Competing for workers can be a challenge for pallet and lumber facilities. A few leaders in the industry are trying a different approach to offer an employee benefit that means a lot to employees even though its cost is not going to break your budget.
And if you are looking to create a better corporate atmosphere, show you care about your employees and make a difference with your company beyond just making profits, then this may be the right move for your business. Both Custom Pallet & Crating in Charlotte, North Carolina and L&R Pallet in Denver, Colorado have hired a chaplaincy service to provide emotional and spiritual support for employees at their plants.
One of the first companies that I have ever heard in the industry to use a chaplain service is Custom Pallet & Crating. The company began using its first chaplain about 15 years ago, and Jamie Gilbert, the president of the company, said it was one of the best decisions in the history of his company.
The idea first came to Gilbert while he read the Charlotte Observer and noticed an article about a trucking company that had used a chaplaincy service to provide care to employees.
Gilbert stated, “About 70% of the people in this country do not have a church to call their own. That means they don’t have a pastor to go to when they have marital, financial, family or health problems.”
These people without a church may have limited resources available to help care for them when crisis comes. Gilbert cautioned, “It isn’t a matter of if troubles are coming, but when they will come.” He added that this service has helped employees through a wide variety of challenges, such as family, marriage or financial issues.
Chaplains can perform hospital visits, funerals, weddings, almost any service that a licensed minister would do. And most of these chaplaincy organizations are non-denominational and will work with people from a wide variety of faith backgrounds.
Carlos Tellez, the chaplain for Custom Pallet, explained, “Sometimes, there is a concern that a chaplain is somebody who is going to come and impose his belief on the employees. And that is not the case. Everything we do is by permission of the employee. We serve everybody regardless of belief.”
Gilbert added, “We have never had a complaint. Not one time. The goal of the chaplains is to form relationships in the hopes of being asked to share the good news of Jesus Christ in a non-threatening way.”
Custom Pallet uses a service called Corporate Chaplains of America. Gilbert said, “There is strict confidentiality. The chaplain never tells me who he is talking to or what they are talking about.”
The only details the chaplain shares is a report of the number of calls, visits, services performed, salvations, etc. per month. No individual identifying information or specific details are shared with the company. Tellez is a bilingual chaplain, which makes him approachable for many of the Hispanic workers at the company.
For example, Tellez handled five after hour calls last month. This means that five employees were troubled enough to pick up the phone to call for help. Otherwise, these five situations might have gone unresolved. And that means the employee might not have been as productive or focused at work.
Back in 2008 and the economy was really bad, Gilbert cut a number of things. But one thing that was never on the chopping block was the chaplaincy program. He explained, “I can’t say that the chaplaincy program has made us more productive. But it has made us a better company because our culture has improved. We are a better place to work because we have a chaplain.”
Gilbert claimed, “We have averaged about one person coming to Christ every month for 15 years, and that is a lot of lives changed. It is just incredible because everyone has needs and troubles.”
L&R Pallet decided to use a chaplaincy program a few years ago after some culture problems led to a manager committing fraud and the company lost a lot of money. James Ruder, the president of L&R, said, “I have spent the last five years doing everything differently, and I believe the chaplaincy program has helped improve the culture at my company.”
Ruder added, “I used to like to think that I am in the pallet business. But I am really in the people business because it is my staff that makes everything work well.”
Ruder lamented, “We don’t have a lot of distinctive employee benefits in our industry, and I wanted to do something that was a real tangible employee benefit.”
While the company can’t just throw money at every person or problem, by hiring a chaplaincy service, it can demonstrate care for employees and a desire to help them solve some personal problems. But most employees will never really open up to managers or the boss. Ruder explained, “I have tried very unsuccessfully for years to have weekly prayer meetings. But it is very intimidating for entry-level employees to come in and pray and open up to managers and the owner.”
But the chaplaincy program is a great way to allow employees to vent personal frustrations without involving upper management, according to Ruder. L&R Pallet uses Marketplace Chaplains USA, which has worked well given the diversity of the workforce at the company. This organization provides five chaplains with different backgrounds, genders and language abilities so that everybody has somebody they can relate to on a personal basis. The chaplains visit once per week and try to be as unobtrusive as possible. Many times they will come during breaks or lunches. Initially, their goal is to develop a quick relationship so that employees can call when in crisis or meet up with the chaplain after hours.
A chaplaincy program is a cost effective benefit that makes a real difference according to both Gilbert and Ruder. Gilbert said, “It brings such a value, and it is not expensive. Our chaplain changes lives, and he does things that I as business owner cannot do.”
The cost depends on the organization. But most charge a monthly fee per employee. A company with around 100 employees can expect to pay monthly somewhere between $1,000 to $1,500 total for a chaplaincy service. And when you consider the potential benefit on the morale of employees, this can help you retain key workers and help ensure their home problems don’t affect their workplace productivity. Besides business reasons, this is a great benefit to make your company one that employees want to work for.
Most chaplaincy services offer a 24/7 call service where employees can call a number for assistance. L&R Pallet uses a feature for off-site employees where the chaplain calls employees once per month to check in with them. This is helpful when employees work at a customer location and the chaplain wouldn’t otherwise be available to them.
At the end of the day, this is not about pushing anybody to do anything. Gilbert said, “We don’t require people to be a Christian to work at Custom Pallet. But we do hope that if you come to work here that one day you might become a Christian.”
New hires are told about the chaplaincy service, and the chaplain is informed by management about new hires and those who have left the company. Word sort of gets out that the chaplains are here to listen and really help claimed Gilbert.
Chaplains also serve to help employees connect with other experts to facilitate solutions. This could include financial and debt advisors, professional counselors, etc. Many times the chaplains also will care for family members of employees.
Ruder cautioned that companies can’t expect chaplains to be miracle workers. He said, “Don’t try this unless you are willing to get behind it as an owner and management team. To make it a success, you have to have everyone on board.”
When it comes to dealing with bad news, chaplains are helpful to provide employees a safe place to process with their feelings. Gilbert commented, “It’s not about whether or not you have to give bad news sometimes or hold people accountable. It is about how you deliver that bad news or discipline.”
Working with the chaplains is important for management, that way the chaplain understands why the company does some things that could be viewed negatively by some employees. Although chaplains must keep details of conversations secret, they can provide management awareness of any issues or misunderstandings that may be widespread and could cause morale issues.
Ruder told a story about one employee who admitted the chaplaincy helped save her marriage when she and her husband were going through a rough patch.
Ruder suggested that his company has reduced employee turnover due to the change in culture at least partially caused by the chaplaincy program. Rudder stated, “Our chaplain program makes an eternal significance.”
Care Giving & Chaplain Programs
Hiring a chaplain to serve your employees can cost less than $10 per month per employee while proving a tangible employee benefit to improve culture and set you apart from other businesses.
Corporate Chaplains of America http://chaplain.org/
Corporate Chaplaincy Consulting http://www.corpchaps.com/
Marketplace Chaplains USA http://mchapusa.com/
