The Goodness We Share

At Hershey, we are a snacking and confection leader, focused on growth, committed to helping the communities in which we work and do business prosper. In HR, we’re working hard to develop a remarkable workforce and a compelling workplace. On June 9, we published our latest Corporate Social Responsibility Report and I find myself feeling a renewed sense of pride for all the great things our 21,000 employees at Hershey have accomplished.

 Together our work resulted in several significant honors and recognition:

• Ranked #6 out of the top 500 U.S. companies in Newsweek's 2015 Green Rankings
• Named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America Index for a third straight year
• Listed as one of the "Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality" in the 2016 Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index 
• Earned the National Organization on Disability (NOD) Seal. The NOD is a private, non-profit organization which focuses on increasing     employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. View NOD’s video announcing the 27 winners. 
• Ranked #6 on Reputation Institute's List of Top Ten Most Reputable Companies (U.S.)
• Named as one of 100 Best Corporate Citizens by Corporate Responsibility magazine
• Listed as one of  2016 World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere Institute
• Named to Civic 50 list as one of America’s most community-minded companies

I’m proud of our leaders for fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace in which people are recognized for their outstanding contributions.

As we make strategic organizational shifts, our people embrace change and create an atmosphere that supports continuous improvement. Every day, I see people finding fresh ways to drive our business forward. We have found we are at our best when every Hershey employee knows how to find their path to personal, professional and company growth and success.  It’s a remarkable time for Hershey.  

We’re also focused on creating an “innovation everywhere” mind-set to improve ways of working and bring the new ideas that will move us forward. We continue to seek top-performing new talent to join our company and many of our human resources programs foster individual and team performance. We do this through training, coaching, feedback and professional development that helps people have meaningful and successful careers.

Like so many other progressive companies, we know that building a workplace that welcomes and respects a multitude of perspectives, will attract, develop and retain world-class talent and make us more competitive globally. This is why we established a goal to become an industry leader in diversity and inclusion by 2020.  Our commitment to diversity spans all levels of our organization, including at the management and executive levels.   

One of the best parts about working at Hershey is the collaboration and camaraderie. Our award-winning SMILES recognition program just celebrated its two year anniversary. Last year alone nearly 54,000 SMILES were shared allowing employees around the world to formally recognize our values in action.

There is so much more I could share, from our eight Hershey’s Business Resource Groups (BRGs), which serve as a way for leadership to be in ongoing dialogue with employees from different backgrounds and perspectives about topics such as professional and talent development, to our “Manufacturing Abilities First” program that provides jobs and skills development opportunities at Hershey for individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities. But, I’ll let you read more about it for yourself in our new CSR Report, if you’re interested.

Hershey is bringing goodness to the world every day, and it’s our people that make it happen. I encourage you to think about joining us if you’re up for being part of a team that works hard and has fun while making and sharing great-tasting snacks that put smiles on people’s faces around the world every day.