Building Alignment With OpEx at Gilman Cheese Company

Contributed by: Ronald Weltmer | President, CEO, Gilman Cheese Company

I took over as President/CEO in January 2020. The company I inherited was a great company that had been tightly controlled with a very disciplined approach. It was very successful, but could not be easily scaled up. The first thing I came to understand was that if we were going to grow, we were going to have to depend on our management team and supervisors to drive the growth and maintain the discipline to ensure our products and services were maintained as well.

Towards that end, we have implemented a two-prong training approach. Due to our rapid growth, we educate employees on our policies, safety and other required training in their first week. Our technical training is mostly on the job, with the new employee constantly accompanied by a trainer. This trainer ensures our culture, values and procedures are adhered to as well.

Once the dust settles, we conduct other training meant to drive a culture of teamwork, continuous improvement and engagement. We have a CEO “meet and greet” during the employee’s first three months. I visit frequently with all team members through plant walks and communication meetings held every six to eight weeks. We have annual leadership training for all levels of management, which includes various aspects of business management.

Without this training, we would be leaving our fortunes to chance. Since we are changing the structure, function and expectations of the organization, this training is our only means to ensure alignment. And alignment is essential, especially in times of change.