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By DEREK REDD
It's amazing to see how important mastering the small things is when it comes to the bigger things, Seth Abraham said.
That's not just something he takes to heart in his current role as director of human resources and safety for Kalkreuth Roofing and Sheet Metal. He felt that way when he worked on his route running as a wide receiver for both Wheeling Park High School and West Virginia University. In understanding and perfecting the little things, the bigger picture comes into clearer focus.
Abraham's role has evolved since joining Kalkreuth nearly eight years ago. The safety side of the position has become more developed as time has gone on. It's a component where keeping track of the small details is of utmost importance.
"Safety is the number one qualification these days," Abraham said. "Before people even ask us about quality and price, the first question is let me see your safety statistics. With that being number one, it's paramount in providing opportunities for ourselves."
In both HR and safety, Abraham's main mission is risk management. That could mean dealing with insurance claims or negotiating, interpreting and administrating labor contracts. He also has five safety managers who work with him that are responsible for enforcement, training and relationship building.
"Really, it's just about everyone getting home safe and making sure we're following the proper regulations and proper protocols and right processes to make sure we're keeping people safe," Abraham said.
Abraham admits he isn't yet an expert on the safety side, able to rattle off every regulation from memory. Yet he feels he has done well in putting the right people in the right positions for the entire company to succeed. He also believes a personal touch is effective in his role.
"Whenever I'm on the roof on a project, I take time to learn about somebody," he aid. "Not because I'm sitting there trying to bang them up on safety, but I want to know what makes them tick. I want them to know we care about them, so I try to learn a little about their personal lives. It's doing the little things."
Abraham's dedication to finer touches has served him well from the office to the gridiron, where he played for both the Patriots and Mountaineers. His senior year at WVU in 2001, he won the A.C. "Whitey" Gwynne Award, given annually to the player "whose attitude, effort and spirit provide an outstanding unsung contribution to the success of the team." Abraham had climbed from being a walk-on to becoming a scholarship player and on-field contributor.
His experiences in football and his profession have provided him with a pair of principles he lives by and tries to impress upon his children -- 17-year-old Sophie and 13-year-old Owen -- with wife Audrey.
"One is attitude and effort," he said. "If you have the right attitude and you put in the effort, anything is possible. You can accomplish so many things if those two things are good.
"The other thing is to do the little things," Abraham added. "I'm a firm believer that you'll never be able to accomplish the big things in your life if you don't do the little things that it takes. For instance, being at work on time. That's a little thing that some people don't put a lot of weight into, but I can tell you the people who are disciplined and at work every day, those people are successful."
As for the future of his industry, Abraham said the key to continued success will be finding those people who exhibit those traits of strong attitude and effort and attention to detail. Finding the right people is getting tougher as the race to find them gets more competitive.
"It's hard to find good people," he said. "So I think the challenge, at least in my industry is finding those folks, whether it’s on our engineering side or field production side. It's finding good people.
"You can have the processes the best procedures the best benefits," he added, "but if you can't find the best people, none of it really matters."