Sustaining and Growing Your Investment Recovery (IR) Program: 8 Steps That Scale

Investment Recovery (IR) teams don’t win by treating surplus disposition like a once-a-year cleanup.
The highest-performing programs operate like an always-on business function—continuously creating value,
documenting results, and earning trust across Finance, Operations, Maintenance, Audit, and Sustainability.

This playbook is based on real-world conference case studies and lessons shared by IR leaders, including
Megan Behm (National Grid) and Andre Alves (ADM), and tailored for the Investment Recovery Association community.

TL;DR

Build sustainability into the program (not as a “nice-to-have”)—it’s now a core value driver.
Standardize the story: formalize messaging so every stakeholder understands the process and the data.
Make it easy to participate: digital visibility + simple workflows increase adoption.
Measure what matters: KPIs must be “fingertip accessible” for Finance, plants, and leadership.
Design for risk & compliance from day one to sustain credibility as you scale.

Why sustaining an IR department is different than launching one

Launching an IR program is about proving value. Sustaining it is about repeating that value reliably—at scale.
That means your program must survive leadership changes, organizational restructures, acquisitions, and shifting priorities.

The core mindset shift: IR is ongoing value creation, not a periodic cost-cutting project.
Programs that last treat stakeholder communication, process discipline, and performance documentation as “non-negotiables.”

If you’re still building your foundation, start with this pillar guide:

What Is Investment Recovery? The Complete 2026 Guide
.

Case study: ADM’s simple 4-step process to break silos

One of the most important insights from ADM’s journey is that their primary goal wasn’t “sell more assets.”
It was to improve communication across a large, siloed plant network—so value recovery could happen consistently.

The 4-step process

Collect — Identify and capture surplus/idle assets early.
Transfer — Redeploy internally first to maximize cost avoidance.
Sell — Monetize what cannot be redeployed.
Deliver — Execute logistics safely, compliantly, and predictably.

This “simple enough to adopt” framework is a powerful reminder: the best IR process is one that your plants can follow.

Practical tip: Put the 4 steps everywhere—training decks, plant walk-throughs, onboarding docs, SharePoint pages, and ERP guidance.

The “white elephant” asset that created value without creating work

ADM shared a classic challenge: an old boiler sitting in the middle of a plant. Nobody wanted to touch it because of the
high disassembly cost. Eventually, they found a buyer who paid $2,000—modest revenue—but the bigger win was that the buyer
managed disassembly under strict standards, and ADM avoided the internal cost burden.

The lesson: not every “win” is the check. Sometimes the real value is cost avoidance, reduced risk, and reclaimed space.

Adapting to change = growth

Mature IR programs don’t stay sustainable by freezing their process. They sustain by evolving it.
Here are the growth levers highlighted in the case study—each one is transferable to most organizations:

Annual brainstorming: Run an honest yearly deep dive into what’s working, what’s not, and what must change.
Integrating strategy + data: Improve asset descriptions and lifecycle status in your systems so stakeholders can trust the numbers.
Hybrid approach: Combine top-down executive alignment with bottom-up adoption in plants and sites.
Partner with internal audit: Use audit insights to identify idle assets and reduce risk early.
Earn a “seat at the table”: Use documented wins to secure executive time and sponsorship.
Bring in outside expertise: Specialized partners can add reach, market access, and fresh perspective.
(If you need vetted options, start with the
2026 Member Service Directory.)
Work with sustainability teams: IR can support landfill avoidance and value-chain reporting narratives.
Run “Treasure Hunts”: Onsite walkthroughs to uncover idle assets, scrap value, and space recovery opportunities.
Customize the decks: Tailor your story for Finance vs. Maintenance vs. Sustainability vs. Exec leadership.

Want more best practices from the IR community?
Join the Investment Recovery Association
to access training, templates, benchmarking, and peer-tested playbooks.

The 8 steps to program sustainability

Below are eight steps that can help you sustain and grow your IR program—especially as you scale across sites, categories, and regions.
Think of these as the “operating system” that sits on top of your original IR business plan.

