Opportunities at Kloeckner: Rebecca Tran

Changing Branches Can Create Opportunities at Kloeckner

On November 1^st, Regional Management Trainee Rebecca Tran moved to her fourth Kloeckner location in less than three years. After starting out in Oklahoma, she was relocated to New Orleans, and then to Dallas. She left the Dallas branch to head to the corporate office in Atlanta, where she hopes to gain new insights into Kloeckner Metals.

“It’s actually pretty awesome,” Rebecca says. “I enjoy it. You get to interact with different employees, different branches, and you see how they operate. I love interacting with people and learning about them, so it has been a great experience for me.”

Each branch has a unique culture, Rebecca explains. The markets, the customers, and the personalities at each branch are different. Depending on the market and demand, some branches may move faster or slower than others.

“You have to keep an open mind,” Rebecca says. “What you may have learned at the previous branch may not apply for the next.”

Rebecca credits the warm atmosphere at Kloeckner with easing her transitions. She says that at every branch she has been to, she has been treated like family. Even though each branch may have a unique personality, she stills sees how all of Kloeckner is one family.

“What unifies us and what stands out most to me is that you can tell that Kloeckner really cares about its employees and their development,” Rebecca says. “It allows the employee to feel comfortable when they are coming into a workplace and performing their job because we all have one goal and that is work.”

Working at so many different branches has allowed Rebecca to learn how to perform many different roles. She has been training in a variety of different areas, which has allowed her to gain insight and become well-rounded. By learning the ins and outs of everyone’s role, she has become much more patient and understanding.

“You learn to be patient because you know the amount of time and labor it takes for each employee to perform their job,” Rebecca says. “Most people may stay in one role so they aren’t aware of how long it may take to pull an item, how long it takes for the warehouse guys to pick loads, or the time it takes generating a sales order if there are a lot of items that the customer is requiring.”

Yammer is another way that Kloeckner’s various branches stay connected. Yammer is a social media platform where Kloeckner posts new opportunities at various branches and also shares news and information. This is one way that Kloeckner employees can see what is going on in other parts of the company. You can also open up direct lines of communication and reach out to individuals through the online platform.

“Because it is direct communication, you can actually reach out to that individual that you might have never known existed, but then you see them post something and you think, ‘Oh we have something in common,’” Rebecca says. “It is more accessible, having all this at our fingertips. You can grasp it at your leisure.”

After being out in the field for the better part of three years, Rebecca looks forward to working in the corporate office. This will allow her to see what the corporate office does, and then apply that perspective at the branch level.

“It was an opportunity that I couldn’t refuse,” Rebecca says.