Scott Ryan on talent development
From 2022 West Michigan CEO Summit - Scott Ryan, Gentex · · Grand Rapids Chamber
“The Limited English Proficiency program started with the mantra of one shift, one language, one line, and expanded to cover all three shifts with about 130 people involved, including those who have developed English skills and moved to other parts of the company.”
On , Scott Ryan, Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary & Sustainability Officer at GENTEX CORP, spoke about talent development during 2022 West Michigan CEO Summit - Scott Ryan, Gentex on Grand Rapids Chamber.
About Scott Ryan
Scott Ryan, vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary, and sustainability officer at Gentex, has spoken publicly about the company's talent strategies and the impact of COVID-19 restrictions. In 2022, he discussed Gentex's "Limited English Proficiency program," which converted manufacturing line segments to support Spanish-speaking employees, offering free English classes and bilingual leadership. He described the program as a response to a labor shortage and a way to be inclusive, stating that it was "important to be inclusive and we wanted to engage a segment of the population and help them become part of the Gentex family." Ryan also noted that Gentex expanded its equity program to include all U.S. employees and left decisions about remote work to individual vice presidents, as manufacturing roles cannot be remote while some engineering roles can. He encouraged young professionals to prioritize in-person engagement, saying, "If you're a young person coming out of college... I'd say really focus on that personal engagement in the workplace." In 2021, Ryan criticized Michigan's COVID-19 work-from-home order, arguing that it was "stifling innovation and hampering new product development." He stated that "all business cannot be conducted over a video conference call in the long term" and that the order put Michigan businesses at a competitive disadvantage compared to other states. Ryan added that many employees were "dealing with depression and feelings of isolation" and that the "novelty of working from home has long worn off." He said Gentex had implemented COVID protection protocols and that a "flexible process" acknowledging the costs of the orders was necessary.