Step	What it means	How to implement (practical)
1) Institutionalized speech	Formalize messaging so the process and data expectations are consistent everywhere.	Create a standard “IR narrative” for each audience (Plants, Finance, Sustainability, Execs) + publish process definitions.
2) Digital broadcast & analytics	Make surplus visibility easy so adoption rises.	Centralize listings, standardize fields, and track engagement. Prioritize usability over “perfect tech.”
3) Transfer first	Internal redeployment often beats external sale because cost avoidance can be larger than revenue.	Align Finance on how you’ll report cost avoidance vs. revenue so results are trusted.
4) Category & geographic expansion	Grow into new asset categories and regions once the core process is stable.	Add one new category at a time (e.g., spare parts, MRO, ITAD) and document results before expanding again.
5) Grassroots & training	Make IR “part of the culture” so plants and sites participate without being chased.	Train continuously, use simple prompts, and celebrate wins (space recovery, avoided purchases, safety improvements).
6) Sustainability	Embed landfill diversion and circular outcomes as core program value—not a side note.	Track diversion outcomes, reuse/redeployment rates, and partner with Sustainability for shared reporting stories.
7) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)	Metrics must be accessible, consistent, and decision-useful.	Build a KPI dashboard that Finance, plants, and leadership can access quickly—no manual spreadsheet heroics.
8) Risk & compliance	Design controls up front so scaling doesn’t introduce audit or safety problems.	Partner with Audit/Compliance early; document approvals, buyer standards, chain-of-custody, and environmental requirements.

KPI starter set (Finance + Operations + Sustainability)

If you want IR to be sustainable, your KPIs must be simple enough to repeat and credible enough to defend.
Here’s a KPI starter set you can adapt:

Recovery value (revenue): gross proceeds, net proceeds, and margin (where applicable)
Cost avoidance: avoided purchases through transfers/redeployment (with an agreed method)
Cycle time: days from “identified” → “listed” → “transferred/sold” → “removed from site”
Redeployment rate: % transferred internally vs. sold externally
Participation: # of active sites/plants submitting assets per month/quarter
Space recovered: square footage freed (often highly meaningful to Operations)
Compliance indicators: exception counts, documentation completeness, audit findings
Sustainability outcomes: landfill diversion narrative + reuse/recycling breakdown (aligned with your sustainability team)

For more organizational design guidance, see:

Organizational Models That Scale
.

A practical 30–60–90 day plan to strengthen program sustainability

Days 1–30: Standardize and simplify

Write your “institutionalized speech” (one-page narrative + FAQ for each stakeholder group).
Publish the 4-step process (Collect → Transfer → Sell → Deliver) and define required data fields.
Choose 3–5 KPIs and define exactly how each is calculated (with Finance sign-off).
Identify your top 2 friction points (e.g., poor asset descriptions, slow approvals, unclear transfer policy).

Days 31–60: Increase participation and visibility

Improve digital broadcast: make it easy for sites to list assets and for internal buyers to search.
Run a training push for plant/site champions (short, repeatable, and role-specific).
Partner with Internal Audit to identify 1–2 idle asset pools and pilot a “Treasure Hunt.”
Document 3 “story-ready wins” (1 Finance, 1 Ops, 1 Sustainability).

Days 61–90: Scale responsibly

Add one expansion lever (new category or region) with clear process controls.
Formalize compliance requirements (buyer standards, safety, chain-of-custody, approvals).
Deliver a quarterly executive update with KPIs + wins + next-quarter roadmap.
Create a repeatable annual brainstorming template (so the program evolves, not stalls).

Use Invrecovery resources to accelerate your IR program

One of the fastest ways to sustain growth is to plug into proven education, peers, and vetted service partners.
Here are high-impact next steps inside the Investment Recovery Association ecosystem:

Become a member
to access best practices, networking, and professional development.
Download the 2026 Member Service Directory
to shortlist trusted vendors by category.
Explore webinars
for practical training on streamlining the sale process and improving outcomes.
Level up professionally with CMIR certification.
Browse the ASSET 2.0 archives
for peer-tested strategies and case studies.
Get ongoing education via the IR Learning & Resource Center (LMS).
Learn about IRA’s mission and history on the About the Investment Recovery Association page.

Tip: If you’re trying to build more credibility inside your company, publishing a quarterly “IR Impact Snapshot”
(Finance + Ops + Sustainability) is one of the simplest habits that compounds over time.

FAQs

1) What’s the difference between “selling” and “transferring” assets?

Selling is external monetization. Transferring is internal redeployment (often the fastest route to cost avoidance).
Mature programs prioritize “transfer first,” then sell what cannot be reused internally.

2) Why do IR programs lose momentum after a strong first year?

Usually it’s one of three reasons: the story isn’t consistent, participation is too hard, or KPIs aren’t trusted.
The fix is institutionalized messaging, simple workflows, and fingertip-accessible metrics.

3) How do I get Finance to value cost avoidance?

Align on methodology. Define what counts as a valid transfer, what price reference you’ll use, and what documentation is required.
Then report cost avoidance consistently, alongside revenue, so the story stays credible.

4) What KPIs matter most to plant leaders?

Cycle time, space recovered, safety/compliance clarity, and “how easy is this for my team?” are often the strongest drivers of plant participation.

5) How does IR support sustainability goals?

By prioritizing reuse and redeployment, increasing landfill diversion, and improving the documentation trail for materials and asset outcomes—
which supports sustainability reporting narratives.