PM Environmental’s Human Resources Manager sits down with us on Human Resource Professional Day to enlighten us on his professional journey

Q: Name, Title, Location

Matthew DeLap, HR Manager, Lansing, MI

Q: Tell us a little about your role and what you do.

I manage the HR department and functions for PM Environmental. As we are a small team, Brendan and I work together on payroll, benefits, recruiting, onboarding, offboarding, analysis, audits, performance, reporting, and any other HR related activities.

Q: What energizes you about your career?

I enjoy working with the great staff here at PM. Whether it’s helping connect staff with needed resources, pulling and analyzing data, or facilitating discussions – it’s great to be involved in work that is important and helping to make a difference. I also enjoy learning and growing professionally. The HR field is constantly changing so it’s important to pursue continuous education opportunities.

Q: What’s one thing you wish more people knew about your role?

HR involves a lot of different, complex moving parts. Because HR includes such a variety of tasks, it’s important for us to stay focused and organized throughout the week to ensure our workload is addressed.

Q: How did you end up down this career path?

I switched careers about 7 years ago, prior to that I was working with college students at Michigan State University. When I began for something else, I was originally drawn to Supply Chain. After taking a few HR classes, I felt that this aligned well to the work I did previously. I’ve really enjoyed the ways that HR incorporates developing and maintaining skills in working with people, analyzing data, and staying organized.

Q: What do you keep on your desk?

I keep a hot cup of coffee, my cell phone, Bluetooth headphones for music and calls, and a calculator. I tend to stand for the majority of the day which helps me stay focused.

Q: How do you take your coffee or tea?

I like it plain with no flavoring and definitely no cream or sugar.

Q: When you think of leadership, who has influenced you the most?

I had a professor in graduate school, John Wagner, who did a fantastic job of using case studies to cover some of the common strategies and pitfalls of leadership. There have been a few books that I’ve also enjoyed that had great takeaways including The Leadership Challenge (Kouzes & Posner) and Good to Great (Collins).