5 Questions With Caroline Kauffman-Kirschnick

1. What brings you joy in your work?

As the third in our family to be leading this business that my grandfather started and my father ran for so many years, I am honored to be able to continue their legacy. It’s stressful of course, but it also means so much to me. Growing up around the business has given me a level of comfort to be able to do my job well and with confidence. I love foodservice, but I really enjoy the people aspect of our business. All 200 employees at EMR are like my family. It’s for them I work to make our company successful, so I can give back to the people I love. And I love that our company is about helping people, and having a positive impact on other businesses.

2. What helped shape your career?

Having the opportunity to work in a lot of different segments of our business has prepared me for what I’m doing now. When I came to work at EMR after college,
I started in accounts receivable, and then after a stint
in human resources I became operations manager.
I think sometimes it’s easy to get tunnel vision in whatever your particular job is, but having worked in all those different departments gave me an understanding of what almost every person in this company is dealing with. Everything is interrelated in the process of servicing our customers. When you understand the synergy, that’s when the magic happens, and you can excel at supporting customers.

3. What is something innovative you’ve been part of at EMR?

A couple years ago we created our Build-A-Tech program. It’s a 17-week program that combines classroom training with hands-on learning, plus field experience as the students ride along with a trainer. The curriculum is all-encompassing, including training in safety, technology and customer service. We bring in green candidates who don’t necessarily have field experience, but have some natural mechanical ability, and at the end of the course they graduate into what we call a Grade 1 Technician. It’s a way to help cultivate the next generation of service techs, and it’s really taken off.

4. What excites you most about the future of the service industry?

One of the things that is exciting but challenging at the same time is computer-
driven technology. As more equipment becomes integrated with the Internet of Things and makes use of AI, we’re seeing the ability to improve things such as managing data and monitoring equipment. However, we have to be strategic in how we move forward. For example, once you’ve tied into a network, there’s an avenue for hackers to get into the systems. So as we embrace the assistance this technology can provide, specifically in our industry for more efficient dispatching, scheduling and troubleshooting, we have to make sure we’re looking at it from all perspectives.

5. What advice would you give young people in this industry looking to grow into leadership roles?

Understand just how critical the trades are to our society, and remember that at the heart of it all this is really just a people business. If you go into any job, or leadership role, with the mindset of helping others, I don’t think you can fail. Just look at what’s in front of you and think, how can I fix this, or solve this problem, or help the person who called me. Having that emotional intelligence and awareness will take you far.