H. J. Heinz Company (NYSE: HNZ), commonly known as Heinz and famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan and its ketchup, is an American food company with world headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Perhaps best known for its ketchup, the H.J. Heinz Company manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six continents and markets these products in more than 200 countries and territories. Heinz ranked first in ketchup in the United States with a market share in excess of 50%. Moreover, its Ore-Ida label held more than 50% of the frozen-potato sector. Overall, the company claims to have 150 number one or number two brands worldwide.
Heinz believes that diversity and inclusion improve corporate performance, increase innovation and reduce turnover while improving retention and employee morale. We believe that diversity is vital to attract world-class talent and remain competitive in a global economy.
The Heinz Inclusion Council is a cross-functional team of employees from World Headquarters and Heinz North America Headquarters that meets quarterly to lead, coordinate and monitor Heinz’s strategic diversity management process. The Council’s mission is to create an inclusive culture to attract, develop and retain superior talent and leverage diversity to improve Heinz’s culture, image, employee satisfaction and business results.
In addition to acting as stewards of Heinz’s diversity mission and goals, Council members work cross-functionally in the areas of Education and Training, Talent Recruitment, Supplier Diversity, Work Practices and Communications in order to continually reinforce the Company’s commitment to create a competitive advantage through diversity and inclusio
The Council’s goals are:
Reflect diversity in our workforce
Educate and train all Heinz employees on the value of diversity
Provide management tools that allow employees to fully participate and contribute
Improve employee satisfaction
Increase supplier diversity as a percent of total spend
Build diversity awareness at Heinz through outreach and partnerships
Employee Resource Groups
Employee Resource Groups support a culture of inclusion through the creative and collaborative efforts of Heinz. Three Heinz Resource Groups have been created to enable our diverse employees to network together, to create awareness about their cultures and to also provide consultation regarding company practices and campaigns. Additional groups are currently being developed.
The three established Resource Groups are:
Black Employee Resource Group (BERG)
Global Organization for the Advancement of Leadership
of Women (GOAL)
Heinz Organization for Latino/Hispanic Advancement (HOLA)
To raise awareness and educate employees about the importance of diversity in our workforce, Heinz began a Diversity Awareness Training Program in Fiscal Year 2008. More than 2,100 salaried employees (95% of our salaried workforce in the U.S.) have completed the training. During the next two fiscal years, we plan to enhance our diversity curriculum and integrate diversity training into the Heinz Academy for all new hires and U.S. hourly employees.
Take the case as wholly proven - or as near to complete proof as management theory allows. The next step, having accepted that customer retention is the vital statistic of any business, is to discover the second mechanism. What drives the customer's satisfaction? The answer will be no secret to readers of Thinking Managers. The solution lies with the employees. Everybody 'knows' that a satisfied worker creates a satisfied customer and higher financial returns: and that, by the same token, disgruntled staff lead to customer dissatisfaction. But the evidence for this truism has been largely anecdotal
Laura Stein serves as senior vice president – general counsel of The Clorox Company with responsibility for the company's worldwide legal, ethics and compliance, corporate secretary, corporate communications, crisis management, risk management and internal audit matters. Stein serves on the Clorox executive committee, chairs the Clorox women's employee resource group, and co-sponsors the company's social responsibility and enterprise risk management programs, among other responsibilities. She works closely with Clorox's board of directors on governance matters.
Previously, Stein was senior vice president – general counsel of the H.J. Heinz Company, a member of the Heinz senior management committee, a director of the H.J. Heinz Company Foundation and president of the Heinz women's group, among other responsibilities. Prior to joining Heinz, Stein was assistant general counsel – regulatory affairs at Clorox, and before that was a corporate lawyer with Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco and Hong Kong.
Stein is a director of Franklin Resources, Inc. (a global investment organization known as Franklin Templeton Investments), and was previously a director of Nash Finch Company. Stein is co-chair of the Corporate Pro Bono Advisory Board. She is on the board of Equal Justice Works and the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. She is a member of the American Law Institute, the Association of General Counsel and the ACC Value Challenge Steering Committee. She is special advisor to the ABA Asia Rule of Law Initiative and serves on the ABA CEELI Council. Stein participates in the Diversity and Flexibility Connection of the Project for Attorney Retention. Previously, Stein was chair of the Association of Corporate Counsel, the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence and the ABA Asia Rule of Law Initiative; vice-chair of the East Bay Community Law Center; co-chair of the General Counsel Committee of the ABA Business Law Section; and a director of Global Education Partnership, the ABA Rule of Law Initiative and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. She previously also served on the advisory boards of ABA DirectWomen, the ABA Center for Human Rights, and the LexMundi Foundation, and on the State Bar of California Task Force on Lawyer Support for Legal Services and the ABA Section of International Law Council. Stein received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, and is a graduate of Dartmouth College where she earned an undergraduate and master's degrees.
