West, who said she has always found cities and local governments “fascinating,” snagged her first job after college with the City of Englewood as the assistant finance director. And it was there that West started learning many of the nuts and bolts of HR, including payroll and employee benefits.
“I worked for the city for five years and the assistant city manager was preparing to leave,” West said. “He asked me if I’d like to become personnel director.”
West was surprised at how much she enjoyed working with employees and helping them navigate the often-complex world of benefits.
“I asked about a thousand questions and learned a lot,” West said. “And I decided this was what I wanted to do and changed my career path.”
In 1980, West got married. At that time, West and her husband were living in Englewood and she began looking at taking more training to become certified in employee benefits.
West enrolled in classes at the University of Dayton and began looking for another job specifically around employee benefits. She found that job at the then Grandview Hospital where she was hired as a benefits manager.
“I went from working with about 70 to more than 2,000 employees at Grandview,” West said.
Going to a hospital was a huge change for West, who was challenged by constant turnover. She remained at Grandview for two years before moving to Kettering Medical Center, where she managed a department of six.
“It was a time when we were developing new systems and trying to organize all the paper records of employees,” West said. “It was challenging to keep track of everyone with all the shifts.”
After nearly two years at Kettering Medical Center, West longed to try her hand at human resources in a manufacturing environment. She moved to Spectrophysics in Huber Heights (now Trimble) as a benefits manager.
“We didn’t have much movement of employees there,” West said. “There were many long-time employees who started working there right after trade school or college.”
West continued to enjoy the challenges of the job, like helping employees navigate health insurance and the total cost of their benefits. While she enjoyed working for Spectrophysics, West wanted to work in general human resources and had a contact at a small startup tech company in Dayton. She was hired as interim manager for just 100 employees.
“With general HR, you are working a lot on recruitment, hiring, employee counseling, training and acting as a liaison between managers and their teams.” West said.
Eventually, West was referred to long-time company Standard Register (Now Taylor Corporation) and took on a temporary position in HR and benefits. She was hired permanently after a few months. West continued moving around in the HR field and went to Robinson Meyers in downtown Dayton, Clopay in Mason and Formica in Evendale. After 13 years at Formica, West retired in 2020.
“HR and employee benefits have changed so much over the years,” West said. “When I worked for the City of Englewood, my boss purchased programs like Lotus and Excel, which we thought were amazing. Over time we’ve gone from paper heavy to tech heavy, but our records are so much more accessible now.”
Advancing technology has been one of the biggest factors in how human resources has grown, changed and evolved. Companies now have software systems like Workday that encourage a “self-serve” environment in which employees can access their own files.
“Throughout my career, I’ve managed 401K savings plans and helping folks get ready for retirement,” West said.
Until she decided to retire in 2020, West had been planning to “never stop working.” But she admits that people often change their minds as traditional retirement age approaches.
“As I prepared, I talked to people I knew who are Ohio volunteer naturalists,” West said. “I thought ... I want do to that when I retire.”
West is also sewing and weaving baskets, hobbies she developed years ago. She said that most people she knows were surprised that she was retiring early.
“It’s hard to think about leaving a career you love,” West said. “But retirement gives me more freedom to travel and see family. I can do whatever I want to do so I stay active, run 5K races and socialize with a group of friends regularly. Being able to take on challenges that you don’t think you can do is part of staying relevant and interested in life.”
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