Martha Strouth
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Human Resources Manager
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Joined KLE in
Q: What is your job title at KLE? What are your main responsibilities?
A: I’m the human resources manager. I started working with KLE in February 2020. My primary responsibilities include recruitment, orientation, and setting up benefits for new hires. I’ll also be taking care of payroll. I’m not doing that yet, but I’ll be adding that to my plate soon.
Q: What challenges do you encounter in your role?
A: My job here is a lot busier than what I’m used to. When I came on, our goal was to hire 50 new operators, and we’re getting very close to that. We’ve been on a hiring frenzy. Of course, bringing in all of those people brings with it some other tasks, like monitoring and updating the JazzHR system we use.
Q: What was your education and work history before joining KLE?
A: I earned my bachelor’s degree in business administration from Radford University in Virginia in 1997, and I earned my MBA in 2008 through Baker College in Michigan.
Before I came to KLE, I was a human resources generalist for a grocery store chain for about a year and a half. I was in education for roughly 12 years before that, working as an academic advisor.
Q: What do you enjoy about your job? What makes you excited to head to work every day?
A: It’s always different. Whenever I come in, I don’t know exactly what I’ll face from one day to the next. Things change so frequently, so there’s no monotony in what I do. I really enjoy working with my coworkers, and I like being that person people can come to for help, whether that’s a question with their benefits, payroll questions, hiring questions — I just like working with people.
Q: In your opinion, what sets KLE apart from the competition?
A: It’s such a friendly environment. It’s family-oriented. These people actually care about their employees, and that’s not something that you see very often. For the most part, I’ve always worked for larger companies where you’re essentially a number, not a person. You don’t get that same level of personalization we have here.
Here at KLE, the owners are awesome people. I’m not going to say that there aren’t stressful moments, but even when it’s stressful, it’s a positive environment. Anytime we have meetings, there’s a lot of laughter. There’s a lot of work too, but there’s also a lot of camaraderie. We enjoy being together.
Q: Do you have any ideas for how construction companies can recruit a younger generation?
A: There are so many people that push their kids to go to college. I think we should encourage more young people to not just look at college, but also look at what they’re interested in. As the old saying goes, if you’re doing something you enjoy, you won’t work a day in your life.
Q: Do you have anyone in your life that you’ve looked up to, or that you consider to be a mentor?
A: I would have to say, my parents. They’re not with us anymore, but I still value the work ethic they had, and the values they instilled in me and my sisters. They really gave us role models to look up to. They taught us to be strong, independent, hardworking people.
Q: How do you spend your free time when you’re not at work?
A: I’m married and I have a daughter, along with three fur babies, so to speak. I love to travel. It’s on my bucket list to mark off all 50 states one day, and I’m a little more than halfway there. I like to see new cultures and different environments, and I like to experience things more locally.
Other than that, I like to be outside in the sun. I enjoy going fishing with my family, and I also love going to the movies. Any way I can spend time with my family is always going to be enjoyable for me.