Stein has received the Legal Momentum Women of Achievement Award, the Sandra Day O'Connor Board Excellence Award, the Ted Craig Humanitarian Award and the Corporate Board Member America's Top General Counsel Recognition Award. The National Law Journal has named Stein as one of the 20 most influential general counsel in America. The Harvard Law Bulletin has highlighted Stein as one of 50 alumnae who "have used their law degree to take them to extraordinary places." She has been named one of the Bay Area's Most Influential Women in Business by the San Francisco Business Times and was previously named one of Pennsylvania's Best Women in Business by Pennsylvania's Governor. Stein speaks six languages and has lived in China and Italy. She and her husband Mark Conrad are the proud parents of Amanda and Christopher.
Heinz offers a wide range of employee benefits that protect the health, wealth and talent of our Company. Comprehensive health care benefits, retirement programs, insurance, flextime, training programs, life coaching and tuition assistance are offered to Heinz employees. On January 1, 2009, Heinz enhanced its maternity/paternity benefits for U.S. salaried employees beyond the federal Family Medical Leave Act, which offers 12 weeks unpaid leave for employees. New mothers who are Heinz employees now receive up to six weeks of paid leave while fathers receive one week. Parents of newly adopted children receive benefits too – up to three full weeks of paid leave. In Australia, employees may purchase an additional four weeks annual leave.
Benefits
Each Heinz facility around the world provides employee benefits unique to their location. In Australia, the UK and Ireland, more than 300 employees have taken advantage of Learning Bitez training seminars led by Senior Managers. The program was launched in January 2009 and in just five months, 34 sessions were held, covering topics such as Time Management, Can Manufacturing, Presentation Skills and more.
In China, Heinz employees may participate in weekly training programs that help familiarize them with other Company departments and functions. In the UK, a national discount program for Heinz employees was rolled out in response to the findings of an employee survey. A money-saving childcare voucher system also was unveiled to UK employees for those who enroll in the program.
In Venezuela, the Life Project focuses on preventing employee consumption of alcohol, tobacco and drugs. The program provides each employee with advice and tools to develop a preventive attitude about these unhealthy habits. In Fiscal Years 2008 and 2009, 327 Venezuelan employees participated in prevention seminars and self-esteem workshops.
Perhaps best known for its ketchup, the H.J. Heinz Company manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six continents and markets these products in more than 200 countries and territories. Heinz ranked first in ketchup in the United States with a market share in excess of 50%. Moreover, its Ore-Ida label held more than 50% of the frozen-potato sector. Overall, the company claims to have 150 number one or number two brands worldwide.
Heinz believes that diversity and inclusion improve corporate performance, increase innovation and reduce turnover while improving retention and employee morale. We believe that diversity is vital to attract world-class talent and remain competitive in a global economy.
The Heinz Inclusion Council is a cross-functional team of employees from World Headquarters and Heinz North America Headquarters that meets quarterly to lead, coordinate and monitor Heinz’s strategic diversity management process. The Council’s mission is to create an inclusive culture to attract, develop and retain superior talent and leverage diversity to improve Heinz’s culture, image, employee satisfaction and business results.
In addition to acting as stewards of Heinz’s diversity mission and goals, Council members work cross-functionally in the areas of Education and Training, Talent Recruitment, Supplier Diversity, Work Practices and Communications in order to continually reinforce the Company’s commitment to create a competitive advantage through diversity and inclusio
The Council’s goals are:
Reflect diversity in our workforce
Educate and train all Heinz employees on the value of diversity
Provide management tools that allow employees to fully participate and contribute
Improve employee satisfaction
Increase supplier diversity as a percent of total spend
Build diversity awareness at Heinz through outreach and partnerships
Employee Resource Groups
Employee Resource Groups support a culture of inclusion through the creative and collaborative efforts of Heinz. Three Heinz Resource Groups have been created to enable our diverse employees to network together, to create awareness about their cultures and to also provide consultation regarding company practices and campaigns. Additional groups are currently being developed.
The three established Resource Groups are:
Black Employee Resource Group (BERG)
Global Organization for the Advancement of Leadership
of Women (GOAL)
Heinz Organization for Latino/Hispanic Advancement (HOLA)
To raise awareness and educate employees about the importance of diversity in our workforce, Heinz began a Diversity Awareness Training Program in Fiscal Year 2008. More than 2,100 salaried employees (95% of our salaried workforce in the U.S.) have completed the training. During the next two fiscal years, we plan to enhance our diversity curriculum and integrate diversity training into the Heinz Academy for all new hires and U.S. hourly employees.
