Injecting youth, changing a culture in welding

Nick Szabo, 18; John Kingzett, 24; Shawna Jennings, 24; and Corey Reed, 20, are the young guns of the AMECO USA welding department. Photos courtesy of Michaelangelo’s Photography, michaelangelosphotography.com

Cleveland-based American Manufacturing & Engineering Co. (AMECO USA), a custom fabricator specializing in heavy metals, felt the need to revamp its culture. What it didn’t know was that part of that culture change would involve adding four people under the age of 25 to its welding department, two of which are fresh out of high school.

The company had a solid workforce in place, but its existing hiring process wasn’t drawing in the type of new employee the company wanted. Something was missing. By changing its interview process and placing an emphasis on character, work ethic, and teamwork in addition to welding and fabricating ability, the company found a new generation of workers who could help propel it forward.

Changing a Culture

Like most companies, AMECO USA hired new welders based on criteria that were heavily influenced by their welding experience and their ability to pass a weld test. That was fine, said David Perkins, general manager, but it wasn’t necessarily a great way to find individuals whose personalities meshed with their existing team. What they needed were welders who brought a new energy to the shop floor but who could also hang in an ever-changing, fast-paced environment.

“We don't have an assembly line and we don’t make thousands of the same widget. All of our work is custom, and most of it is one-off. So our welders are challenged every day. Depending on the project, they may have to train or retrain on a new technique for a new job because everything we do is different,” Perkins said.

That means they needed motivated individuals who had high expectations and were willing to work hard and be a part of a team. The welding skill was important, but the personality traits were paramount.

The company partnered with Demetrius Hammett, CEO of Corporate Training Solutions Intl., Shaker Heights, Ohio, to help institute a new hiring process that would help connect the company with the talent it needed.

“We custom-designed a competency-based interview for AMECO. I met with the management team to find out what competencies they were looking for in their new associates and what major job functions these associates would need to perform, including entry-level welders,” Hammett explained.

Essentially, they wanted the new interview process to place a heavy emphasis on a person’s character to find out if they would be a good teammate. Their ability to weld and perform other job-related functions was important, but first they had to pass the character portion of the interview before moving on to the next phase.

“Demetrius and I are the first stop on the interview process, and instead of telling us anything about their welding ability, we found out answers to questions such as are they a good fit? Are they someone we want to add to our team/family? How do they communicate? And then they’d have to give us practical examples from their experiences to back up what they said,” Perkins said.

Young Guns

The new hiring process led to the addition of Bill Boggs as plant operations manager in May 2020. It also netted four welders under the age of 25 in the last 12 months.

Kingzett was valedictorian at Ohio Technical College and had experience working in production and custom fabrication shops before he joined the company.

Nick Szabo, Corey Reed, Shawna Jennings, and John Kingzett were young, had varying degrees of experience, were immensely talented with a ton of potential, and were in possession of all the competencies the company identified it needed.

The youngest was Szabo, 18, a senior and second-year welding student at Parma Senior High School, who began working with the company as an intern earlier this year. By the time his senior year was cut short due to COVID-19, Szabo had impressed enough people at the company that he was hired full-time.

Next was Reed, 20, another product of Parma Senior High School’s welding program, who graduated in May 2019. Reed has been a hard worker for as long as he can remember, so it was no surprise to him or anyone else that he went right to work out of high school.

Both were more interested in going straight to work right after high school instead of attending a technical school first. It was a decision both of their families supported from the get-go.

“I feel like the best education is real-life work experience. I could learn more on the job doing something different every day than I could in a welding lab. When they offered me a job, I figured it would be the best hands-on training I could possibly get,” Szabo explained.

Jennings, 24, spent four years in the Army repairing communications equipment, after which she enrolled in a yearlong intensive welding program at Fortis College. A counselor at the school alerted her of a job opening at AMECO USA, so she went for it.

Kingzett, also 24, graduated from the welding program at Ohio Technical College as the valedictorian in 2018. He spent time as a production welder before transitioning to a small custom fabrication shop where he helped build custom energy equipment like biodegradable waste cooling systems and hopper systems, as well as other custom parts.

What they lacked in on-the-job experience they made up for in work ethic and other intangibles. They were the full package, said Perkins.

“After we interviewed all four of these kids, I said to Demetrius, ‘Man, I don’t know if they can weld, but I know I want them on our team,’” Perkins said.

Developing Trust and Confidence

Adding four young, fairly inexperienced welders to a department where the average age is over 40 and the expertise is through the roof is tricky. Not only did they have to make sure personalities meshed, they had to make sure that the two groups could communicate with one another openly, recognize their differences, and be open to learning from one another all while working as a team to move in the same direction.

Jennings, an Army veteran, excelled at a one-year weld training program and was connected to AMECO USA through a counselor.

For Szabo, Reed, Jennings, and Kingzett, there was definitely pressure to perform well and to prove their worth, and it’s not the easiest environment to do that. Every day is different. One week they might be welding a custom stainless steel architectural installation and the next it could be an aluminum project. At least three of the four had a hand in welding a large sculpture designed by Santiago Calatrava that will be displayed in downtown Chicago.

They have a lot of responsibility resting on their shoulders, so of course there’s pressure.

“We definitely want to prove that we can handle whatever they throw at us. So there is pressure. It helps to be open-minded and willing to learn whatever they teach us,” Reed said.

In addition to dealing with pressure, they’ve also felt the need to prove that they don’t fit the negative stereotype of being lazy, self-absorbed, and entitled that typically plagues young people.

“It’s important that we prove to our older co-workers that we have a good work ethic and then build off of that. From there people will be willing to listen to us, teach us, and we’ll progress from there,” Szabo said.

Kingzett added, “All four of us have been working from a very young age. That’s just been our lives. But they don’t necessarily know that. If anything, we’re trying to prove that we’re here to work hard and make a living just like everyone else.”

And they have, Perkins said. All four have jumped in, worked hard, blended well with veteran welders, and have shouldered a lot of responsibility from the get-go.

“That’s why the four of them are here. We feel like they can make a positive contribution to our team, not just as welders, but as members of our team. We always call it a team, but it’s like adding a new member of the family. All four of them have settled in well. I always tell them that even though they are coming in the door fresh, new, and young, they still need to influence our more experienced workers in the same way that they will be influenced by them,” Perkins said.

And from the young welders’ perspective, working for a company that has trusted them enough to do more than just production-line work has been a dream.

“As someone right out of high school, having the company put that level of trust in me is such a confidence booster,” Szabo said.

Reed discovered a talent for welding in high school. Always a hard worker, he accepted a full-time job shortly after graduating from high school.

Reed agreed.

“It’s uplifting, I guess you could say. I’ve done things here that I never thought I’d get to do, and it changes your life.”

And from the company’s standpoint, these four young welders have been the shot in the arm it needed to help revamp its culture.

“Everyone has worked together as a team, and that’s what we want: a culture where everyone helps each other. We’re all here to meet a common goal, and all four of them do a really good job of that. It doesn’t hurt that they are working with and learning from the best welders and fitters on the planet as far as I’m concerned. They get a lot of information and a lot of input, and they take it and use it,” Boggs said.

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