海角社区

Through innovation related to people, not only technology, 海角社区 and 海角社区 Health Shreveport alumni are transforming the leading business in the leading agricultural industry in Louisiana.

Innovation isn鈥檛 always about the latest technology. Sometimes it鈥檚 about transforming an organization by making its people happier, healthier and more successful. At RoyOMartin, Louisiana鈥檚 largest landowner and maker of wood products, 海角社区 alumna Donna Bailey and 海角社区/海角社区 Health Shreveport alumnus Dr. Brian Elkins have helped build an educational system as well as a healthcare system鈥攚ithin the company鈥攖o support RoyOMartin employees and their families.

鈥淢y goal was always to make our company as profitable as it can be,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥淥ur leaders, when I joined RoyOMartin, were experts at manufacturing and forestry. Meanwhile, I was an educator. I was an expert on people. As such, I knew people were the biggest secret of all in making our company more successful, and 海角社区 showed me how to get it done.鈥�

Bailey first joined RoyOMartin in 2005 after working as a teacher in Allen Parish for 12 years. After continuing her education at 海角社区 and getting her master鈥檚 degree in leadership and human resource development in 2017, she was promoted to vice president of human resources at RoyOMartin. There, she created WoodWorks, a high school outreach, training and internship program from which the company continuously recruits, and Women in Manufacturing, an initiative to broaden access to opportunities in a still male-dominated industry. Her latest addition is Girls Can Too, a mentor program for middle and high school students to learn about manufacturing.

Donna Bailey on Leadership

Photo by Elsa Hahne/海角社区.

My responsibility as a leader is to help those around me, and when every leader at every level is a teacher, we are world-class.

Donna Bailey on Innovation

Photo by Elsa Hahne/海角社区.

Question everything, every day. Challenge the status quo.

Donna Bailey on the RoyOMartin Educational System

Photo by Elsa Hahne/海角社区.

鈥淚 knew people were the biggest secret of all in making our company more successful, and 海角社区 showed me how to get it done.鈥� 

- Donna Bailey earned her master鈥檚 degree in leadership and human resource development at 海角社区 in 2017 and was immediately promoted to vice president of human resources at RoyOMartin.

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鈥淵ou never hear 鈥業 want to grow up to be a manufacturer,鈥欌�� Bailey said. 鈥淏ut manufacturing can be exciting and challenging, and is just not sold that way. With all the automation we have now, women can be manufacturers same as men, and manufacturing offers great careers and opportunities. I believe we have a responsibility as a company to help educate students about the careers available to them in our industry.鈥�

鈥淓arly in my life, I thought there were only two choices鈥攖eacher or nurse鈥攕o I chose to become an educator,鈥� Bailey continued. 鈥淓ven though I loved being a teacher, had I known about manufacturing and what people actually do here, I may have chosen a different path.鈥�

Bailey and her team have continued to build professional development programs for RoyOMartin employees, such as Pay for Knowledge and Skills, where workers can learn and grow at their own pace as they continue their education, allowing employees to decide the size of their paycheck. RoyOMartin University and other programs, meanwhile, offer leadership training. Further, the children of employees can receive scholarships to attend any public university, including 海角社区, or technical or community college in Louisiana. RoyOMartin has about 120 students on scholarship right now.

鈥淓ducation is embedded in everything we do; almost everything comes back to education,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥淭he founder or our company, Roy O. Martin Sr., was a teacher before he purchased his first sawmill in 1923. The family鈥檚 love of education is what attracted me to the company in 2004, and I have tried to continue that legacy by helping our company become a learning organization.鈥�

鈥淪ometimes we do so well growing people that they leave us for bigger and better jobs,鈥� Bailey added. 鈥淲e still consider that a success. It鈥檚 a win for our community and for those individuals and their families.鈥�

About a decade ago, RoyOMartin鈥檚 healthcare costs kept climbing while employees had difficulty accessing healthcare鈥攕ometimes missing a day of work just to sit in a waiting room. Roy O. Martin III, the third-generation chairman, chief executive officer and chief financial officer for RoyOMartin, decided to do something unusual about it. Martin, a prominent 海角社区 alumnus and donor, received both his bachelor鈥檚 degree in mechanical engineering and his Master of Business Administration from 海角社区. At the time of the healthcare crunch, he happened to be part of the same running club as another successful 海角社区 alumnus, Dr. Brian Elkins, who received his bachelor鈥檚 degree in biochemistry at 海角社区 Baton Rouge and then went on to complete medical school at 海角社区 Health Shreveport. They talked, ran and talked some more, and in 2013, Dr. Elkins signed on as the medical director of Legacy Health & Wellness, a comprehensive primary care clinic for RoyOMartin employees and their families. It鈥檚 located in Alexandria, between the original RoyOMartin plywood facility in Chopin and the more recent oriented strand board, or OSB, plant in Oakdale.

