Cathy Penrod has been in the contingent staff augmentation space for more than two decades and currently manages the high-volume light industrial contingent labor program for Menasha Packaging as the director of workforce management.

Recently, Penrod played a crucial role in facilitating dashboards into the program, which drove supplier and site compliance, enabling Menasha Packaging, a subsidiary of Menasha Corp., to provide a high-level view of the overall performance. “The designed dashboards have created an understanding of our true labor costs and creative ideas to retain, and they identified suppliers who can excel within the Menasha program,” she says.

With the company’s CW program growing amid the Covid-19 crisis, Menasha Packaging quickly adapted to the evolving scenario, helping workers overcome their reluctance to work in person by implementing all necessary pandemic safety measures. “A few days were challenging because the workforce was nervous, but we put all the additional safety measurements in place to ensure they were comfortable coming to work.”

Penrod believes the CW space is ever-evolving, where the success of an organization lies in working together as a team to create a unified workplace experience. “If we set our suppliers up for success, then we will earn success. If not, then it’s challenging to hold them accountable,” she notes. “How can we hold them accountable if we’re positioning them into a place that’s not successful?”