Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1508599
PalletCentral • September-October 2023 21 In 1995, Zilhad made his first of many trips to the NWPCA annual meeting. "Meeting wonderful pallet veterans on my first trip in Orlando, Florida confirmed that this is really where I want to be and grow, professionally and personally," he says. "I remember these gentlemen made me and my wife feel welcome. I was this guy with broken English, and they were introducing me around and really made me feel accepted." In 1997, Atlanta Pallets and Services was sold to new ownership, and he was asked to stay on. Suddenly, the company was expanding, and Zilhad was growing as well within the company. In 1988, he earned a promotion to general manager. "I was eager to learn," he says. "It really doesn't matter how much experience and education you have. ere is always more to learn. Many of the things I know about business in U.S. was with help of the new owners. ey provided opportunities about not only pallets, but best practices in local communities and government, taxes – all kinds of things." "I also was able to visit customers with the sales manager where I learned sales techniques for the first time – how to create a relationship with the potential customer, make a sale, and then to retain that customer for a long time," he continues. "is is information that is often talked about in NWPCA meetings. So, really, my mentors were the current ownership, as well as our management team and even our employees, because I learn from everybody." Pallet Builder to President In 2017, Zilhad was promoted to be president when the previous one stepped back from the role. Zilhad is the decision- maker for the daily operations, with two owners updated frequently through him. "Being a smaller business, with a small staff of 70, I'm actively involved in production, processes, and the culture. I provide vision and goals to communicate that with our team, and certainly the leadership to achieve those goals and objectives." "When I said that I learned from our employees, I still do," he continues. "Starting from the bottom to now, all the employees and the management team watched me being in the middle of action all the time, learning, doing the work that they do. As a manager, I have been involved in office work as well, such as employee management and financial oversight. From getting pallets built, sold, and distributed on trucks to fixing piece of equipment, whether it's electrical or mechanical within my comfort zone, I believe that's the way I gained their respect and trust to be their leader." For those who aspire to transition from production to management, it's important that they have that open mind, and that others can see their team participation, Zilhad believes. Atlanta Pallets and Services has a hands-on approach to identify talent, and evaluate employee performance and attitude. "At the last NWPCA meeting, there was a lot of discussion about that," he says. "We may have an employee who is perfectly qualified and competent for job but has a bad attitude. How an employee performs in different scenarios, for example, is something that I look at. Our plant managers were promoted from within; they started as forklift drivers. It's better than bringing in an outsider and trying to educate them on our company culture. An outsider may be qualified, but we must balance to keeping employees engaged, and also find the most qualified candidate for a job. We evaluate an employee's performance, integrity, and loyalty – as a small company those values are very important to us." Caryn Smith serves as the editor and art director of PalletCentral. She is CEO of Driven By Design LLC, a communications agency specializing in association publications for over 20 years.