Take the case as wholly proven - or as near to complete proof as management theory allows. The next step, having accepted that customer retention is the vital statistic of any business, is to discover the second mechanism. What drives the customer's satisfaction? The answer will be no secret to readers of Thinking Managers. The solution lies with the employees. Everybody 'knows' that a satisfied worker creates a satisfied customer and higher financial returns: and that, by the same token, disgruntled staff lead to customer dissatisfaction. But the evidence for this truism has been largely anecdotal
Laura Stein serves as senior vice president – general counsel of The Clorox Company with responsibility for the company's worldwide legal, ethics and compliance, corporate secretary, corporate communications, crisis management, risk management and internal audit matters. Stein serves on the Clorox executive committee, chairs the Clorox women's employee resource group, and co-sponsors the company's social responsibility and enterprise risk management programs, among other responsibilities. She works closely with Clorox's board of directors on governance matters.
Previously, Stein was senior vice president – general counsel of the H.J. Heinz Company, a member of the Heinz senior management committee, a director of the H.J. Heinz Company Foundation and president of the Heinz women's group, among other responsibilities. Prior to joining Heinz, Stein was assistant general counsel – regulatory affairs at Clorox, and before that was a corporate lawyer with Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco and Hong Kong.
Stein is a director of Franklin Resources, Inc. (a global investment organization known as Franklin Templeton Investments), and was previously a director of Nash Finch Company. Stein is co-chair of the Corporate Pro Bono Advisory Board. She is on the board of Equal Justice Works and the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. She is a member of the American Law Institute, the Association of General Counsel and the ACC Value Challenge Steering Committee. She is special advisor to the ABA Asia Rule of Law Initiative and serves on the ABA CEELI Council. Stein participates in the Diversity and Flexibility Connection of the Project for Attorney Retention. Previously, Stein was chair of the Association of Corporate Counsel, the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence and the ABA Asia Rule of Law Initiative; vice-chair of the East Bay Community Law Center; co-chair of the General Counsel Committee of the ABA Business Law Section; and a director of Global Education Partnership, the ABA Rule of Law Initiative and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. She previously also served on the advisory boards of ABA DirectWomen, the ABA Center for Human Rights, and the LexMundi Foundation, and on the State Bar of California Task Force on Lawyer Support for Legal Services and the ABA Section of International Law Council. Stein received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, and is a graduate of Dartmouth College where she earned an undergraduate and master's degrees.
Stein has received the Legal Momentum Women of Achievement Award, the Sandra Day O'Connor Board Excellence Award, the Ted Craig Humanitarian Award and the Corporate Board Member America's Top General Counsel Recognition Award. The National Law Journal has named Stein as one of the 20 most influential general counsel in America. The Harvard Law Bulletin has highlighted Stein as one of 50 alumnae who "have used their law degree to take them to extraordinary places." She has been named one of the Bay Area's Most Influential Women in Business by the San Francisco Business Times and was previously named one of Pennsylvania's Best Women in Business by Pennsylvania's Governor. Stein speaks six languages and has lived in China and Italy. She and her husband Mark Conrad are the proud parents of Amanda and Christopher.
Heinz offers a wide range of employee benefits that protect the health, wealth and talent of our Company. Comprehensive health care benefits, retirement programs, insurance, flextime, training programs, life coaching and tuition assistance are offered to Heinz employees. On January 1, 2009, Heinz enhanced its maternity/paternity benefits for U.S. salaried employees beyond the federal Family Medical Leave Act, which offers 12 weeks unpaid leave for employees. New mothers who are Heinz employees now receive up to six weeks of paid leave while fathers receive one week. Parents of newly adopted children receive benefits too – up to three full weeks of paid leave. In Australia, employees may purchase an additional four weeks annual leave.
Benefits
Each Heinz facility around the world provides employee benefits unique to their location. In Australia, the UK and Ireland, more than 300 employees have taken advantage of Learning Bitez training seminars led by Senior Managers. The program was launched in January 2009 and in just five months, 34 sessions were held, covering topics such as Time Management, Can Manufacturing, Presentation Skills and more.
In China, Heinz employees may participate in weekly training programs that help familiarize them with other Company departments and functions. In the UK, a national discount program for Heinz employees was rolled out in response to the findings of an employee survey. A money-saving childcare voucher system also was unveiled to UK employees for those who enroll in the program.
In Venezuela, the Life Project focuses on preventing employee consumption of alcohol, tobacco and drugs. The program provides each employee with advice and tools to develop a preventive attitude about these unhealthy habits. In Fiscal Years 2008 and 2009, 327 Venezuelan employees participated in prevention seminars and self-esteem workshops.