Committed to career-building

Employee longevity, quality awards and growth are the fruits of Applied's initiatives

By -- Industrial Distribution, 8/1/2000

Kathy Kontrad barely noticed the approach of her 16-year-anniversary with Applied Industrial Technologies recently.

"I said, 'Wow, I've been with this company 16 years and it doesn't seem like it,'" recalls Kontrad, a regional manager. "Not only is it a good place to work ... but it's an enjoyable environment."

Kontrad, who oversees service centers in Florida, southern Georgia and southern Alabama, is among the employees who say Applied's extensive training, tuition support and other benefits make it an attractive workplace. In addition, associates say that while Applied has the resources befitting of a $1.53 billion company, it also maintains operational flexibility at the local level.

These are among the reasons Applied received an honorable mention as one of ID's Best Distributors to Work For. Applied retains a high number of its associates, as 39 percent have worked there at least 10 years and the average tenure is a decade. Nearly two-thirds of its employees are between ages 31 and 50.

For years Applied has recognized that providing training and educational support for employee career growth pays off. It offers a fast-track program for college graduates, who receive 10 months of intense product and sales training, then often move into field sales positions with solid prospects to climb higher, for example.

Last year, Applied brought disparate training programs for customer sales and service reps into a coordinated curriculum with clearly set career goals and expectations. Mary Kerper, operations manager for California and part of Nevada, says that initiative exemplifies AIT's commitment.

"We always saw ourselves as a learning organization before it was even chic to do that," says Kerper. "Others who have come in say there wasn't quite the emphasis on the importance of training [at their former workplaces], not just for the corporation's success, but for us as human beings."

In addition, Applied's tuition support reaches associates at every level, whether taking courses in fluid power technology or earning advanced degrees. Certification programs and individual non-degree courses receive up to 85 percent tuition reimbursement, or a maximum of $5,250 annually, while advanced degrees reimbursement is up to $275 per credit hour.

Other benefits include 401K, bonuses, stock options, maternity and paternity leave, profit sharing, product discounts, even vision and travel accident insurance.

Applied's company culture is also marked by multi-disciplinary task forces, quality continuous improvement teams and regular associate of the month awards.

Despite its size, Kontrad says Applied retains a small-firm atmosphere. "You have the intimacy and reaction time of a small company and you have the backing of a large corporation," she says.

Branch managers and regional managers like Kontrad are given flexibility to make decisions and be creative. Recently, for example, colleagues in her territory shared ideas on how to penetrate a target market, developing an approach as a team rather than "trying to recreate the wheel at every service center."