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Episode chapters
00:00 | Intro: Culture, Retention, and Data at Kimray
02:08 | Why Kimray Leads With Culture in Every Decision
04:00 | Recovery-Friendly Workplaces and Community Impact
05:14 | The Culture Fit Interview Comes First
06:31 | Why Employees Stay: 3.5% Voluntary Turnover
07:45 | Pay Transparency and Career Pathing on the Frontline
09:38 | Building a Flexible, Cross-Skilled Workforce
10:46 | Retention Through Recognition and Tribal Knowledge
12:30 | Competing for Talent in a Tough Labor Market
13:48 | From Culture to Data: Linking HR to Business Value
14:31 | Real-Time Turnover + Engagement Insights with HRBench
19:52 | How Data Access Changed the HR Team’s Mindset
21:49 | Expanding Access to the C-Suite and VP Level
24:23 | Ending Advice: Tell the Story Behind the Numbers
Show summary
How Kimray Connects Culture, Compensation, and HR Data to Drive Retention
What happens when a 75-year-old manufacturing company leads with culture — and backs it up with real-time workforce data?
In this episode of Pulse by HRBench, Kevin Trowbridge, Director of Compensation at Kimray, walks us through how his team built a flexible workforce, structured compensation to encourage internal mobility, and used people analytics to tie HR strategy to business outcomes.
All without hiring a full analytics team.
Why Culture Is the First Interview
At Kimray, culture isn’t a slide in the onboarding deck — it’s the first filter in every decision, including hiring.
“Our interview process starts with a culture fit,” Kevin explains. “We believe character and competence lead to consistency — and if someone has the right character, we can teach the rest.”
This values-first approach extends beyond hiring. Kimray’s mission — “to better the lives of those we serve” — is reflected in every program, policy, and leadership decision.
One example: Kimray was recently recognized as a recovery-friendly workplace. Employees going through rehabilitation aren’t penalized. Instead, the company partners with recovery centers and provides resources to help employees return to work with dignity.
“That’s just one of the ways our leaders put culture into action,” Kevin says. “We don’t do anything without asking how it impacts our people.”
3.5% Voluntary Turnover — and Why People Stay
That culture-first mindset isn’t just a feel-good initiative — it has real business outcomes.
“Our voluntary turnover is around 3.5%,” Kevin shares. “People come here, and they don’t leave willingly. We take care of them with pay, benefits, and a workplace that really feels like a family.”
And it’s not just long-time employees. Younger generations — those often considered more likely to job-hop — are also staying put.
“We have folks in their twenties who’ve already been here 10 years,” Kevin says. “They started at 18 and don’t want to go anywhere else. They feel like they’re growing, and they’re part of something bigger.”
Compensation That Encourages Growth
One of Kevin’s first major projects at Kimray was to implement job families and career leveling — especially for frontline employees.
“There were folks doing complex work who had never had a formal path to grow or increase their pay,” he explains. “We built out a structure that connected learning and upskilling directly to compensation.”
The results were immediate.
“We had seven or eight people level up in just the first few months,” Kevin says. “When people saw they were one certification away from a raise, it sparked motivation. A dollar an hour is huge when you’re making $18–$20.”
This system also created a more flexible workforce. Assemblers can work in warehousing, warehouse team members can train in assembly — giving managers more agility and employees more opportunity.
Retention as a Strategic Advantage
Low turnover and internal mobility don’t just benefit culture — they support business continuity.
“You can’t replace tribal knowledge overnight,” Kevin notes. “Our long-tenured employees are a huge asset. And when someone leaves, we’re not scrambling.”
In a competitive labor market, Kimray stands out.
“We’re in a city with other major manufacturers and Amazon warehouses. But we’re not losing people to them. Our environment, pay, and culture keep people here.”
Tying HR Strategy to EBITDA
Like many high-performing HR teams, Kimray’s initiatives are tied to EBITDA — the foundation for their company-wide bonus plans.
“We have to show how HR drives financial outcomes,” Kevin explains. “That’s where HRBench comes in.”
One of his favorite tools is HRBench’s Insights feature, which highlights patterns across engagement, turnover, and headcount in real time.
“We were able to connect low engagement scores with higher turnover,” Kevin says. “Then drill into the departments, understand what was happening, and equip those leaders with better guidance.”
Previously, their team spent hours building Tableau dashboards. Now, those dashboards are built and updated automatically in HRBench — freeing up time for deeper strategic analysis.
Making Better Policy Decisions with Better Data
One example: vacation policy.
“We were evaluating a shift to PTO buckets instead of separate vacation and sick leave,” Kevin says. “There was concern about people using all their time and then leaving.”
Thanks to HRBench, the team was able to quickly pull usage data across the first 30, 60, and 90 days of employment — and after anniversaries — to evaluate actual behavior before adjusting policy.
“It wasn’t rampant, but it helped us make a better decision,” Kevin says. “We didn’t have to guess. We had the time and the data to make the right call.”
From Manual Reports to Real-Time Access
In another case, the VP of HR asked for a full turnover report — by business unit and sub-department — for a leadership presentation.
“It took us 20 minutes to build it in HRBench,” Kevin shares. “Before, that would’ve been a two-hour project in Excel.”
Those time savings have allowed the team to focus on higher-value projects — like retirement forecasting, cross-skilling analysis, and usage trends that shape workforce planning.
Giving Access to the Whole Org
Importantly, Kevin and his team haven’t kept this data to themselves.
“We gave our HR team full access to HRBench,” Kevin says. “Even those who aren’t data-centric have found it intuitive and easy to use. It’s helped them feel empowered, not overwhelmed.”
Next up: access for the C-suite and VP-level leaders.
“Our goal is for execs to get the answers they need without having to go through five people,” he says. “If they want to see turnover trends or headcount in their business unit, they can just go in and get it.”
That level of visibility and autonomy, Kevin believes, will change the game.
Final Advice: Tell the Story Behind the Numbers
For HR leaders trying to connect culture to business outcomes, Kevin leaves us with this:
“Don’t be afraid of the data. Your job isn’t just to pull numbers. It’s to tell the story behind them. And when you can do that at the drop of a dime — it changes everything.”