Ladies Who Lead in Engaging Our Employees
Meet six women who work hard each day to have an impact on our employees and the business by taking charge of employee engagement.
Employee engagement is the commitment an employee has to the organization and its goals. It drives our success and creates an inclusive, connected workforce.
Nurturing engagement across an organization can be a challenging job, even for the people who love the work and believe it’s the key to individual and collective success.
This month, we’d like to introduce six ladies who willingly accept the challenge and have enthusiastically taken the lead in Engaging Our Employees.
Dana Beard, Manager – HR, Safety & Health, Action Stainless & Alloys – Dallas, TX
Dana Beard has held an HR leadership role for over 25 years. She started her career with a commercial insurance company while working toward a degree in Insurance/Risk Management. After graduation, she transitioned to Human Resources. Prior to joining Action Stainless six years ago, Dana worked for a metal stamping company. There she learned a lot about the metals industry. She loves the daily challenges the metals industry presents, working with managers and employees to develop their skills and her ability to make an impact every single day.
“Managing the business’s greatest asset – its people – is personally fulfilling,” Dana says. “In HR, your finger is on the pulse of the entire organization. As part of my daily tasks, I seek to have a profound impact on our employees – from development to training to conflict resolution. Aligning the team with the strategic goals for continued success has always excited me!”
Dana believes engagement is important to an employee’s overall job satisfaction and helps them understand what their individual contribution means to the entire organization, “their place in the big picture,” she explains.
At Action Stainless, Dana leads the charge in engaging employees in a few notable ways: implementing Olympic Steel’s Tons of Thanks employee recognition program; coaching and counseling managers to support employee engagement and to promote a cohesive team; purposeful, direct communication with team members to build their trust; and each day Dana shows enthusiasm for her work.
“A smile is seen, but if you are heartfelt and meaningful, others can hear that smile through the phone,” she explains. “When an employee can feel the passion in my voice and appreciate the care and concern demonstrated – I love that.”
Action Stainless was acquired by Olympic Steel less than a year ago. Dana believes the relationship is off to a great start and shared a story about a recent visit from Andy Markowitz, President – Specialty Metals: “Andy said, ‘Let’s be impactful.’ This short statement resonated with our management team. We are ready, and up for the opportunity to make an impact!”
Being able to have a positive influence on the people and the Company each and every day is what Dana likes most about her job. As the HR profession grows and changes, so does Dana – learning something new keeps her engaged, and she’s determined to keep employees engaged, too, by allowing them to grow right alongside her.
Ashley Floyd, HR Supervisor, Chicago Tube & Iron – Romeoville, IL
Ashley started her career with Chicago Tube & Iron in May 2016 as an HR Coordinator, after working for McDonald’s Corporation for five years. In 2019, she was promoted to HR Generalist, and in January 2020 promoted to HR Supervisor. She enjoys helping others and chose Human Resources because she wanted to help others in a professional setting by supporting, orienting and motivating employees.
“Employee engagement is important to the success of the business,” says Ashley. “Engaged employees are more productive, feel valued and want to be at work contributing to their success and the Company’s.”
Ashley backs up her sentiments with action by finding ways to engage employees throughout the year: implementing health and wellness initiatives to show that we care about employees’ physical and mental well-being; making improvements to the onboarding process and benefit programs; and encouraging personal and professional growth and development by using the tuition reimbursement program.
And Ashley doesn’t just encourage using programs that help employees develop, she uses them, too! In July 2021, Ashley graduated from Spring Arbor University with a master’s degree in business administration, concentrating in Human Resources Development – the Company’s tuition reimbursement program helped her realize this educational goal.
Ashley is proud of achieving her goals and being part of implementing the goals of the organization. “I enjoy having a positive impact on the Company by getting to know all of our employees, assisting in their development and seeing them flourish in their jobs,” Ashley says.
Brenda Marple, Regional HR Manager, Olympic Steel – Bedford Heights, OH
Brenda began working for Olympic Steel 10 years ago. In the last decade, she’s worked in multiple roles within the Corporate HR Department and even recalls a time when she worked closely with HR Representatives at each division to implement programs locally.
Now, as a Regional Human Resources Manager, Brenda works closely with all employees at her divisions. “I’ve always been able to connect with people,” she says when asked why she wanted to work in Human Resources. “And I enjoy offering a listening ear and guidance to employees at all levels in the organization.”
