No matter how your pallet business is set up, people are what make you successful.
In this highly competitive industry, the companies that win are those who know how to effectively lead their teams. And in this second installment of the 2026 human resources round table, HR professionals from the pallet sector discus some of their greatest personnel challenges.
Managers get real about their unrealized HR goals, identify how they measure personnel success and talk openly about the challenges caused by enhanced immigration law enforcement. Learn from industry leaders that have labored to improve their workplace culture and are facing some of the very same challenges that you encounter every day.
Pallet Enterprise recently interviewed the following individuals who contributed their insights on this important topic: Wesley Glidewell, HR manager for McVantage Packaging; Mac and David Grimes of Pallet Resource of North Carolina; Kevan Grinwis, president of Eido Consultants; Jeremy Janssen, HR manager for Hay Creek Pallet; and Beatrice Vasquez, founder and CFO of Oxnard Pallet Co.
PALLET ENTERPRISE: What is your biggest unrealized goal for HR/personnel management in 2026?
Wesley Glidwell: Designing and completing employee reviews for all employees. This is something that we have stated but have not accomplished yet. We have completed just over 10% and have already have some great feedback from the employees that will help us cross-train. It has also helped us identify some individuals who have expressed interest and have the potential to become leaders.
Mac Grimes: Our main goal is for our various stove piped tracking and management systems to communicate with each other. We want data to flow in a way that suits our unique needs and not break the bank developing a customized system.
Jeremy Janssen: Improving communication. We tell everyone we have an open-door policy, just stop in anytime to talk or discuss an issue. That happens very rarely. We know there are things happening, but we don’t know all of the details. Sometimes people choose to keep things to themselves instead of asking for help.
When it comes to employee engagement, we do some research and find an idea that we think will help our people and then there is very little participation. We recently started an emergency savings account plan. If an employee would set aside $20 per payday (or more if they chose to), when their savings account went over $800, the Care Team would give $100 and the company would give $100 to get it to $1000 to fund their emergency savings account (The Dave Ramsey baby step #1). Then it would be transferred into their personal bank savings account. A free $200 for developing the habit of saving money weekly. It was available to all employees and less than 25% of our people chose to participate.
PALLET ENTERPRISE: What has gotten harder from a HR/personnel management perspective in the pallet business over the last several years?
David Grimes: Even with all the enormous change going on in our industry, I can always count on “providing quality health benefits at a reasonable cost” as my answer to this question. Health insurance rates are outpacing our ability to keep up.
Kevan Grinwis: The sheer cost of labor is probably one of the biggest things that I’ve observed. At the end of the day, this should motivate us to drive improvement in the things that support workplace culture and subsequently employee retention. People really do want to be part of a company that makes a positive impact on every single person involved, at every level, in every direction, not to mention the world around it.
Jeremy Janssen: When it comes to recruiting, I am amazed at the number of people actively looking for work, who don’t answer a call from an unknown number and then don’t have voice mail set up. Sometime just initially getting in touch with a candidate is the most difficult part. HR and payroll software has gotten better, but is still very complex. It is better than when we did everything on spreadsheets and paper though.
Beatrice Vasquez: Keeping up with regular performance reviews, written warnings, workers comp claims and processes, along with all the new labor law awareness.
PALLET ENTERPRISE: How do you know if you are creating the right workplace culture for future success? What metrics do you use for workplace culture?
Wesley Glidewell: Lower turnover is an indicator that the culture is heading in the right direction. To get to your goals, you need to listen to what people have to say. We are getting more into employee reviews and not just asking for their feedback, but putting a lot of their ideas into action. Once they feel that leadership listens and cares about what they have to say, they get more comfortable and give more honest feedback. Sometimes we have to explain why their idea will not work but if they understand you have considered it, they appreciate that more than they would if they think you just don’t care about what they have to say.
Turnover rate. Production efficiencies can indicate job-employee fit. Not every job is for every person. In my HR career, I have heard many times that they just need a “warm body,” but “no one wants to work.” This is not true. Some jobs are harder to fill than others, but after some long conversations with many employees, I realize that some people enjoy the lower-skilled jobs and don’t want to move up. Some in leadership see them doing a great job and promote them, then they turn into unproductive employees. Supervisors just scratch their head and say, “I know he can do the job, but he just doesn’t.” It goes back to job-employee fit. It’s kind of like looking at the production floor through the lens of “The 6 Types of Working Genius.” If we get the right people in the right area, we can do much more. Recently, I spoke with an employee about moving up. He has been off-stacking wood for a long time but has never made any effort to move up to any other position. He said he just enjoys what he is doing, it keeps him busy, and he just doesn’t want to run a machine or drive a forklift. He is great at what he does. I believe he can run a machine or something else that many would consider moving up, but he would lose engagement because that is not something that drives internal motivation.
