submitted to Professor Maria Malayter

On 11/20/2016

The following essay will discuss a large-scale change within the company, United Rentals based on the knowledge of the Director of Application Development. United Rentals is the largest equipment rental company in the world, with over 880 rental locations in the United States and Canada. In 2014, United Rentals was listed in the Fortune 500 for the first time based on the revenue of $4.955 billion from the previous year. Founded in 1997, the company has gone through several acquisitions and mergers. The largest one being the merging with the company, RSC Holdings, Inc. in 2012. Besides major changes like these, there are many that happen that are more indirect within the company and not in the public eye. Based on an interview with Randy Schimmel, Director of Application Development, he has recently faced a large-scale change and was forced to adapt quickly and efficiently.

        Randy Schimmel has been with United Rentals for 18 years and previously worked for a rental company called Power Rents who eventually merged with United Rentals in 1998. Through his experience, he has seen changes come and go. This makes him a great resource for this specific essay. As previously stated, United Rentals has faced many new changes and have grown to be a very successful business. The way they manage new alterations to the company must be done in a manner that has brought them this great success.

        When asked about pressures he was faced within his organization, Randy Schimmel commented on the company resources that are spread across the continent. Since the company has expanded and grown, more and more communication is needed. “This makes collaboration difficult” (Schimmel). The biggest pressure he faces involves “understanding other people’s viewpoints, making decisions, and ensuring progress is being made while being in the same room as others” (Schimmel). He made note that when collaboration can be done face-to-face, he takes advantage of it. Since most of his work is done by using programming systems, he often has to use technology to communicate. This is not always the most efficient way to make progress, but sometimes there is no other option. The way Randy handles this type of larger-topic challenge is by travelling to visit other headquarters to resolve issues and in-person conferencing. For smaller-topics, he simply “develops relationships via one-on-one phone calls which leads to more direct communication and trust” (Schimmel).

        A new change Randy has been faced with in his position was the recent restructure of departments and the doubling of employees on his team. He mentioned that this change was necessary since United Rentals has grown, and the Application Development, Support, and Training departments needed to be managed with a single vision and theme in mind. The hope was that combining these groups into one would lead to more efficient process.

        The process of this change started with the Vice President of the company interviewing the Directors and confirming they all understood and agreed to the plan. Once announced, sufficient timelines were given to all Directors to accommodate the transition. Managers were then brought together to ensure new themes were communicated well and everyone was on the same page. This was important for the change to be successful and all employees were prepared for the transition, especially the Directors. Adding more employees to a team is a big difference and can lead to potential stressful issues. This type of change can lead to confusion of how to implement new ideas and keep focus on the company goals.  

        When the restructuring of departments was implemented, all managers from the three departments were brought together to ensure everything was going smoothly and discuss any issues that may have come up. Randy said this was a great way “to address any concerns and even build new relationships with the other departments” (Schimmel). They all now had a common theme which made them relate in a different manner than before. The directors could discuss something they were all facing and help each other with similar problems that may have come up.

When asked if he received support from upper management after the change was implemented, Randy stated that he felt that support was present. “For the short term, upper management let directors review and refine details at their own pace to perfect the restructuring of departments” (Schimmel). This was a great way to make sure all directors were pleased with the way the change was happening and they could feel like they were in control of their departments. Randy had frequent meetings with the Human Resource department to review how to keep employee moral high during the departmental change and make sure a healthy work environment was being inherited. They offered employees new perks, such as clothing with company logos to boost morale and keep employees happy.