A GOOD LIFE

Shortly after his 18th birthday, Jim Shelton was hired for an entry-level job at a Nucor steel mill in Utah. He landed in Arkansas in 1988 as a roll mill operator, and today he’s the roll mill manager for Nucor-Yamato Steel (NYS). He has done it all on hard work, company training, and the can-do attitude embodied by every teammate at Nucor.

As impressive of a career as his has been, Shelton said the longevity in his work life comes down to a few simple elements.

“Integrity, teamwork, optimism, those are Nucor’s core values,” he said. “I can’t imagine working for anybody else, and a lot of that is because of the opportunities offered here. We empower our teams. We encourage them to make decisions, because the men and women on the floor make things happen more efficiently. It’s not necessarily the manager or the supervisor that makes things happen, it’s the teammates on the floor.”

“Limitations are often what teammates place on themselves; those who are preparing and really taking advantage of the opportunities, see the payoff when the opportunities come.”

Nucor’s corporate culture moves intentionally to help teammates map out a career plan while preparing them for the next step through training and feedback.

“I started off as a temporary employee. I was hired as an entry level production teammate in the hot mill,” said Sammy Sanchez, Nucor Steel Arkansas Cold Mill 1 Coil Bay Supervisor at Nucor Steel Arkansas. “In six months, I got a promotion to a Burner Bander and then I got another promotion to a Furnace Tech and another promotion to a Coiler Tech and then I did an Interim Lead role in the Hot Mill.

“Everybody here is striving to be better and always looking for the next step. I was in production, then I bid on an entry-level Maintenance Utility position, figuring if I have two backgrounds, two skill sets, maybe that’ll set me up for a supervisor role.”

Sanchez said at each step of his 16-year career, teammates and training opportunities helped him master new skills and develop a broader view of the overall work process. But like Shelton, he said the fundamentals of building a career don’t change, even if job titles do.

“When you have goals, are energetic, have the right attitude and mindset, and are eager to learn, the leadership team sees it,” he said. “They see you have a passion to get better. Those are the teammates they look to for promotion.”

Ashley Kroll is another example of a teammate who has leveraged her opportunities over 12 years with Nucor-Yamato Steel, where she’s recently been promoted to Environmental Coordinator Management Representative. From being the only woman in her steel tech internship to tackling every professional challenge placed in her path – including relocating for work to Texas for nine months with a small child in tow –Kroll has taken “can-do” to another level.

“Don’t be scared. Don’t be intimidated,” she said as advice to the next generation. “I didn’t know how to work a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet when I came here. Nucor paid for the class and I came back knowing how to work Excel, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Project. The point is, there’s always someone here ready to help, but you’ve got to be willing to figure out what you want to do and then give it your all to go do it.

“Be coachable, be open-minded and have the drive. Because if you have the drive and are coachable, that’s going to lay the foundation for everything else.”