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New workers embrace the ‘Caterpillar way’

Hiring starts at company’s distribution center in Clayton

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By Thomas Gnau, Staff Writer Updated 11:06 PM Saturday, June 4, 2011

CLAYTON — More than 100 employees are already at work at Caterpillar Logistics’ new 1.6 million-square-foot distribution center here.

The new center off Hoke Road south of Interstate 70 took its first shipment less than three weeks ago and started a second shift last week.

Today, the center has about 115 employees. It will take another year or so for the site to reach expected three-shift, seven-day-a-week operation and a full complement of about 600 employees, depending on market conditions.

Those already hired seem to know that they are trailblazers. Tony Craft, an Englewood resident and Caterpillar employee coach with experience in transportation, had been unemployed for 18 months before Caterpillar called him.

“I was one of the first group hired in,” Craft said.

“It gives me a sense that I’m (part of) the beginning, part of the foundation.”

Caterpillar does not hold extended joblessness against qualified employees, the center’s leaders have said.

“I’m living proof of that,” Craft said. “They asked me about my last position and how long I’ve been unemployed. That never played in as a factor.”

All employees started their application process at the company’s recruiting site, www.JoinTeam Caterpillar.com.

At the Clayton site, applicants were called in for a face-to-face interview the next day or soon thereafter.

Tom McNulty, an operations clerk with experience in construction, called his interview “conversational.”

Craft called it “very relaxed and very informal.”

They said questions weren’t technical. Interviews were aimed at getting to know applicants’ work history and themselves as people.

That’s no accident, said Jason Murphy, the site’s human resources manager. What Caterpillar wants primarily is someone who is willing to learn.

Each new employee’s first two weeks are entirely devoted to training, he said.

“The training has been methodical and extensive,” Dotson said. “That’s a good thing.

“There’s a Caterpillar way. And we’ve all adopted that. It’s not difficult. They’re successful, so it’s not hard to adopt. It’s a mindset.”

With the center dealing with everything from tiny parts that can be held in one’s hand to equipment that weighs thousands of pounds, employees need to embrace the “Caterpillar way,” Dotson and fellow employees said.

“There’s no pressure,” said Rick Sudduth, an operations clerk. “It’s our goal. It’s part of our core culture, not to create defects or pass defects on to our customers.”

Jeff Slocum, the center’s general manager, said he’s pleased with the quality of the center’s employees, 90 percent of whom were hired locally.

Slocum helps open facilities for Caterpillar as a career, but he said it’s his goal to one day return to Clayton to see “a native son or daughter” take over as the center’s GM.

“It gives you some sense of pride,” said Lisa Hite, a “grief clerk.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDaily News.com.

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