RCS Millwork in Ankeny crafts high-quality interiors for a variety of companies and industries, including restaurants, entertainment and athletic facilities, and hospitals.
Betsy Hansen, RCS vice president, saw opportunities to improve hiring and workforce retention and reached out to the CIRAS workforce team. After assessing their current state, CIRAS proposed a project that blended HR fundamentals with Lean process improvement techniques.
“They do a lot of outstanding custom work, and they want their employees to feel like they are part of a family,” said Emily Betz, Iowa Lean Consortium director. “It makes sense for them to have a strong hiring and onboarding process.”
“They are great resources with so much knowledge. They knew exactly what we needed to do and then some,” said Hansen.
The CIRAS team took a deep dive into RCS’s practices, focusing on what happened post-hire and how new employees learned about the company’s culture. Previously, new employees would meet briefly with HR for paperwork—sometimes even reporting to their work area before that—and were left to navigate the workplace alone, unsure of things like where to find the break room.
“We started by mapping their current state to make their processes and any weak points visible,” said Betz. “This really opened Betsy’s eyes to the gaps in the hiring and onboarding process, including missed opportunities to welcome new employees and incorporate them into the culture.”
As a result of the collaboration with CIRAS, RCS has made several key improvements. After gathering input from supervisors, new hires now receive an email outlining first-day expectations. Their first stop is HR. Hansen now uses a checklist covering everything needed for a new hire—from administrative steps to welcoming activities. She introduced a buddy system, connecting new employees with a current team member to help guide them through their first weeks.
On the employee’s first day, Hansen buys lunch for the new hire and their buddy so they can eat together and get acquainted.
“I love it. People are my thing, and getting to know a person on their first day is great,” she said. “We’ve retained everyone we’ve hired since implementing this new process.”
Hansen has also joined the CIRAS Manufacturer’s HR Collaboration Cohort.
“It’s been a fantastic experience,” she said. It is so nice to have a group of people also in the manufacturing industry to talk with about issues.”
Contact Emily Betz at betze@iastate.edu to learn more.