By Steve Yablonski
Director of human resources, Healthway
Healthway is a manufacturer of cleaning equipment and a global leader in air quality solutions. It is based in Pulaski.
“We’re a team of experts and industry leaders reimagining the world as a better, safer place. From homes to commercial buildings, we proudly design and engineer scalable, efficient air cleaning solutions for any environment,” said Christine Lindsey. “We’re at the forefront of the indoor air quality industry and we continue to develop revolutionary solutions that make a real impact.”
Lindsey is the director of human resources at Healthway. Her job entails “every part of the employee life cycle, from recruiting to on boarding to employee engagement and everything in between,” she said.
“I can say that I have been very fortunate to work for incredible companies that are very open to recruiting women. The challenge in manufacturing is getting women to look beyond the stereotypes and seek out roles in the field,” she said.
The company has 106 employees — 34 are female who have different job specialties, including mechanical engineer, assembly person, shipping/repairs, customer success manager, staff accountant, executive assistant and accounting.
“We don’t keep official retention figures, but a couple of the females are some of the longest tenured employees here,” Lindsey said.
The company does not currently have incentives geared toward females, Lindsey said. “But, we are working towards more females in visible roles, such as myself,” she added.
“In my experience, if women look to companies with disruptive technologies that are growing, they will typically find companies that ‘look’ a lot different than they might expect,” Lindsey said. “Don’t be afraid to be the first; it might be challenging, but it will definitely be an opportunity to learn and grow.”
Upon graduation from Syracuse University with a MBA, Lindsey started her career in human resources at FedEx Ground in Syracuse.
“I had been with FedEx in increasing roles of HR for 10 years, when I decided to make the jump to Tessy Plastics [a mid-size manufacturer with six locations in Central New York] to become the director of human resources,” she said. “I spent 10 years with Tessy before making the decision to join HealthWay as the director of human resources.”
There has been a concerted effort by many companies to draw women into the manufacturing industry and retain them.
“First, it starts by making sure to mentor and encourage women on the manufacturing floor to pursue promotional opportunities because their experience and knowledge from ‘doing’ the work is indispensable. Second, it involves conversations — marketing, like this article, to show women what opportunities exist,” Lindsey agreed. “If you can’t see it, it’s harder to imagine being it. And third, I am always trying to talk to everyone about the allure of ‘making things.’ Every organization is better with a diverse employee population bringing all of their strengths together for a common goal.”
