Nightshift Manager Gets Outstanding Employee Recognition
R&D Machine hired Toby Russel to be a machinist on the second shift, but it didn’t take long for Toby to take on a managerial role.
Of course, that’s not all that unusual for the 30-year machining veteran.
“Most of the time I’m hired, I’m never hired as a supervisor, but it doesn’t take long for them to ask me to be a supervisor,” said Toby.
“Six months to a year. It doesn’t take too long.”
At R&D Machine, it took less than 10 months for Toby to move into a managerial role. Now as R&D Machine Nightshift Manager, Compass Precision has named Toby its Employee of the Month for June 2023.
Toby is the 39th employee, including third at R&D Machine, to receive the Compass Precision Employee of the Month honor. Production Manager Thom Amend was the most recent recipient of the award at R&D Machine last November.
”Staffing a second shift is very difficult in our business,” explained Justin Kovscek, R&D’s Vice President & General Manager. “Fortunately, we have been able to attract a few really talented people for this shift. Now we have an excellent supervisor, too. Toby is doing a great job!”
Joining R&D Machine in January 2022, Toby began as a machinist on the second shift. He briefly moved to the first shift before becoming the nightshift manager in November.
Toby began working at machine shops when he was 15 years old. He arrived at R&D with extensive previous experience on the second shift and as a supervisor.
“Toby is such a pleasure to work with, he really gets it,” added Operations Manager Kat Pennison who joined R&D Machine not long after Toby did. “Bad things that often occur at other shops with second shifts don’t happen here because Toby and his crew. They are excellent.”
During his career, Toby has worked with a variety of machining processes and a plethora of different kinds of materials. But he particularly likes working on the second shift and has enjoyed the challenges at R&D Machine.
“With [the] second shift, you have a tendency to be able to get more done. There’s fewer people here,” Toby said. “You don’t have to be so involved with the front office. I can concentrate on the stuff out there on the shop floor.
“Some of the parts we have [at R&D Machine] are nice and challenging. They’re fun to make. It’s a good work environment. Not a lot of outside stress.”
Toby shared that he finds working on aerospace parts to be the most challenging and rewarding. He is looking forward to continuing to grow the company with the corporate backing Compass provides.
Prior to R&D Machine, Toby worked three years at Pall Aerospace Corporation. He was at Seaboard Manufacturing for about the same amount of time prior to Pall. Toby left Seaboard to find a shorter commute.
Toby has lived in Florida the past seven years. He’s originally from Ore City, TX, which is a small town a little less than two and a half hours east of Dallas.
His high school graduating class in Ore City was 33.
Toby also served six years in the Navy. That experience took him all over the world, including to the exotic locations of Bermuda and Hawaii.
For fun, Toby takes his 1987 GMC truck to car shows. He won the most recent local show he entered this year.
He also enjoys golfing and spending time with his Portuguese water dog, Scuba. Toby adopted Scuba shortly after he started at R&D Machine.