Over the past 7 months, the “DistributED with tED magazine” interviewed the 2022 tED magazine “30 Under 35” award winners to find out more about who they are, but most importantly, how they will shape our supply chain now and in the future.
In part one of this three-part series, we learn how the tED magazine “30 Under 35” looks at hiring, retention, and training.
Recruiting
Alyssa Ballard, Crawford Electric
“While I was at Texas A&M I actually snuck into the career fair to meet with Crawford. The reason why I wanted to meet with them is because my mom worked with Crawford, and the rest was basically history.
“(If you are a distributor) Start making the relationships with the school because the school will start working on your behalf when you have successful stories to share. Crawford branded really well, and they were warm and welcoming and ready to meet new and top talent.”
Kathryn Williamson, Crawford Electric
“I actually joined Crawford Electric because of Alyssa. She talked so highly about Crawford, the family environment and that she loved Crawford and she recommended that I apply.”
Mike Ofak, Schaedler Yesco
“Word of mouth is the biggest bang for the buck. When you hear from a family member about how great a company is, it provides value. You should also have someone who is completely devoted to recruiting only.”
Julia Gehman, NorthEast Electrical
“They were recruiting at my school (University of South Carolina), and they were recruiting at the school for the sales and operations development program. And I thought it was an amazing program. I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but the program gave me a rotation of warehouse, I sat on the counter, we did inside sales and marketing.”
Jacob Gerstenberg, NorthEast Electrical
“When I had my first interview with Sonepar, they said they are probably the biggest company that I have never heard of. Because people just don’t know about it, and it would be a great thing for me to be aware of electrical distribution. If people understood how big of an industry this is, it’s not going anywhere any time soon, people would flock to it.”
Retention
Ballard
“We really partner with our managers to establish relationships with new hires from the get-go. Regardless of the level of the person coming on board, we want them to be excited and feel our excitement to have them, so they have that foundations and support from day 1.”
Schroeder
“I was tasked with explaining what it takes to be an employee-friendly workplace, which includes what is valuable to an employee and what is attractive. It’s about the feeling that you create with your culture.”
Training
Ofak
“We have an internal business that helps people understand all aspects. I took that early in my career at Schaedler. I took NAED’s EPEC Bronze. There are a lot of opportunities through NAED and through the company to grow.”
Brayan Garcia, Siemens
“I spent two years being very technical, and then I switched over to the sales side. On a bi-weekly basis we have a call where we learn about new products, but on the sales side Siemens has an entire course and a list of courses you can take to better your soft skills. So that’s what I have done as I learned all of my product catalog, I also learned those sales tactics.”
Gerstenberg
“I was fortunate. I sat with my co-worker for about two weeks, and she just showed me how to buy. I got into the project-based buying, which is a different challenge compared to traditional distribution. And they just kept throwing stuff like that at me and it kept me engaged and interested.”
Amanda White, Siemens
“Just being exposed, I learned the quickest when I was in the field. I am a very big hands-on learner. I need to see examples and real-life application. The internship I had a couple of projects and I got to learn what Siemens is all about, but the biggest piece was just shadowing my counterparts. And they were so willing to answer all of my questions.”
Tagged with 2022 30 Under 35, 30 under 35, best practices, people