By: Emily Wellborn

Security Clearances, hiring paperwork, and coordinating with managers across the country: Heidi Zimmerman has a plan for that. Our Onboarding Specialist knows how to balance priorities, remain available for every PGS Worldwide employee, and ensure hires turn into starts and careers.

As a critical member of our Human Resources team, Heidi, alongside Senior HR Coordinator Staci Allen, coordinates everything a new employee needs to start, whether it’s health screenings, background checks, and all things HR paperwork.

“It’s important for this role that our employees and our candidates know that we are here to support them,” she said. “Onboarding and HR can be intimidating, but our whole goal is to be supportive. I try to do the best I can for our people.”

Heidi is driven by working diligently to share joy. The most satisfying part of her job is walking into work each morning, checking in where needed, seeing candidates are cleared to start, and then sharing the good news.

“I’ve had people who have dreamed about working for these companies and we helped them reach that goal,” she said. “I’ve had a few contractors explain how lifechanging this opportunity is and how appreciative they have been, not just to myself, but our whole team here at PGS. It feels really good to know that their dreams are coming true.”

Every combination of new employee, company, and role is different, which means Heidi is always working on the fly. While honing her skills to ensure that every new employee is supported, she’s also mastered an incredibly efficient process to meet tight deadlines.

“Once we get an accepted offer, we check for any special testing requirements, and then we’ll go over everything with the new employee. At that point they’ll get their paperwork done, but then we will order checks and process everything to get them clear,” she said. “The onboarding process is done once they get their first day instructions, but we stay in contact if anything comes up.”

Her job is to be the final member of a recruiting relay and help candidates seamlessly transition into their new roles as employees. However, their job doesn’t end after an employee’s first day. Heidi and the rest of the HR team act as a friendly point-of-contact for employees throughout their time contracting with PGS.

“We’re definitely the last step in getting them to start, I mean our whole goal is in getting them to start, and so we’re definitely with them every step of the way,” she said.

Heidi joined the PGS family during the busiest time of the hiring year, with a record number of employees onboarding. With a background in marketing and unparalleled organization skills, she jumped into the work of setting new employees up for success across the country, earning Employee of the Month (one of her favorite accomplishments) for her flexibility and diligence. New employees can’t start the new phase of their Aerospace career without Heidi, which is something she takes to heart.

As she’s settled into her role and has organized her processes as efficiently as she can, Heidi’s next goal is to use education to keep supporting her employees. She’s always relied on mentors to help guide her career path and has just received her Certificate in Human Resources.

“I want to learn as much as I can, that’s my biggest goal,” Heidi said. “I feel like that’s the most valuable thing that I can get from my experience so in the future I have that to help more employees.”