The Next Stop: METRO's Podcast Episode 45: Job stability, big incentives and professional development | Why you should work at METRO! Tuesday Martin: We are a stable company. Transportation is always going to be needed. People have to get around. There is always going to be a need. There will always be a need because METRO will continue to grow and evolve, which will open more and more opportunities for employment. Doug Delony: I am Doug Delony. On this edition of The Next Stop: Yes, METRO is still hiring and offering big incentives! [Introduction music plays] Doug Delony: I am happy to welcome Tuesday Martin, who works in Human Resources here at METRO. Welcome to METRO’s podcast, Tuesday! Tuesday Martin: Woo! Thank you! I’m glad to be here. Thank you so much. Doug Delony: And what is your official title within Human Resources? What do you do? Tuesday Martin: So, I’m the manager of HR staffing. Doug Delony: Great, and hiring is a topic we’ve actually discussed multiple times here on the podcast because that’s just how important it is to us here at METRO. But I wanted to check back in Human Resources to get the latest on the hiring initiative, especially as we hopefully start to see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as COVID goes. Fingers crossed! Let’s talk about the incentives that are running right now, and I think we’ve talked about these previously last year. METRO is still paying $8,000 for mechanics who sign on and $4,000 for bus operators. Is that correct? Tuesday Martin: So, that is correct. It is up to $8,000 for mechanics, and those are normally our AC and heat mechanics. It’s depending on, you know, what level they come in on. Doug Delony: Okay. Tuesday Martin: And then we have the diesel mechanics that can be assessed as a mechanic A or a mechanic B. So, if you get assessed as a diesel mechanic A, then you’re going to have an incentive of $6,000, and then if you’re assessed as a B, then you’ll get an incentive of $4,000. Doug Delony: Okay. So, there’s some little details in there, but hey, extra money is extra money. And I guess it’s not all like a lump sum right when they get hired. They don’t just get handed a big check, right? Tuesday Martin: That is correct. Doug Delony: It’s paid out during the first portion of their employment, okay? Tuesday Martin: That’s correct. So, it’s paid out. Doug Delony: Okay. Tuesday Martin: So, it’s really been working for us. It’s been a great incentive program, and people really love it. Doug Delony: And as far as operators, is that bus operators or is that for rail operators, as well? Do you know off-hand? Tuesday Martin: So, this is for the bus operator. They can get up to a $4,000 incentive. If they have a CDL already with a passenger endorsement, their incentive will be $4,000. Doug Delony: Okay. Tuesday Martin: If they come in with a regular Class D like you know everyone else normally has, or they have a CLP, which is a commercial learner permit, then they come in with an incentive of $2,500. Doug Delony: You talked about the up to a certain amount for the bonus, and some people coming in, they don’t have, you know, the commercial driver’s license yet. METRO trains operators, right? They train people how to drive a bus. Tuesday Martin: Absolutely. We take you through a process. We’re putting you on the bus, and we’re teaching you how to drive the bus, and so, we give that training, and it’s a paid training as well. Doug Delony: So, you’re not there on the clock for free when you’re actually—and you’re learning a skill that you can take with. METRO is obviously trying to compete with any entity that might require or need commercial drivers, you know, Amazon and FedEx, and all of these kinds of corporations. It’s not just operators and mechanics, though. What are some of the other positions open at METRO that someone might be surprised about or not familiar with, or not realize, “Hey, I didn’t know I could do that at METRO!” Everyone thinks bus operator, probably, when they think METRO. Tuesday Martin: That’s correct. METRO has a variety of positions. We have METROLift customer service. We have METRO Police Department, and we have cadets that we hire. We also have customer service representatives. We also have positions in our legal department, as well as our finance and marketing as well. Doug Delony: So, lots of different positions, whether you want to, some people like to be behind the desk. Some people like to talk with the customers and be forward-facing, and others like to drive. I know METRO’s big on professional development no matter where you work, whether it’s at 1900 Main. What are some of the opportunities that are offered as far as education and whatnot? Tuesday Martin: So, we do have several developmental programs that our Organizational Development team has created. For example, we have something that’s called a “Leadership Development Program,” right? I, myself, went through that Leadership Development Program about two years ago, and I can honestly say that I’ve grown and developed as a person as well as a leader. So, I was recently promoted from a supervisor to a manager, and so, I think that is because of, you know, some of the skills that I learned, you know? They teach you things about yourself that you didn’t know about yourself. Doug Delony: