Manufacturing
Metal of honor
How Joseph Dzierzawski uses trust to connect with his employees and drive growth at SMS Demag
By Brian Horn
Smart Business Pittsburgh | March 2009
Page 1 of 3
Joseph Dzierzawski, or “Joe D” as he’s known in the steel industry,
didn’t have the typical first job experience that most kids right out
college have. He didn’t have the benefit of an experience where he’d
be able to test the waters in a somewhat challenging job as he
became acclimated to the working world.
Instead, Dzierzawski was a production supervisor at a steel company just outside of Detroit and was in charge of 35 union guys.
“I was a young guy with no hands-on experience and running a
production facility,” he says.
“I was 23 at the time, little experience, and it was an uphill
battle,” he says.
Fortunately for Dzierzawski, he had a little bit of credibility
because he grew up outside of Detroit, and he had a good understanding of people and different personalities.
“You’ve got to stay strong,” he says. “You have to use common sense, and once you demonstrate that you aren’t going to
back down, slowly but surely, you gain the respect of others
and you are accepted as one of them.”
Today, Dzierzawski is the president and CEO of SMS Demag
LLC, the North American operation of parent company SMS
Demag AG of Germany. Dzierzawski manages more than 200
employees and his unit posted about $130 million in revenue in
2008.
The days at his first job are long behind Dzierzawski, but he
still carries lessons with him today that he learned back then.
“It comes down to understanding people, and people are different,” he says. “There are varying personalities, and you can’t
treat everyone alike. As much as you wish you could treat
everyone alike, everyone has a different personality. It’s
demonstrating that you understand those people and their
issues and their values and, at the same time, demonstrating
that you are in a leadership position, but you also have the
same struggles as they do.
“I think if you can come out and demonstrate that human
touch, it strengthens the trust that your employees have in
you.”
Here’s how Dzierzawski connects with his employees to
drive growth at SMS Demag.
