Employee Spotlight: David Huguley – Quality Engineer, Minister, Change Agent
We all need more hours in the day. But you know who really needs them? David Huguley, a manager of Quality Engineering at DENSO’s North American headquarters in Southfield, Michigan, who on April 3 will celebrate his 26th year at the company.
When he’s not leading Quality Systems Improvement efforts – a demanding task in its own right – you can find him doing a range of things to serve those around him:
- As a certified minister, marrying couples, conducting eulogy services, counseling couples and previously incarcerated people, and contributing to weekly DENSO bible study meetings;
- As a coach, leading youth basketball, baseball and football teams;
- As a family man, loving his wife of 32 years, raising two biological and five fostered sons, and organizing their annual family reunion, which connects nearly 100 family members from across North America; and
- As an employee, mentoring junior staff and cofounding one of DENSO’s newest business resource groups, the DENSO African Ancestry Network (DAAN).
How does he keep up with it all?
“Through passion,” said Huguley. “The passion I have for ministry work is not work. And I’m very organized – it helps me do all the things I need to.”
Passion and organization go far, especially when it comes to quality, a foundational value at DENSO. Since 2018, Huguley has overseen Quality Systems Improvement and Quality Management Systems initiatives at DENSO sites in the southeastern U.S., including Maryville and Athens, Tennessee; and Statesville and Greenville, North Carolina. In this role, he leads a team focused on standardizing and optimizing the locations’ quality processes, an effort that not only strengthens DENSO’s products, but also increases operational efficiency, cuts costs and speeds production.
These are proud achievements of his, but Huguley says he gets more satisfaction from mentoring interns and IGNITE Program members, and helping them grow their careers.
“In my time at DENSO, I have played a direct part in hiring 10-15 full-time associates,” explained Huguley. “The longest tenured engineer I mentored just celebrated 14 years at DENSO and is a very high performer. It’s so gratifying to see all of them develop personally and professionally.”
Huguley’s penchant for service leadership and inclusivity inspired him to do more, so he helped cofound DAAN, a business resource group dedicated to supporting and expanding opportunities for African Americans at DENSO.
“I want to be a change agent within DENSO,” said Huguley. “And while there are many avenues to do that, with DAAN, our vision is to reach new heights in diversity, engagement, hiring and helping associates succeed. DENSO already does lots of community work, but we want to push that even further too.”
The introduction of business resource groups is part of DENSO’s broader transformation guided by Reborn 21. The internal initiative – which leverages DENSO principles such as DENSO Spirit, “Green,” meaning environmentally friendly, and “Peace of Mind,” meaning safer world for all – intends to make the company more competitive as mobility evolves.
That transformation extends to diversity and inclusion (D&I), an area key to fostering more welcoming and productive work environments at DENSO. And while DENSO is making progress, there’s still much to be done. Huguley will be instrumental in this, but it will take all DENSO employees to meet our D&I goals.
With it being Black History Month, Huguley closed with this reflection:
“Black History Month to me is an opportunity to reflect on our heritage and how our ancestors have paved the way for so many of us as people of color,” said Huguley. “It’s truly a time to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of African Americans and to reflect on the many struggles, barriers and injustices that so many people of color have endured over the years. Yet they still survived and strived. Everyone should educate themselves on the significant influence of African Americans in our U.S history.”