07 May Faces of Aldez: Alicia
For Alicia, Assistant Manager of Human Resources for Aldez, joining the team has provided her with the work environment of her dreams. From a young age, her career ambitions were to pursue a career in human resources, so much so, that she graduated college with a BA in personnel management.
Alicia joined a large staffing firm directly out of college. She took a receptionist role and quickly worked her way up, gaining skills in candidate sourcing and the recruiting process alongside her tenure. After a brief stint as a stay-at-home mom for her 2 girls, Alicia returned to the workforce, joining a staffing firm. After 20 years with that company, Alicia was supervising the talent acquisition for an automotive client of the firm and decided to leave the company to look for a new opportunity when the company signaled that it was going to begin closing offices. “I gave notice and took a leap of faith without a job in hand. After I took 2 weeks off, I began to look online for jobs,” Alicia recalls. “I wanted a job that matched my capabilities and experience. And, it was important to me that I could do something I always wanted to do, with a company that I wanted to do it with.”
When she came across the job posting at Aldez, she was excited that the role would support a top tier automotive manufacturer, an industry with which she had significant experience. “When I first interviewed, I remember coming home and saying, ‘I hope I get the job’,” explains Alicia. “And when I did, I knew it was meant to be!”
Alicia quickly recognized that Aldez wasn’t like other places she’d worked. While she had joined a new startup location, she found Aldez to be very detailed in how they operate. “I appreciated that, and I missed it at other companies,” explains Alicia. “Everything has a process, and though this was a startup operation, it felt secure because they knew exactly what they were doing, having learned the best practices from their other locations.”
She was also impressed by the amount of support she got from the corporate offices. While Alicia had never met a corporate person at her prior jobs, by three weeks into her role at Aldez, she had met the entire senior leadership team. Immediately she had the sense that she worked in a place where somebody cares. And as time passed, that proved itself true. “We are very supportive of each other at Aldez, said Alicia. “I work directly with operations and every day we are working together to make decisions and get the best talent choices for their locations.”
Alicia is proud that her Georgetown location earned the best attrition rate in the company overall. She’s enjoyed the flexible work environment and the fact that she’s can be hands-on enough to go into the plant and talk to employees when she needs to.
Her words for prospective employee? “I try to tell prospective employees about my experience and the great things I’ve learned about Aldez,” Alicia says. “But what’s really most telling is is that Aldez is a company that wants feedback to give the best environment they can to employees.”
Alicia thinks the future is bright for her at Aldez. “I got to do my managers job last week when she was on vacation, she shared. “I love that my manager felt confident she that I could cover and I got to experience what it might be like to grow in that role. Really, when it comes to Aldez, I’m up for any challenge. I just enjoy the fact I can contribute my skills to help the company grow!”