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K-2 and AZMEP Turn K-2's HR Department into a Strategic Asset

About

K-2 Manufacturing is a contract manufacturer located in Phoenix, Arizona. Since the company started ten years ago, it has steadily expanded its services and capabilities, providing fabricating CNC services, welding, finishing, and assembly to a diverse customer base including aerospace, gas, medical, and commercial businesses.

The Challenge

K-2 was happy with its growth and is preparing for more. Its leadership team recently created a dedicated human resources position. The team identified a current employee who was ready for the next step in her career. She demonstrated the work ethic and professionalism but needed more HR knowledge.

To approach this transition professionally from the ground up, K-2 engaged Arizona MEP, part of the MEP National Network™, to audit the company’s HR practices and provide one-on-one HR training.

Arizona MEP is a very good resource for manufacturers. The people are top shelf and they provided us with the tools needed to build a solid foundation for continued growth.

— Tom Wright, President

MEP's Role

Arizona MEP’s HR expert audited K-2’s policies and procedures. During this phase, K-2 had two primary concerns: to ensure everyone would be treated equally from onboarding through offboarding and to ensure that it was complying with any required laws and regulations. K-2 used the audit to identify gaps and create a plan to implement more comprehensive employee and company policies.

After completing the audit, AZ MEP introduced K-2 to a process to improve the company’s strategic planning and turn the HR department into a strategic asset. The process included having AZ MEP work with K-2 to develop detailed employee job descriptions and plans for every employee. “What I liked about working with Arizona MEP was that they worked with us to develop the overall plan and didn’t dump all the action items on us all at once,” Wright reflected. “We were able to develop and implement the project in incremental steps with their assistance.”

First, the AZ MEP expert worked with the new HR manager one-on-one to develop and implement new policies. K-2 needed to provide clear descriptions of acceptable employee and company behavior to ensure all employees would be treated the same way. The new policies incorporated the specific needs of K-2, best practices, and requirements to adhere to state and federal laws.

At face value, detailed job descriptions provide the necessary structure for managers and employees to understand what is expected of them. In addition, these job descriptions have become the foundation for performance reviews. This allows the company to look at the big picture when assessing its performance against goals. The performance reviews and job descriptions are also used as the foundation for employee development plans. Employees now receive the training needed to fill knowledge gaps and expand skill sets.

Created June 2, 2020, Updated July 12, 2021