Associate Retention

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Associate Retention

• Shearers - North Coast 99 winners, 9 years in a
  row!

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Todays Agenda

• Introduction The Shearers Story
• External challenges demographics
• Retention as a fully integrated process
• Strategy
• gt Recruiting Selection
• gt On-Boarding, Training, and Development
• gt Compensation Benefits
• gt Communication cycle

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The Shearers StoryThe growth of a
quality-oriented and values centric organization
through a traditional, entrepreneurial spirit
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Current Situation Best of Shearers Culture

• History of growth, culture of success,
  identification with a fun brand!
• Flexible work force - people are somewhat
  accustomed to change
• Senior leadership has a reputation of caring
  about people

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Shearers is the 1 Regional Potato Chip Brand in
Northeast Ohio

• Shearers remains the 1 regional brand in NE
  Ohio with a 10 market share (2 Overall)
• Shearers is 3.7 ahead of the next regional
  competitor (Snyders of Berlin).
• Shearer's 11.5 oz Classic Home-style is the 1
  regional potato chip product and ranks 3 of all
  potato chips.
• Shearers average unit sales price is 2.17 a
  premium of .31/lb over Lays.

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Shearers is the 1 Kettle Cooked PotatoChip in
Northeast Ohio!

• Shearers Kettle Cooked Potato Chips command the
  market!
• Five flavors hold the individual product rankings
  of 1,2,4,5 6!
• 3rd place is Private Label.

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Shearers is the 1 Regional Tortilla Chip Brand
in Northeast Ohio

• Shearers is the 1 regional brand in NE Ohio
  with a 6.3 market share.
• Shearers holds the top 5 sales spots among all
  regional brands!

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New Products / Great Flavors
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Marketing, Growth, and Values
                                     
   Shearer's supports a healthy, active
lifestyle for our consumers. Healthy lifestyles
begin with healthy choices, and eating in
moderation is the key to smart snacking. Staying
energetic and active completes the recipe for a
happy, healthy lifestyle. Fuel your celebrations
with the great taste of Shearer's Snack Foods! We
want to be a part of your family's fun, and our
tasty snacks are a perfect companion to bring to
a picnic or get-together. When the snack is
over...Let the games begin!
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Shearers People
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Shearer's Announces Plans to Build New
Manufacturing Plant in Massillon
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
On April 8, 2008, Shearers Foods, Inc.
officially announced their plans to build the
first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment
Design) Gold Certified food manufacturing plant
in the State of Ohio. Chief Executive Officer Bob
Shearer and the Shearers Management Team were
joined by local, state and national officials
including Lt. Governor Lee Fisher and Congressman
Ralph Regula, when making the announcement at the
Shearers corporate headquarters in Brewster,
Ohio.
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Retention Is an Integrated Process

• Retention is an integrated process that
  encompasses every facet of the organizations
  human capital plan, from recruiting, selection,
  on-boarding, compensation, development, and
  culture.
• There is no single, magic solution

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Disclaimer.

• At Shearers we manage three very distinct groups
  of associates
• Traditional salaried professionals
• Manufacturing and distribution hourly
• Commissioned, field sales
• So, as we go through specific action items, keep
  in mind that the action or strategy may not apply
  to all three

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Social, demographic, and job-related challenges

• Many of these are related to the demands of a 24
  / 7 operations schedule, including child care
  dilemmas, lack of public transportation, single
  parenthood, and generational issues
• Low cost manufacturing high volume, fast-paced
  jobs - learning curve and assimilation issues

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Retention Needs to be a fully integrated process
On Boarding
Employment Experience
Selection Hiring

• Match People / Jobs
• Formal assessment tools
• Job try-outs

• Customized orientation
• Training development

• Policy and communication
• Work life balance
• Comp and Benefits

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Recruiting and Selection

• Find the best, keep the best

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Recruiting and Selection

• Match the person with the job

• Tactical Aspects
• Essential duties
• Physical demands
• can they do the job?

• Behavioral-based Interview and selection
• Employment background
• Education
• Specific skills

• Underlying Success
• Profile
• Demands and
• stressors
• do they have the
• desire to do the job?

• Personality Work Style Preferences
• Motivational attributes
• Interpersonal style

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Recruiting and Selection

• Many traditional approaches to interviewing and
  selection focus on behavior-based techniques that
  emphasize the candidates overall fit with the
  tactical dimensions of the position do they
  have the ability to do the job?
• Understanding some underlying motivational and
  interpersonal attributes will help to predict if
  the candidate will be successful in the long run
  do they have a desire to do the job?

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Shearers Advanced Hiring System

• In 2007 we partnered with Scitrain to develop an
  automated selection tool that would assess how
  the candidate matches with both the tactical and
  underlying job demands. Elements included
• A validation study with current Shearers
  associates
• Development of a critical success profile
• Development of a continuously improving
  self-learning tool
• Electronic link and record-keeping

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Validation and Study

• 100 Shearers associates participated
• Accumulated historical and behavioral data from
  each associate (they completed their own
  assessment)
• Cross-referenced with supervisor evaluations of
  each associate
• Developed a profile of the ideal candidate

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Validation Process
Current associates take assessment test.
Cross-referenced against supervisor appraisal.
stratifies or rates the current population
First draft stratification is developed which
reflects the assessment of applicants Scored
from 0 - 145
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Self-Learning Functionality
First draft stratification is developed which
reflects the assessment of applicants Scored
from 0 - 145
Candidate performance data collected at
interview and post-hire compared to first
draft stratification
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Self-Learning Functionality
New Hire Performance
Interview Results
Candidate Assessment Ranking Profile (updated)
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Shearers Advanced Hiring System Part 2

• Job Try-Outs
• After a candidate is identified using the
  pre-selection assessment tool, they are invited
  to the facility to observe and perform some
  aspect of the job.
• This gives the interviewer an opportunity to
  observe the applicant in the real work situation.
• More importantly, it gives the applicant a chance
  to experience what the job is really like.

