Member Spotlight: Steven Loffredo – Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. Steve Loffredo is the Director of Human Resources & Firm Administration at Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co., Ltd. (KLR), one of New England’s premier accounting and business advisory firms with 200+ team members and offices in Boston, Newport, Providence, Waltham, and Shanghai. Steve is responsible for recruiting for the Firm’s Intern Program and coordinating the professional in-house training program, KLR University. He manages and coordinates the HR activities for the firm, including recruitment, hiring and orientation, employee relations, and benefits administration. Prior to joining KLR, Steve held various HR positions in the healthcare, software and retail food sales/marketing industries. He is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), the Northeast Human Resource Association (NEHRA), and is a member of the Human Capital Committee for the Smaller Business Association of New England (SBANE). Steve is a licensed Assisted Living Administrator, a member of the Rhode Island Assisted Living Association (RIALA), and currently teaches the HR section of the Rhode Island Assisted Living Administrators Training course. He is also an adjunct faculty member at Salve Regina University, where he teaches the Human Resources Management course as part of their MBA Management and Graduate Health Care Administration programs. How/when did you first become involved in human resources? Over 25 years ago, I was a project manager for our local United Way responsible for implementing their new United Way at Work program. This program was designed to introduce United Way agency services such as day care, counselling, camping, etc. to employees at local companies. Through this program, I developed working relationships with the leading personnel and human resource staff at these companies, which led me to a career in human resources. While working at United Way, I obtained my personnel management certification from Bryant. I have worked in human resources since then. What are some of the current resources you use related to workforce development? We partner with the Governor’s Workforce Board (GWB) Work Immersion Program to support and expand our College Intern Recruiting program – 90% of our new hire associates are obtained from the intern program. We recruit anywhere from 20-25 interns annually from local colleges and universities that have strong accounting programs. We use the grants from the GWB to pay a percentage of the intern’s wages for up to a maximum of ten interns per the guidelines set up by the GWB. The biggest challenge we face with recruiting for interns is the intense competition from Big 4, and large national firms for quality candidates. In the past, our Firm has also partnered with the GWB to support - KLR University, our In-house training and development center that provides professional and technical training to all our accounting staff and interns. Through KLR U, we provide a minimum of 40 hours for continuing education credits to our Certified Public Accountant (CPA) staff as well as non-certified employees. The Firm also offers a staff mentor program to all interns and new associates after one year of employment. Experienced new hires are eligible for the mentor program after six months of employment. What advice do you give our members with learning about developing their workforce?

– There are a number of exceptional workforce development programs available through the GWB that

provide employers with financial support to supplement their staff training and development budgets. Speak

with the GWB; they are a great resource.

In your opinion, what do you think RI needs to do to build a competitive workforce for the future?

Develop a better educated workforce that is prepared for the economy of the future, not the past! I think the

state has to rethink the k-12 education model and develop different paths to allow students to pursue

alternative opportunities. Too many RI students require remedial class work to catch up with students from

our neighbor in MA. It would be great if businesses from different sectors of the economy could have the

opportunity to meet with local High School and Colleges academics to better explain what talents and skills we

are or will be looking for in our future hires.

http://ri.shrm.org/