Kevin Stevens, retired customer and business lead and vice president of engineering, Klosterman Baking Co., Cincinatti, is known throughout the baking industry as a strong leader, one who is hands-on with his team and involved in the industry. It’s part of the reason he was named Baking & Snack’s 2023 Operations Executive of the Year. 

“He is a leader who leads from the front,” said Dale Easdon, chief executive officer of Klosterman Baking. “If this were the military, and we needed a general to take the soldiers out of the trenches, he’d be the first one over. When he comes to headquarters in Cincinnati, he always stops at the Hebron plant before coming to the office. If there are challenges, he’s the one texting me at 2 a.m., and he’s already at the bakery. He leads from the front, and his team, they follow him.” 

Stevens describes himself more humbly, but he does agree that he tries to lead by example, demonstrating what he expects from others: hard work, valuing individuals, respecting people and the business, building trust through integrity, two-way communication and helping people, especially customers. 

“I’m not going to ask people to do things I wouldn’t do,” Stevens said. “That’s why hands-on leadership has been my approach. In order to really know where you are at as a company, how people are doing, what they need and what needs to change, you have to spend time with them in their space, understanding the barriers they face and the challenges they’re up against.” 

It’s something the young people working at Klosterman Baking have noticed, and they respect him for it. 

“Kevin is the hardest worker I’ve ever met,” said Megan Ryan, director of food safety and regulatory compliance, Klosterman Baking Co. “He leads by example. He would never ask you to do something he hasn’t done, and he knows everything.” 

While the business goals and outcomes are important, Klosterman Baking is not successful without its employees and customers. Stevens sees the value of putting both of these stakeholders first. 

“Don’t let the numbers outweigh the value of people,” he said. “When you genuinely value people and what they bring to the table, they will know it, and they will follow your lead and help you in return, even when you’re not looking.” 

This manifests itself in providing clear goals for the team and equipping them to meet those objectives through training, tools and support. He tries to maintain an open-door policy, an approachable attitude and a presence on the production room floor every day so that his team knows he’s available to them and has their back. 

Several at Klosterman Baking and in the industry regard Stevens as a mentor. He sees it as a natural extension of being a good leader: being willing to accept feedback and then pass lessons onto others. 

“I have been blessed to learn a lot over the years and enjoy sharing that knowledge with those around me,” he said. “I got to my position with the help of many great people and strong mentors. I hope I’ve been able to do the same for those around me.” 

Stevens approaches mentoring in an informal way; it happens in the day-to-day of working closely with his team. The relationships develop naturally, and he invests in those around him who show excitement, engagement and interest. 

“I would like to see that energy that they want to learn,” he said. “A lot of these young associates just absorb this information. I look at them and compare them to myself at that age, and they’re so much smarter because of the technology they have access to. But they also have to have energy, excitement and a desire to learn.” 

At the end of the day, however, it all comes back to relationships, which comes down to getting to know the individuals on the team: who they are, what motivates them and their goals. 

As Stevens looks ahead to the next stage of his career, the shortage of younger talent in the industry is something that concerns him. Passion for the baking industry has been critical to his own personal success and staying power, but it’s not something you can train, he said, and it’s something he’s not sure the younger generation associates with the baking industry. 

“You can always train people in best practices and procedures, but you can’t teach the passion,” he said. “We need to bring young people into the industry and make it exciting again. I don’t think the young people see the opportunity for growth in this industry, and that is a problem.”

However, Stevens’ willingness to invest in the next generation has been invaluable, Easdon said. He described the magazine’s Operations Executive of the Year as a person who others listen to when he speaks. One of the challenges he’s seen at Klosterman Baking had been the lack of seniority at the supervisor and middle manager level. That’s where executives like Stevens are so valuable to keeping the baking industry strong for the long run.

“As we’re bringing in the next junior leadership, they look up to Kevin to teach them the principles of the business, and that’s a void he fills with the years that he has dedicated to this industry,” Easdon said.

After 40 years in baking, Stevens certainly has poured his knowledge into the people around him and the companies who have employed him. It’s a legacy that puts people first, whether they are the customers or the associates, and that is the foundation of a growing industry.

This article is an excerpt from the December 2023 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Operations Executive of the Year, click here.