Shelli: For many companies today, they're top priority is the bottom line,
the top priority is money,
"Let's make the money."
From my experience, when you have
that environment where it's very hard to go work,
I think many people have worked in that kind of environment,
that is going to follow you, that is going to go home
with you, it's going to impact your family.
Gary: I've worked at places like that, and it's not fun. It's not fun going into work,
you're not happy when you're leaving work, and it just doesn't make a happy life.
When I come into work everyday at Kimray, it's not a, "Oh, I gotta wake up,
I've gotta get to work." It's great, I can go in and I can help people be better.
I can help people be safe. I'm happy to come to work.
Shelli: The priority for Kimray is people.
Our mission statement is to make a difference in the lives of those we serve
and that's how we operate, as an organization.
It's The Kimray Way.
When you're a part of a positive environment,
an environment where you know that your teammates are investing in you,
the organization is investing in you,
they care about you,
that in and of itself makes a positive difference outside of work, within your family.
That's what makes Kimray very different from many other organizations.
We have four core values at Kimray:
Honoring the Lord in all we do,
strengthening the family,
responsible stewardship, and maintaining a good name.
These values form the foundation for how we do life,
how we do business, and what makes our stories meaningful.
Lynly: I had this idea to build
an inclusive playground in Mustang
in honor of my sister-in-law.
She has special needs, she is 34 years old,
her name is Brittany,
Shelli: She went into her community, and she raised
funds, and had a whole group of people
that came together to build a playground.
Lynly: It was built over a two-day community build weekend
in April. We had about 150
volunteers come out to build the playground.
Kimray's Vacation Match policy really allowed me to
get more involved in my community.
They match up to half of the time that you take off
and I was able to attend conferences and meetings
It taught me persistence and patience
and I know I'm just as much changed
by it as anybody that gets to visit it.
During the grand opening, after we had cut the ribbon, and we had started
letting people onto the playground,
I stood back and watched my sister-in-law
walk around and interact with the equipment.
It brought tears to my eyes. I had to step away
because it was a very emotional moment
to see this idea be a reality.
Shelli: We want our team members to feel empowered to do their job.
We want them to feel empowered to make decisions.
Part of our philosophy is an Open Book Management philosophy.
Every month we go over financial information with team members.
The entire organization.
All of the numbers.
So they know exactly where the organization stands.
It removes the guessing, it removes any
uncertainty. We want our team members to operate
like owners, so that they can see their stake in the game.
I think that there's a trust factor that
really comes into play there, when you're
sharing that kind of information because not a lot companies do that.
We have financial literacy classes
that are actually taught by our executives.
They can take that information, take it home with them, and
implement that with their family. That's making a difference
in their lives there, and strengthening their family.
So we want all of our team members when they leave
Kimray, whether that's at the end of the day, or when they retire,
or when they decide that they need to move on from Kimray,
That means we want them to go home
safely, with more knowledge,
with stronger character because of the environment that they've been in.
We as an organization want to invest in our team members. We've seen
first generations of family members
graduate college. People who would not have
otherwise had the opportunity to do that.
With the tuition reimbursement,
they have been able to successfully
complete college, which opens doors
for the rest of their family.
We want to make sure that the needs of the mind, body and soul of our team members are met.
At some point, everyone faces challenges
and you need someone to talk to, you need that ear.
That's why we have a chaplain on staff that is completely
dedicated to being there, and supporting
our team members. Just to listen to
them, to help them and support them
through whatever they're going through. That type of support
has proven invaluable for many of our team members
in both joyful and tearful times.
In addition to those personal investments,
we understand that there are practical needs
that need to be met as well.
We have a very strong total rewards strategy here at Kimray.
"Total rewards" consists of
several things, that would be compensation,
benefits. We've got an amazing benefit package.
Recognition and talent management
to bring people up within the organization.
Gary: Coming into Kimray as an entry level machinist
it was not necessarily my skill
that gained me promotions to lead into the safety department, it was the different
characters I displayed. Ability and knowledge
do matter, but it's more than that.
Character is very, very important. If there's ever
a position open up in Kimray that someone is
passionate about like I was passionate about safety,
by all means, they want you to apply for it, they want you to go for it.
Shelli: Character. That's what we look at.
Those are the people that are recognized and noticed, who are moved up
within the organization.
Gary: Character first.
Shelli: So whether you're working at Kimray or whether you're not,
you can make a difference right where you are.
What will you do today?