When Jeff Bossaller, IT Service Desk Team Leader, in St. Louis, Missouri, started his career after college, he was working with a different variety of bytes and cookies.
Jeff has a degree in game design, but as he began college during the 2008-2009 recession, there were limited job opportunities in his field. After graduation, Jeff began working as a manager in the restaurant industry, where he honed the leadership skills that he would use in his future roles.
When the job market started to look up, Jeff transitioned to a role that aligned with his passion for computers, at his restaurant’s IT help desk, eventually leading him to his IT Service Desk Team Leader position at Barry-Wehmiller.
“I'd still interact with people, and I'd actually be fixing problems rather than making food in the restaurants,” said Jeff. “You're of course trying to take care of people here. I'm still taking care of people rather than giving them food that they want so that they can eat and enjoy it. I'm trying to make sure that everybody's computers work, that all of their networks are working, that all of their functionality is still there.”
This position laid the foundation for Jeff’s success in solving the diverse challenges in the IT world. Jeff joined Barry-Wehmiller after a referral from a friend. Now, Jeff is the enterprise admin for Adobe, Dell and TeamViewer — and leads nine team members in his span of care.
“Where I came from, I didn't know who I reported to,” said Jeff. “I never saw the CIO or CEO. We worked in the glass bubble as the help desk, and here I know who my leaders are."
Jeff said he makes a regular effort to see everyone within his span of care. "We have weekly meetings so that we get to work with everybody," he said. "I think that we do a much better job with our leadership structure.”
While Barry-Wehmiller companies develop the technology that help produce the products we use each day — bottles, cans, toilet tissue and boxes, to name a few — Jeff views the IT team as an important part of the greater whole. He likes to think of the IT Team, not as a cog in the wheel, but rather the grease. “With our help, everybody else can continue working so the machine of the company can continue functioning,” he said.
While Jeff no longer works in the restaurant industry, he is happy that he has found a position that still allows him to help and care for people. Jeff's attitude of service is something we try to perpetuate throughout the entire Barry-Wehmiller organization. Our internal Barry-Wehmiller University offers a popular course called Culture of Service. This training equips team members to build their service mindset and behaviors, improving their customer relationships both at work and in their personal lives.
One of Jeff’s favorite parts of his role is interacting with others and solving technological problems face-to-face. Jeff enjoys the challenge and views each request as a new puzzle to solve.
“I never know what I'm going to have to do,” said Jeff. “There's a multitude of challenges in 130 plus acquisitions. So, I could get anything and everything, and it's a fun puzzle to try and figure out what we can do to make sure that those people are working.”
As a member of the IT team, Jeff feels his opinion is valued. That allows him to solve problems in creative, unconventional ways. In addition to serving those at the table like he did in the restaurant business, he feels that he has a seat at the table during important decision-making conversations.
“I feel like my leaders respect my input,” said Jeff. “I feel like I have a seat at the table when people are making decisions, and I think that that is hard to come by, especially in our type of role.”
Better Work. Better World. is a video series designed to shine a
light on team members throughout the global Barry-Wehmiller
organization. Watch the video through the link above to hear more.