She believes having engaged employees is important because engaged employees are invested in the workplace. “They go the extra mile and take the lead in producing quality work for the entire length of their career,” she explains.
Brenda helps employees be engaged by working closely with the divisions to roll out new programs and encouraging use of existing programs and benefits.
When asked what she likes most about her job, Brenda says, “Working with our amazing HR Team, interacting with the employees and learning something new all the time.” Then adds, “it keeps me on my toes!”
Cassy Powers, Regional HR Manager, Olympic Steel – Bedford Heights, OH
Cassy has worked at Olympic Steel for five years. She started as Corporate Recruiting Supervisor, then Talent Acquisition Manager and, now, Regional Human Resources Manager. She enjoys Human Resources because no day is ever the same and she enjoys solving problems, when challenged.
“I believe employee engagement is important to the business because we spend more time at work than we do with our families,” Cassy says. “I want employees to feel that we are invested in their future and that they are a part of our work family.”
She’s leading the charge of engaging employees through her leadership of the DEI program, onboarding program and by helping others develop engagement programs for their teams.
Working with other people, at all levels of the business, is what Cassy likes most about her job. She interacts with employees in all positions across the Company, and reminds us that, “Our people are everything. Developing personal relationships with employees is important and allowing them to feel the same connection is how they engage. It’s how we experience growth – individually and as a team.”
Chelsea Coleman, Regional HR Manager, Olympic Steel – Mount Sterling, KY
Chelsea began working at Olympic Steel’s Mount Sterling, KY division a few months after they opened their doors in 2011. She has always been a member of the Human Resources Team, beginning her career as Division HR Administrator, before moving on to Division HR/Safety Representative and Corporate Recruiting Manager before assuming her current role of Corporate Human Resources Manager, Sr.
Chelsea didn’t choose Human Resources, it chose her. “When I started my master’s program, I learned so much more about the nitty gritty of what HR handles,” she explains. “I was exposed to several areas of the field during my classes and projects. I enjoyed the data piece of Human Resources (like using performance reviews to predict job success), but I was really hooked when I started helping others engage their employees! Adding the human aspect to the data made it a perfect fit for me.”
She believes keeping employees engaged is important, because we wouldn’t have a business to manage without them. She’s leading this effort through her support of culture changes like the new Performance Management Process and the Focus on Diversity program that give employees ample opportunities to engage – in their own professional development and in the development of the company.
Managing behind the scenes work is what Chelsea likes most about her job. It’s foundational work that influences the effectiveness of all other programs. “Things like federal reporting, policy writing and acquisitions allow me to learn something new each day,” she explains. “Policy writing, especially, allows me to partner with other managers and employees to create policies that truly work for the business and our employees.”
Kerri Anderson, Regional HR Manager, Olympic Steel – Minneapolis, MN
Kerri is new to Olympic Steel’s Human Resources Department, but no stranger to the profession. Her first HR position was in 1998, and she’s focused on all things Human Resources since then.
She believes the most important asset any company has is its people. “Keeping employees engaged, passionate, happy, healthy and motivated is the best foundation for a business to excel,” says Kerri.
Kerri enjoys the variety of work Human Resources provides and likes that there’s never a dull moment.
Although she’s only been with us for a few months, Kerri’s looking forward to finding ways to enhance the “employee experience” at Olympic Steel.
“Managers and supervisors are the key players when it comes to an engaged team,” she says. “I’m looking forward to working with them to identify ways to keep their employees happy, engaged and motivated.”
Dana, Ashley, Brenda, Cassy, Chelsea and Kerri enjoy working with people and finding ways to develop employees and improve their experience. Each of them understands the important role they play in engaging our employees and how it has an impact on our overall success.
Help Celebrate Our Talented Team!
The Leading Ladies feature kicked-off in December 2020 with Ladies Who Lead in Our Industry. That month, and each month since, we’ve featured employees who local leaders have identified as positive examples of the talented women building strong careers at Olympic Steel. It’s important to share stories that inspire others to keep working toward their goals and bringing different perspectives to their teams.
It’s not always easy to attract women to our industry. With these profiles, we hope to inspire the many talented ladies already on our team and encourage more to join Olympic Steel.
Know a leading lady who has an inspiring story to tell? Send your referral to CompanyCommunications@olysteel.com.
