Stephen Welford:
CLASS OF 1977
Burnhamthorpe Collegiate InstituteClass of 1977
Etobicoke, ON
Hollycrest Middle SchoolClass of 1972
Etobicoke, ON
Stephen's Story
Life
As with all of us, many miles have been travelled in the pursue of life. I think the most remarkable thing about my life up to this time is how extremely lucky I have been.
I have held assignments that truly challenged my abilities, intellect and capabilities. I have two boys (b 1990 and 1993)who are so dissimilar from one another that I am continuously fascinated by what comes out of their mouths. The eldest who plays the violin, has short hair is studying to be a dentist; whereas the younger one is a long haired skateboarder who wants to go to MIT for engineering or math. His hair is burgundy in colour which is an improvement over the blue mohawk he sported three years ago.
I am married to V (1983)who I met in my last year at UofT. She has quietly supported my career migration by being the one to uproot house and home and move where-ever my wanderings have taken me. She is a special needs teacher at the local elementary school.
As for wanderings there have been a few. I did the usual college thing in 1982 by boarding a plane from Toronto to Liverpool and then spent 4 months travelling throughout Europe. It was a wonderful experience in that when I wanted company, I would hook up with fellow travellers, but for the most part, I travelled alone.I went through countries that nolonger exist (Yugoslavia, East Germany- East Berlin) and saw places that I had only read about.
Currently, I travel extensively due to the global responsibilities inherent in my position. I have been to Europe, China, Singapore and all over the US. On occassion, I make it up to Toronto as we have a plant in Burlington.
On the domestic side, after leaving Toronto in 1992, we lived in Forest City, North Carolina, Bennington, Vermont and now call Torrington, Connecticut home.
Every summer, we make it up to Toronto as my wife's family has a cottage outside of Parry Sound and she and the kids usually spend July up there. When able, I usually make it up for a week or so.
College
After BCI, I went to Trent University for one year. the intention had been to study history with the ultimate goal being to become a teacher. That did not work out.
For my second year, I transferred to UofT and graduated ...Expand for more
with my Honours BA in Candian Soviet Social History with an emphasis on Labour Relations.
In 1999, I returned part time to school to earn my MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic. The nice thing about this is that with a terminal degree, I am able to teach at the college here in the US. So I have. I have taught courses on Business Writing and Communication, Organizational Change, Human Resources Management and Health and Safety.
So even though my initial plans of being a teacher did not come true, I have been able to eventually realize them in a different venue.
Workplace
Since starting my career I have held numerous positions of ever increasing responsibility. That I am sure is a surprise to some of you. These positions all have been within the field of Human Resources Management. For the Dilbert fans, that means I'm Catbert.
In 1992, the company that I was working for transfered me to North Carolina to assume responsibility for a 350 person non union plant. Prior to then, I was in a 200 person union plant. After two years, they transfered me to a 500 person plant in Vermont. And two years after that, I was transfered to a 800 person union plant in Connecticut.
Currently, I have a fancy title (Director, Human Resources-Global Operations) which really means that I am rsponsible for all labour and employee relations for 11 North American plants, 2 plants in Mexico, Brazil, Singapore, China, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and Germany or about 3,200 people.
This responsibility has me in a lot of airplanes travelling about 30-40% of the time. If I cut back, I wonder how my wife would react as I am sure that it would require adjustments on all of us.
I like my job. It requires me to walk a line between what is the best thing for the stakeholders as they all have different needs and expectations. For employees it is an honest wage and benefits; stockholders -an appropriate return on their investment; communities -environmental stewardship.
I get to negotiate labour agreements, conduct training, develop compensation sytems and ensure our facilities regardless of local customs or laws, preserve the health and safety of our people. It's starting to sound too warm and fuzzy for me. Enough said.
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