Piyush Shukla
Manager Enterprise Risk
Finance
Why Algoma?
I worked at Algoma as a summer student while I was in university and saw many opportunities to use new technology to improve the business, and that excited me. Algoma is the cornerstone of the community and I wanted to be part of sustaining and growing it. When I graduated, Algoma was introducing a new Graduate Engineer Trainee program and I was one of the successful candidates in the first cohort.
Career Progression
The highlight of the Graduate Engineer Training (GET) program is the department rotation. Over the course of the year, I worked in several operating and service departments and noticed that each department had their own way of performing their work. That exposure really helped me to learn best practices and to build connections across the organization that I draw on to this day. After my year in the GET program, I secured a position as a Front Line Supervisor in Steelmaking. I then moved to the Electrical Maintenance Supervisor role where I had the opportunity to attend conferences and tour other steel mills, gaining valuable exposure to reliability best practices while honing my people management skills. From there I joined the Reliability Group, developing enterprise-wide programming and reliability practices until I was invited to take on the Risk Management role that I have today.
A career in steel is a chance to be part of a sustainability evolution where the opportunities are limitless. It’s a chance to leave a lasting legacy. There is nothing greener than steel. It is incredibly durable and infinitely recyclable.
What are the more challenging aspects of your job?
The greatest challenge in the risk identification process is to be proactive – engaging the right people and ensuring that we execute on our plans. You need to create constant visibility and escalate risks at the right time.
Can you recall a project you found particularly interesting / satisfying?
I worked on a project to address the loss of institutional knowledge risk as people retired and make training easier to internalize. We developed a training module that augmented new hire and contractor orientations. Teams are now expanding on this model and rolling out this new type of training across the organization, making it VR ready, and essentially changing the way we conduct training at Algoma today.
How would you describe the work culture?
There is a great deal of pride and engagement. The team is vested in our success and that of the next generation. It is incredible how willing people are to invest the time for you to learn and grow.
Sault Ste. Marie offers great quality-of-life opportunities. How do you like to spend your time outside of work?
Outside of work, I enjoy time outdoors – golfing, hiking, skiing and skating. The Soo is a very picturesque city that offers a lot of community and cultural events and everything is within close proximity. We are noticing a shifting demographic with an influx of younger people, cafes and trendy businesses, which my wife and I enjoy and of course, nothing beats the 10 minute commute!
