Before joining Behr, Kevin was studying architecture and working as a carpenter designing and installing custom cabinets. He had a close friend who worked for Behr who would share great things. Kevin decided it was time to make the jump to Behr and started as a Territory Representative in southern Ontario, Canada and later moved to the west in Vancouver, British Columbia to become an international trainer. For the past 10 years, Kevin has managed learning and development supporting both Behr and The Home Depot. In this Q&A, discover how Kevin’s contributions have evolved at Behr over the past 26 years.
What does a typical day in your role look like?
There is no typical day, but most of my time involves managing our training programs. This requires a lot of interfacing with the sales team to manage scheduling and assessing the learning needs of the teams. I design learning strategies to close the gap, develop content and assets to support the plan as liaison with various departments, guide the Coaching Development Representatives (CDR) and sales team on implementation, and most importantly sustain the training programs through assessments to ensure the success of the program.
What do you enjoy the most about what you do?
"I really enjoy thinking outside the box and exploring new ways to make learning enjoyable, actionable and memorable for our team."
As a creative person, I really enjoy thinking outside the box and exploring new ways to make learning enjoyable, actionable and memorable for our team. I have a passion for adult learning which has been a focus throughout my role. As a result, it is enjoyable to apply approaches directly to improving our program.
What is your favorite memory from your years at Behr?
I have had the privilege to work with our sales teams in all our countries which provided many challenges and opportunities to learn new things related to culture and impacting sales. My greatest memory would be receiving the Kevin Jaffé Award at our sales meeting in 2015. That night, Kevin Sr. gave his inspiring “People Win speech about serving team members and how we are stronger collectively, which is something I wholeheartedly believe to be the secret to the Behr culture.
What are you most proud of during your career with Behr?
When your job is to help people learn there is a lot to be proud of, but working with the CDR team makes me the proudest. In 2023, we created a robust plan that changes how we coach and develop our sales team. We started with a new onboarding process and an improved rookie experience supported by a learning platform, The Academy, to support the sales team's learning journey. It was a proud moment to see my team pridefully wear The Academy hoodies at our annual sales meeting. There has been a lot to learn and teach, but they show up with commitment, an openness to provide feedback, and a desire to keep improving. For that, I am very proud of our team’s unwavering belief in their role.
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