Uh-huh. Tuesday Martin: As well as, you know, things on how to be a more effective leader. And so, we’re a company that we normally try to promote from within because we want to grow our own, right? And so, we try to promote from within, but we do at the same time still hire people from the outside. And so, that is a great, you know, that is a great aspect of working for METRO. It’s one of our great attributes, I think, as well as our, you know, tuition reimbursement program as well. But with us having that type of a program—I mean, those Leadership Development Programs are very expensive if you take them outside of, you know, your work. So, METRO gives you all those materials for free, and so, I think that’s a great benefit. Doug Delony: Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s part of the reason, you know, I talk to people, and I say, “How long have you been at METRO? How long have you worked at METRO?” And it doesn’t matter which position, I’m always—I don’t know why now—I’m still shocked, though, when they say, “Oh, 30, 40 years, you know?” When I first started at METRO in October of last year, and I started here in the communications office, the press office, and I think at one of the first meetings, they were honoring somebody who was retiring after 40-something years, and I was like, “That’s incredible!” Tuesday Martin: That’s incredible. Doug Delony: And then I found out at the next meeting—it is incredible—but still, there are a lot of people who have worked there for that amount of time. And I think that really says something about the organization when that is the case. Tuesday Martin: Absolutely. Uh-hmm. Doug Delony: Some people, for one reason or another, may be a little apprehensive about working for a public transit agency. What makes working at METRO so great? And what’s the work culture like? Tuesday Martin: You know what? One of our greatest values, I think, here at METRO is our stability. Right? Even though we’ve been through that whole pandemic. We’re still going through a little of it now, but it’s gotten better. But even when we were going through the pandemic during the roughest times when other companies were laying off employees, or they were closing their doors for good, you know, METRO continued to allow their non-essential employees to continue to work. They let us work in a hybrid environment. We were able to work remotely from home. They had us set up. I mean, IT did a great job at getting everyone set up, and we didn’t miss a beat. So, I think, for us, that’s a great benefit, and it speaks high volumes to our CEO. He’s very family-oriented, and he cares about the people in this company, and so, to me, that’s one of our greatest attributes. Doug Delony: As far as public transit, as well, there’s always a need for it. I feel like when you work at METRO, you’re working for the good guys because we’re part of what needs to change in this country, and that is to be sustainable. We need to have more people riding and working for public transit. It’s a good thing. It’s good for the environment. It’s good for the economy, right? Tuesday Martin: Absolutely. Yes. Doug Delony: Aside from the incentives we talked about earlier, what are some of the other benefits as far as, you know—METRO, it is a transit agency. It’s not what some people might consider a private company. We have health. We have dental, vacation time, right? Tuesday Martin: That’s correct. We offer medical, dental, vision. We have a 401(k) program. We do have the paid time off as well, and we get well days and sick days, and so, that’s something that was new to me when I came aboard. I’d never heard of a “well day.” You know, I knew about the sick day, but I didn’t know about a well day, so I thought that was a benefit for staying well. You got a paid day off that. Doug Delony: Right. Tuesday Martin: And so, I think you get about three or four those a year. Maybe it’s one per quarter. And so, I think that works out well, you know, for METRO. Doug Delony: That’s awesome. Tuesday Martin: We even offer tuition reimbursement, as I stated before, you know, in certain departments, you know? We have a self-paced course that they can take online. Our training department uses that. It’s a system called “Absorb.” You can go in there, and you can train on anything from Word, Excel, you know, PowerPoint, and they have all different levels of those, you know? You can be at the beginning of Word, and then you can be intermediate in Word, and then you can be proficient in Excel and all that. And so, I just think that those are great things as well because I like—I can do Excel myself, you know, but I like to go in there and learn a little bit more so that I can be very proficient in it. Doug Delony: Right. And as far as people applying, you know, we’ve been talking about “Work For METRO.” People have probably heard the advertisements on the radio. They’ve seen the, you know, billboards on the bus and whatnot, the posters and the signage saying, “Work For METRO,” and talking about the incentives. Have we recently seen, you know, it’s looking now that we’re going into spring 2022 here—have we seen an uptick in people applying? Tuesday Martin: Right. There’s still a need. Well, this is what I can say: Now that COVID has kind of slowed down a lot, which just happened