How do you ignite transformation in a complex, global service environment? For Clinten van der Merwe, SVP, Head of Service at TOMRA Recycling, step one is defining a bold “North Star” vision. In a recent episode of UNSCRIPTED, Clinten offered an inside look at how he’s using his North Star – 100% remote service by 2035 – as a compass to guide TOMRA’s evolution through the challenges of digital transformation, rapidly shifting customer expectations, and the relentless drive for sustainability.
It’s important to understand that a North Star is more than just an aspirational statement. Clinten believes a North Star is a clear, compelling, long-term vision that shapes not just strategy, but the very identity of a team or organization. “It acts like a compass, pointing to north through complexity, ambiguity, and change,” he explains.
A North Star isn’t a simple technical tweak or incremental improvement. A North Star is needed, and adds value, when what’s underway is more of a paradigm shift. “A bold North Star really captures hearts and minds,” Clinten says. “It energizes the team, aligns leadership, and signals we’re here to build tomorrow — not just tweak yesterday.”
Using Storytelling to Unlock Business-Wide Alignment
A strong North Star also creates a foundation for powerful storytelling that can help build understanding and foster support beyond the service function – a struggle many leaders know well. Like TOMRA’s North Star of 100% remote service by 2035, most bold visions for service transformation are intertwined in broader business transformation. Storytelling is a powerful yet underutilized skill that can help build a business-wide movement, uniting R&D, sales, IT, operations, and even HR.
As Clinten puts it, “Stories inspire and move people to act, especially when bridging the gap between strategy and emotion.” In his first 90 days at TOMRA, he focused on the “why” – framing the vision in terms of emotional resonance, real business risk, and tangible customer value.
Consider this: In some markets, TOMRA already achieves an 80% first-time-fix rate remotely. That means less travel, faster response times, and greater equipment uptime for customers. But Clinten’s storytelling extends further, painting a future where a customer receives a proactive alert, connects instantly with an expert, and has issues resolved before they even know there’s a problem.
The art of storytelling isn’t just about painting a bright future, however; it’s about tailoring the message for every stakeholder. For sales, remote service becomes a differentiator and revenue driver. For engineering, it means spending less time firefighting and more time innovating. For HR, it’s about attracting and empowering the next generation of tech-savvy, customer-centric talent. And for finance, it’s hard numbers: millions in operational efficiency.
From Vision to Action: Building the Strategy to Achieve Your North Star
Of course, ambition and alignment alone aren’t enough; but a North Star sets the stage for building a stepwise strategy to achieve the vision. Clinten explains that TOMRA’s strategy is divided into three horizons.
Horizon 1 is focused on strengthening its digital backbone and expanding remote capabilities. This includes upgrading core platforms (like ERP), integrating AI and machine learning for predictive service, and piloting new models with trusted customers. For Clinten, “Scalability equals speed plus consistency.” Without modern systems, there’s no way to deliver a world-class, global remote service – but systems alone won’t make TOMRA’s vision a reality. “Data is everywhere,” Clinten says, “but insight is everything.” The value lies in knowing what to do with the data — turning it into actions that drive customer trust and business value.
Horizon 2 is centered around accelerating adoption. Over the next three to five years, TOMRA aims to expand remote service to 50–70% of interactions, build trust at scale through data transparency, and shift field teams to hybrid, remote-enabled roles.
Horizon 3 is about transforming for the future. In six to ten years, the goal is 100% remote capability across all product lines, embedding serviceability into product design from the start, and reimagining field engineers as strategic remote advisors. Achieving the North Star vision means TOMRA will need to fundamentally rethink its approach to talent.
Clinten acknowledges that service skillsets are evolving rapidly. “TOMRA isn’t eliminating field roles but elevating them. Tomorrow’s engineers will be part coach, part problem-solver, part data interpreter,” he shares. “Digital transformation expands the talent pool but also increases competition, so TOMRA is focused on making service careers modern, strategic, and customer-impacting.”
Flexible work, enabled by digital tools, appeals to a broader range of talent — inviting in those who want to work from coffee shops, set flexible hours, or contribute remotely from anywhere in the world. Yes, this is a bold vision – but also one that is quite compelling.
Navigating the Practical Realities of Service Transformation
Throughout these horizons of transformation, TOMRA is focused on setting measurable goals and celebrating milestones to keep teams motivated and accountable. The company is leaning into KPIs like customer uptime and digital resolution rates. “The goal is to be aggressive but attainable, inspiring but relatable,” Clinten notes.
As every service leader knows, transformation is never easy or linear. Clinten is candid about the challenges, which include resistance, slow progress, and the sheer weight of ambition. Staying motivated, he says, is about returning to the vision, celebrating small wins, and investing in continuous learning — for both leader and team.
Leadership, as Clinten models, means being present, uplifting teams, and modeling gratitude. “Positive stories are hardly celebrated,” he observes, “but they’re what keep you moving forward.”
For service leaders facing similar tides of change, the idea of creating a service North Star and leveraging storytelling to rally around it are one blueprint for how to guide a business (and its people) to not just adapt to tomorrow’s realities, but to create them.