Brian Kramer is focused on supporting people who help the organization achieve its Mission
11/23/21 12:25:pm
“Initially, I was majoring in building construction management, however, I switched to education in my sophomore year,” says Brian, vice president of Human Resources. “I wanted to be a high school teacher.”
After a stint as a student teacher at a junior high school in Appleton for a semester, Brian realized he wanted to instead focus on teaching adults.
“It was challenging trying to teach students who may or may not want to be in school,” he says. “I realized I wanted to work with adults, and I felt I could have a bigger impact with them. So, I pursued a minor in Training and Human Resource Development.”
Brian spent the next two decades working in a variety of companies, gaining experience and expertise.
“I started at Quad/Graphics and completed their management training program that taught me about all the facets of the company,” he says. “It’s like the Leader In Training program we offer at Rogers. It was the best business education.”
Brian says by living in Waukesha County he knew about Rogers and the work it does. He also had a personal connection.
“I had several people I know receive great care,” he explains. “I knew Rogers was mission-focused, so in 2016 when an opportunity became available, I was excited to apply and join the organization.”
Brian says even though he doesn’t work directly with patients, he knows the work he and his team do is important to the overall success of the organization.
“We support clinicians indirectly as they work with patients to help them get better,” he says. “It’s exciting to be part of an organization where everyone truly makes a difference.”
As vice president of Human Resources, Brian says his three main areas of focus are attracting, training, and retaining employees, which he describes as especially difficult in this “very tight” job market where the labor supply is less than the demand for people.
“I work with Kendra Stea, [director of Talent Development], Candi Olivo, [director of Talent Acquisition], Mary Jo Wodicka, [executive director of Human Resources], Karen Nelson, [director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion], Sue McKenzie Dicks, [vice president of Healthy Culture], Jill Schuetz, [director of Human Resources, Regional Division], and Sharon Braun, [director of Total Rewards], and help them be as effective as they can be to positively impact the organization,” he says.
Brian shared this fun fact: did you know Rogers currently has employees living in 48 states?
Getting to know Brian
While he’s not a house flipper, Brian has done extensive remodeling on two homes he’s lived in - one in 1991 and the other in 1998. He’s thankful his current home doesn’t require as much work.
He’s also restored two wooden boats and enjoyed working with his dad on the first one. Brian was pleased to use woodworking skills he learned in high school.
Brian and his wife Lisa live in Waukesha County and they have three sons – one lives in Washington, one in California, and the youngest is in his third year of college at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.
He enjoys walking and going on hikes in his free time and says his dream trip would be seeing the Egyptian pyramids.
“I’m fascinated by the history of civilization, and I love reading about history,” he says. “It would be interesting to see how we have developed over the past 2,000 years and to think about where we might be in another 2,000 years. And, of course, I would be thinking about the tools they used to build the pyramids.”