within the last month between February and now, so it’s kind of hard to say at this point, you know since the COVID numbers have just recently decreased. But we should be able to gauge the effects in the next few months. I can, however, say that people have continued to hire. We still have hundreds of people that continue to apply for positions, you know, no matter what level they’re on. So, there are people out there that need a job. There are a lot of people out there that want to work for METRO, so that’s a plus. Doug Delony: Right. And as a METRO employee, I think you get to use the services for free, and a spouse, correct, can also use METRO services for free? Tuesday Martin: That’s correct. And that is another, you know, great attribute for METRO as well. You know, you and your spouse can ride the transit for free, the bus for free, or the rail or the bus for free, and you don’t have to worry about that. And I think that’s great. You know, especially if you want to go to the rodeo. Guess what? You can just jump on the train or jump on the bus, and you can just take that trip Downtown without having to worry about, you know, “Where am I going to park?” and things like that. Doug Delony: Right. Tuesday Martin: And so, I’ve always thought that was a great aspect as well. Doug Delony: Yeah, and I bring it up now because, you know, we look at all the impacts that we’ve dealt with—and I say “we” as a country and as people who live here on this planet—everything that we’ve dealt with COVID, and now, of course, we talk about inflation and gas prices. Tuesday Martin: Yes. Doug Delony: That’s a huge benefit to not have to drive, especially now when gas prices are so high for you and your spouse to be able to use it for free. It’s a big deal. Tuesday Martin: Right. Doug Delony: So, that’s always really nice as well. Tuesday Martin: Absolutely! And that’s why when you were asking about there being a need—there’s always going to be a need. There will always be a need because METRO will continue to grow and evolve, which will open more and more opportunities for employment. Doug Delony: Absolutely. And how does someone get started? I think the website is workatmetro.org? Tuesday Martin: Yes. Workatmetro.org, and it’ll take you right to our employment page, and you can look at all the job opportunities that we have listed. Doug Delony: Okay. Tuesday Martin: As soon as you put in “workatmetro.org,” which is o-r-g, and that’ll take you right to the page. And you can go ahead and sort by anything—Human Resources, Marketing, you know, Sales, or whatever. You know, we have a lot of people that like to do project management and things like that. We have lots of different positions. So, we have something for everyone here at METRO. We are a stable company. You know, the transportation industry will always be needed. People are able to move around from place to place, and METRO is the only public transit company in the City of Houston and surrounding areas. And so, I just think that’s a plus for us, you know? And transportation’s always going to be needed. People have to get around. And like you said, with the gas prices going up now, I think we’ll see more and more people using those rails and the bus systems to get around. Doug Delony: Okay, thank you, Tuesday, for joining us on The Next Stop. Tuesday Martin: Thank you as well. Doug Delony: And before we sign off, I want you to hear from a couple of recent graduates of METRO’s training facility where they learned how to operate a bus. Nikibia Weed: I’ve been through multiple industries. Oil field was the last one that I was working in full time, you know, a lot of hours, a lot of pay. And I wanted to find something that would be an equal replacement because when COVID came around, it bottomed out almost everything, and METRO turned out to be a good fit for me. So, I decided that this was the way that I was going to go. Jameryous Wade: I have an eight-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son, and my mom and my siblings—I have five siblings. My mom, my dad, my siblings—they have been very supportive for my long, long journey. It’s been three months. I did not have no driving experience. I did not come with my CDL. The first person I met was Mr. Kahey 12:24. He was very helpful in helping us get our permit at the end. Nikibia Weed: Anything you new you walk into is going to be difficult. The way that I look at it is, “There is no growth without adversity.” And you’re going to run into adverse conditions on a daily basis. You just have to figure out how to maneuver through it without it affecting you in a negative way. Jameryous Wade: So worth it—the benefits, the pay—don’t give up! Whenever you get here, everything is going to be so worth it in the end. Doug Delony: And that was bus operator Nikibia Weed and bus operator Jameryous Wade. You can find their story and others on the Houston METRO Youtube channel. As always, thanks to you, the listener, and all of our METRO riders out there. I am Doug Delony. If you’d like to check out more episodes and subscribe to METRO’s podcast, you can find all the links you need on ridemetro.org, and if you could leave us a review of this podcast, that would really help us out. Drive less and do more with Houston METRO. [Music plays] RMETRO/pti:kh Page 1 of 1