Secchi offers HR solution

Launched in 2021, Milwaukee-based Secchi has created human resources-focused software designed to track and manage employee performance.

Co-founders, Mike White, Secchi President; Rudy Nigl, VP of Operations and Business Development; and Ken DeBauche, VP of Sales & Marketing and Business Development, have collaborated to develop a tool to easily track employee data like attendance, disciplinary action, and positive performance recognition. The company recently made headlines when it raised a friends-and-family funding round of $1 million in August.

“The purpose statement of our company is ‘let great workers do great work.’ We are focused on making the frontline leaders’ job easier.  If we focus on that frontline leader, we’re going to make you more money,” White said.

The customizable SaaS product is sold as subscription-based software at a cost that is dependent on the number of employees the customer has.

“It’s been really neat to see the solution that we’re bringing. The problems aren’t just siloed in manufacturing. It’s any type of business that has a larger workforce of blue collar, hourly frontline employees where it’s difficult to manage, to connect, to engage, to motivate those workers no matter who you are, or what type of facility or company you’re running,” Nigl said.

According to White, Secchi users have seen a powerful impact on their bottom lines. He noted a beta customer documented a 15 percent increase in productivity.

A unique aspect of the Secchi product is the gamification of the human resource data. The founders see gamification as a way to both engage employees in their own progress and also recognize good work.

“Gamifying attendance and other things like attendance, where somebody’s best ability might be their availability and they’re the only way that they can go above and beyond is showing up day in and day out, “said DeBauche.  “Part of the frontline gamification that we’re providing through the software that shows those top attendance streaks of those people that are committed, they might not necessarily be able to go above and beyond in any other way, but they are committed day in and day out. And we’re highlighting stories like that.”

Nigl sees the tangible benefit of gamifying productivity data.

“I can hold not only my leadership accountable who, in turn, is holding their team accountable, but we get to have that 30,000-foot view of how we are doing as a company in terms of engagement and connectivity,” Nigl explained. “That way there is a cool competitiveness between those leaders and between those employees.  You’ll get a ‘hey, my engagement score is 70 percent of my team and the guy over here is at 85 percent. Well, I got to step up my game.’ If I see that somebody else is doing a little bit better than me, it motivates me to be more engaged. And when I’m more engaged, my team is more engaged and we’re going to be more efficient and more productive.”

The rapidly growing company is currently focused on customer acquisition. Secchi has strategized its growth goals on the Midwest market.

“This is a tool that can be used anywhere. We have customers all over the country right now … but we’re really focused on Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa. There’s no reason for us to go chasing customers in California when we have so many amazing opportunities right in our backyard, within manufacturing, logistics distribution, healthcare, food processing and other similar industries,” Nigl said.

The recent capital raise supports the technical development of the product.

“We have a data set that nobody else has. No one else is going to have this individual recognition and this individual coaching throughout the year. This is very special, that data. We are working on AI prototypes. By the end of the year (the software) will generate an AI-enabled performance review. Instead of having to write 20 performance reviews, or not doing it at all because it’s too much work, it can be done with the click of a button … We are constantly improving the program,” White said.

The company sees a future where the product will have a direct impact on the U.S. economy. Secchi’s 10-year goals include making a measurable mark on the Total Manufacturing Production Index of the United States. White states that number has been “fairly stagnant since coming out of the recession in 2012.”

The company plans to do this by gaining enough clients to have 2.5 million of the estimated 13 million manufacturing employees using Secchi products. “If I have 2.5 million of the users under management and we’re making between 10- to 15-percent gains in that group, then we should be able to move the Total Manufacturing Production Index of the United States,” White said.

Nigl agreed and noted that these numbers just focus on domestic manufacturing, and Secchi has its sights set on an international marketplace in a variety of industries.

To learn more about this business on the rise, connect with Secchi here.