Congratulation to Britan Eisenbeis for being named the ELM Elite winner for March.
Several years ago, Britan Eisenbeis was working in the produce section of a grocery store when his friend, Logan, recommended he apply for a job. The job was at ELM Utility and even though Logan himself had only worked there for two months, he wanted to get his friend hired on as well. Britan didn’t feel satisfied stocking fruits and vegetables for a living, so he jumped at the opportunity. Now, over 9 years later, Britan and Logan are still working together in the Bismarck profit center, with Logan serving as Britan’s supervisor.
Britan took to the job very quickly. He enjoys that no two tickets are the same and that every day is a new adventure with its own set of challenges. He credits the initial training he received and the help from his fellow Bismarck techs for allowing him to take on these challenges. He was taught early on to “make a phone call when you need to or if you don’t feel comfortable on something” and that helped get him through those first few months of learning the job. Now that he is one of the most veteran techs on his crew, he encourages his less experienced coworkers to reach out to him for help when they need it.
When another tech asks him for help with a ticket, Britan wants to make it a learning opportunity for the other tech. He figures if he shows up and completes the entire ticket himself, the other tech won’t advance their own locating skills. He starts by asking them to show him what they have done so far and what they are getting. He also asks, “why they think its not right and what they think they should do next?” Sometimes the extra questioning about their problem solving is enough to find a solution but if not, Britan will perform the locate but walk the tech through his steps along the way.
Britan did have some damages early on in his career. He found that they happened because he was trying to force what he was finding when a line would locate well in one direction but not the other. “I learned to make the extra hook up, take the extra time and just trust your wand. If something doesn’t look right, it more times than not isn’t right.” Learning not to rush the job was a breakthrough moment for his skills as a locating tech.
Another breakthrough moment for Britan came around 4 years ago but had nothing to do with his locating abilities. He says, “a while back I got my butt chewed a little bit for not driving so well. Seeing myself on that camera doing something wrong woke me up. I need to be doing things right.” Britan credits being able to see himself on camera with improving his driving record and believes that without seeing the evidence himself the “butt chewing” wouldn’t have been as effective.
After 9 years of locating, Britan is still glad he listened to his friend and applied for the job. Britan and his wife Ashley have a two-year-old daughter named Adeline. They all enjoy getting outside together when the North Dakota weather permits, and Adeline especially likes any sort of water activity.