Michael Shouse Named ONEIL Employee Owner of the Quarter
Each quarter, ONEIL recognizes one employee-owner who exemplifies our core values through technical excellence, initiative, and a commitment to delivering high-quality solutions for our customers. For Q1 2026, we are proud to recognize Michael Shouse as our Employee Owner of the Quarter.
Michael joined the ONEIL team in 2021. From the beginning, he brought a strong foundation of mechanical expertise, shaped by both his military and automotive background, which quickly made him a key contributor to the team.
Leveraging his experience, Michael became the team’s resident expert in a key product area within the customer’s portfolio. During a transition within a customer’s organization from two engineering groups into a single structure, a significant knowledge gap emerged on one side of the legacy product lines. Michael proactively stepped in to bridge that gap and is now recognized as a trusted authority in this area, including both historical knowledge and current operational processes.
One of Michael’s most impactful contributions has been the development of a new process for incorporating Engineering Change Orders (ECOs) into technical manuals. He took the initiative to deeply understand the customer’s systems, including their codes, terminology, and workflows, and translated that knowledge into a clear, structured, and repeatable process that benefits both ONEIL and the customer. This solution has helped improve consistency, reduce rework, and strengthen overall alignment across deliverables.
Michael recently applied this process to a new product development effort, ONEIL’s first opportunity to fully develop and maintain technical publications for a brand-new product line with this customer. He successfully completed all initial parts manuals well within delivery timelines while also mentoring other authors working on Operations and Maintenance Manuals (OMMs) and Service Manuals, ensuring accurate and consistent ECO implementation across all deliverables.
A U.S. Navy veteran, Michael brings the same discipline, ownership mindset, and attention to detail to his work at ONEIL that he demonstrated in service. His contributions continue to strengthen both our internal team and our customer partnerships.
Congratulations, Michael, on this well-deserved recognition—and thank you for your continued commitment to excellence and to ONEIL’s mission of making equipment safer to use, faster to repair, and easier to maintain.
Briefly share your career trajectory and what originally brought you to ONEIL.
There were three distinct phases in my career that brought me to ONEIL, and I draw heavily on the skills developed in each for my role here. The U.S. Navy made me a mechanic and made attention to detail an instinct. My shop was responsible for the maintenance and repair of many systems on the ship, including forklifts, elevators, and underway replenishment equipment. Understanding how many systems incorporate into a whole informs my work in writing parts and technical information.
The automotive industry not only taught me to multi-task like a pro, but also to diagnose a situation before ever setting wrench to bolt. Working as a dismantler in a salvage yard taking apart hundreds of vehicles, I learned to create exploded diagrams in my head to remove major components in the shortest time. This skill has been vital for simplifying complicated engineering information into parts lists and diagrams that are easy to read and use.
My most challenging position was a 12-year run as a stay-home parent. Here I learned patience, negotiation, task management, and the discipline to balance a single income budget for a large family. Helping the kids with their homework over many years taught me to tailor my efforts to different learning styles, and this has been a great help in mentoring new writers on our team here at ONEIL.
I worked briefly in the automotive industry again when the kids were grown. I was recruited by ONEIL in 2021, and that was such an honor. It is still very exciting that a company sought me out. I am thankful to have found a home at ONEIL, and I am looking forward to the future!
What do you enjoy most about your work at ONEIL?
This is a hard one to narrow down! My favorite thing about ONEIL is that I work with a fantastic and extremely capable team. Our confidence in each other and the stability that years of teamwork have provided make almost every day a pleasure. Second is simply that I have an incredibly interesting career that takes advantage of nearly all the skills I have learned and developed and gives me opportunities to hone those skills even further.
What motivates you to go above and beyond in your role?
The work I do here at ONEIL has global consequences. The operator, service, and parts content I create and edit is used around the entire world and will be for decades to come. I think of the technicians depending on me to provide a correct assembly sequence or ordering the correct parts the first time. This motivates me to strive for accuracy, consistency, and excellence that reflects well on ONEIL and encourages our customers to tell others about the quality of our work.