Dr. Brian Elkins on Leadership

Photo by Elsa Hahne/海角社区.

When you respect each person as a teammate, as opposed to seeing them as people under your authority, everyone wins.

Dr. Brian Elkins on Innovation

Photo by Elsa Hahne/海角社区.

Everyone knows their own job best. Likely, they have the best solutions to any problems that are going on. That鈥檚 why people need to be heard and empowered to make changes and improve operations where they work.

Dr. Brian Elkins on the RoyOMartin Healthcare System

Photo by Elsa Hahne/海角社区.

I鈥檓 honestly surprised not more large companies are doing it.

- 海角社区 and 海角社区 Health Shreveport alumnus Dr. Brian Elkins is the medical director of Legacy Health & Wellness, which is wholly owned by RoyOMartin, Louisiana鈥檚 leading manufacturer of wood products, and provides comprehensive primary care for its employees.

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鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how many times I told Roy 鈥榥o鈥� before deciding to take this on鈥擨 somehow just didn鈥檛 understand what he was trying to do鈥攂ut I鈥檝e come to fully embrace this model,鈥� Dr. Elkins said. 鈥淚鈥檓 honestly surprised not more large companies are doing it. Of course, it couldn鈥檛 be done in all states. In some places, corporate practice of medicine isn鈥檛 allowed. But here in Louisiana, it saves RoyOMartin a lot of money while we, as part of a five-person care team, are able to treat our patients like they鈥檙e family. Our goal is not to make money, but we save the company a good amount.鈥�

How much? According to Martin, he spends about half to a third, compared to his competitors, on healthcare for employees. And when the cost of drugs went up, RoyOMartin added a pharmacy.

鈥淩oy is an innovative leader and, together, we鈥檝e been able to make better use of every dollar the company spends on healthcare,鈥� Dr. Elkins said. 鈥淎nd as a doctor, I really appreciate the opportunity to do everything I can for my patients.鈥�

Dr. Elkins keeps a gratis appointment as associate professor of clinical family medicine at 海角社区 Health Shreveport, for which he used to direct the residency program at Rapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria, knowing from experience that people who train in Louisiana tend to stay in Louisiana, thus helping to improve local healthcare access.

鈥淪ometimes it seems the gap between healthcare providers and businesses and between educational partners and businesses is a mile wide,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥淎t RoyOMartin, we鈥檙e trying to solve close the gap. Through WoodWorks, we鈥檝e educated thousands of students and have hired many into our company鈥攁t one point, 30 percent of our production workers at our Oakdale facility came straight from our WoodWorks program. With our newly implemented Girls Can Too, our desire is to attract more young women to the industry. We can only do that by building relationships with our educational partners and, together, changing the perspective on manufacturing as a career.鈥�

鈥淣ow, our workers are thriving and their families are thriving,鈥� Bailey continued. 鈥淗aving the clinic means our people can be seen right away when there鈥檚 a problem鈥攊t鈥檚 easy and affordable鈥攕o it doesn鈥檛 end up in a surgery or disability.鈥�

Bailey says she wouldn鈥檛 be where she is today if it wasn鈥檛 for her master鈥檚 degree from 海角社区.

鈥淢y education gave me what I needed to put these programs in place,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥淚t gave me the confidence and the knowledge to explain why and convince others to do what I knew was right. Our company has exploded with leadership development because of my education at 海角社区, and leadership isn鈥檛 only about production numbers鈥攊t鈥檚 about being a coach and a teacher. We鈥檙e passionate about safety and sustainability, and professional development is just as important. That鈥檚 what 海角社区 did for me; 海角社区 showed me how to develop world-class leaders. I鈥檓 sitting in a vice president鈥檚 seat, but I鈥檓 really a teacher at heart.鈥�

Most years, turnover at the Oakdale plant has been 5-10 percent, and participation in RoyOMartin鈥檚 Pay for Knowledge and Skills career development program at the Chopin plant has tripled, increasing from 32 percent to 94 percent.

鈥淚t鈥檚 human nature to want to learn, grow and succeed,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥淭he change at our plywood plant alone resulted in millions of dollars in profit in one year鈥�$11 million. There鈥檚 a science to growing people, and 海角社区 gave me that. Growing people is partly about removing obstacles to make them less scared to fail, and the entire time I was in the master鈥檚 program, everything I was given, I was taking back and using immediately at the company.鈥