David Grimes: I’m sure I could fill my hours with a stopwatch and measuring tape and reams of “tell me on a scale of 1 to 5” forms that can help me reach “peak performance” but it’s much easier to notice when fewer employees are coming up to my desk to complain about a coworker (or supervisor). Take care of the big things before you clutter your day with minor details and always beware the perils of micromanagement.
Mac Grimes: Employees vote with their feet, so absenteeism, referrals and being able to hire and retain quality employees are key indicators. If someone does leave we conduct an exit interview to understand what influenced their decision.
Kevan Grinwis: Creating the right workplace culture has a lot to do with what the leadership envisions as their ideal workplace and what needs to be in place to produce the specific success they want. What I mean is that culture is never neutral; it either fosters a healthy organization or leads to dysfunction and frustration. But there’s no one-size-fits-all version of healthy culture. It looks different from business to business. So, you’ll want to shape your organizational culture in the specific direction that supports your desired outcomes.
In my experience, metrics are tricky when it comes to culture because it’s hard to reduce culture down to reportable numbers. For example, metrics around employee retention can be really helpful. But you still don’t know why people are leaving. In order to really understand what’s happening in your workplace culture, I highly recommend (1) utilizing regular feedback surveys (preferably anonymous), (2) encouraging healthy one on ones with an environment that supports contrarian thinking and robust dialogue, (3) creating a good exit interview process, and (4) bringing in outside support as needed (chaplains, counselors, consultants, etc.)
Jeremy Janssen: Our care team uses a Caught You Caring (CYC) system for people to “turn people in for doing good.” On the first Thursday of the month at our gratitude meeting, gift cards get handed out to those individuals. We measure the amount and quality of those interactions. We don’t have a specific metric, but we do measure employee involvement in activities outside of work hours. We reserve a large space at a local baseball game over the summer. Our goal is for everyone and their spouse/other to attend. The number has been increasing each year for the past few years.
Among other things, we rent an ice cream machine for national dairy month in June (we live in Wisconsin). The amount of milk and toppings we purchase increases every year. During our annual reviews with each person, we ask questions that help us see how our culture is doing. We also do biweekly and monthly check ins with new hires for the first three months to see how they are doing and solicit feedback from a fresh set of eyes.
Beatrice Vasquez: By listening to our employees and being responsive where necessary. We honestly need guidance in this area and hope to work on better metrics. Improving on this area is part of our strategic goals for 2026.
PALLET ENTERPRISE: How has recent ICE enforcement and immigration crackdowns affected your workforce/potential labor pool? Not looking for specifics regarding your company, just in general.
Wesley Glidewell: ICE has been in the area a few times. The problem we seem to run into is sensationalized reporting that exaggerates what is going on and gives the impression that ICE is “hunting” anyone who looks like they may be an immigrant. The first time, there were reports of roadblocks and taking everyone who was an immigrant, regardless of their status. People were initially saying that dozens were being taken. That day, the majority of our immigrant workforce called in or left early out of fear. Later, the reporting was updated to reflect that ICE had a list of individuals they considered dangerous and were targeting those individuals. The final report showed that between 21 and 24 people were detained over a few days and they all had either active warrants, prior DUI convictions, or prior deportations. Since then, ICE has been in the area, but the attendance gets better each time as the workforce realizes that if you are legal and stay out of legal trouble, you likely will not have any issues.
It does seem that ICE has an impact on the labor pool. It seems that a lot of people are going back to their country of origin to avoid any real or perceived issues. A few immigrants I have spoken with have said they just are not sure if it’s worth it now, and they will return once it all calms down.
Mac Grimes: We haven’t seen any significant changes to applicants or our current labor so far. We’ve explained to our employees that we follow the law and will expect all parties to follow the law as well. We have business to do, so we’ve always protected our non-public, employee-only work spaces. This is no different today than it was 40 years ago. We’d expect this to be the standard for any employer.
Kevan Grinwis: Generally speaking, I’ve heard from some folks that the current crackdowns are creating a lot of tension and fear amongst their workforce. Some companies I’ve spoken to have leveraged corporate chaplains and other counselors to support their people through the difficulty and uncertainty.
Beatrice Vasquez: People are afraid, deeply concerned for all of their well-being. There is a lot of changes happening especially within Hispanic-dominated communities. People don’t go out as much, not supporting restaurants, stores, theaters, etc. There is a lot of uncertainty for sure.