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On-Boarding, Training, Development

• Give new and current associates the tools they
  need to be successful, and facilitate their
  ongoing growth and development

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On-Boarding

• Formal, 1-day Orientation Session
• Small group, bonding with other new hires
  cross-functionally (ALL new associates
  participate)
• Cover benefits, policy, safety..
• Training
• Formal / classroom setting basic production
  detail (code dates, systems, packaging
  configurations, quality and safety parameters)
  that they will need when they go on the floor
• On-the-job experience try their new skills

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Training and Development

• A culture that fosters associates to develop to
  their full potential..
• Open job-posting system
• Merit and performance-based selection criteria
• Specific, skill-based wage progressions (hourly
  associates)
• Tuition reimbursement
• Appropriate mix of technology

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Compensation and Benefits

• Provide our associates with a total rewards
  package that is attractive, competitive,
  balanced, and is performance / merit oriented

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Comp Benefits - Objectives

• Offer compensation programs that are competitive
  in the market and reward associates for
  performance and results.
• Provide associates and their families with
  affordable, comprehensive healthcare.
• Provide associates and their families with a wide
  range of optional benefits to support their
  specific needs.
• Help associates to plan for the future through
  retirement planning.
• Achieve a culture of health and wellness.
• Support and foster work-life balance and personal
  development.
• Enhance retention, performance, and associate
  relations.
• Support a culture of continuous improvement.

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Compensation

• All Shearers associates participate in a
  performance-based bonus program that aligns
  achievement of critical business factors with
  financial reward.
• Associates are divided into bonus groups, so that
  the their individual bonus is based upon the
  critical business factor over which they have the
  most control.
• We have identified seven critical business
  factors that are used in the bonus plan.

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Bonus Program
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Comprehensive Benefits -

• Basic health, dental, vision, 401k, life, and
  other optional benefits
• Wellness
• Work life balance

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Basic Benefits

• Healthcare, dental, vision, 401k, optional
  benefits
• What do we do differently? - Affordability
• Compared to benchmark averages at the
  family-level of coverage
• A Shearers associate contributes about 22
  of the total cost of their healthcare, compared
  to a benchmark average of 31
• A Shearers associate contributes about 130
  less per month for this level of coverage

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A Culture of Wellness

• Through a partnership with Nationwide Better
  Health / Wellcorp, we offer a formal wellness
  program including
• On-site Health Risk Assessment
• Biometric data (cholesterol, blood sugar,
  etc) lifestyle data (exercise, smoking,
  weight)
• Customized and detailed individual health status
  report
• Lifestyle Health Coaching
• Up to 15 individual sessions with experts
  in a particular field (exercise, diet, general
  health)

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A Culture of Wellness

• In addition to these formal programs, we have
  created a daily culture of wellness. Examples
• A message of moderation and balance in our own
  product marketing
• Healthy snacks served at Company functions
• Programs such as weight loss challenge,
  sponsorship of a local 5k run, baseball and
  basketball leagues

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Work Life Balance

• Through an integration of policy, culture, and
  senior management reinforcement, foster an
  environment that values the individual, supports
  their development, and respects their needs.

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Work Life Balance

• Short term wage continuation
• Maternity / Paternity leave
• Adoption benefits
• Caring and Sharing
• Volunteer day / community service

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Maternity / Paternity

• Birth of a Child
• Mothers Continue the normal salary of a new
  mother during the period of time that their
  physician has disabled them due to their own
  medical condition, before and after the birth of
  the child
• Fathers one week off with pay immediately
  following the birth of a child

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Adoption Benefits

• Up to four weeks off with pay for associates who
  are in the process of adopting a child, for the
  following reasons
• Travel to and from the location in which the
  adoption is occurring.
• Requirements to attend hearings, or other legal
  and / or administrative proceedings related to
  the adoption.
• Time to care for the child following the adoption
  taking place.
• Reimbursement of up to 5,000 to defer medical,
  legal, and travel expenses related to the
  adoption.

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Caring and Sharing

• Our award-winning, associate-managed program to
  help those in our own community of associates.
• Fundraising accomplished via fun events
• A steering committee considers applications from
  current associates who are in financial hardship,
  makes grants based on their need

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Vacation and other paid time off

• Associates begin their eligibility for vacation
  as early as ninety days after hire, and total
  vacation allowance goes up to four weeks for more
  senior associates.
• Associates are eligible for from one to six paid
  person days, based upon their years of service.
• To enhance their flexibility with regard to
  associates, the Company allows its associates to
  take vacation time in single day increments.
• And, an associate is permitted to use 2 vacation
  day per year on an emergency (unscheduled) basis.

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Communications

• Drive a consistent message across all groups in
  the organization that reinforces corporate
  culture, values, and alignment between individual
  performance and key business measures

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Communication Cycle

• Daily pre-shift huddles
• Monthly shift meetings
• Monthly birthday lunches
• Monthly management meetings
• Associate of the month
• Quarterly state of the company meetings
• Annual associate recognition dinner

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Huddles

• Prior to the start of each shift, the shift
  supervisor meets with the group on the factory
  floor, reviewing
• Objectives and priorities for the day
• Transition issues from the previous shift
• Special quality or safety issues
• End with motivational quote and team cheer!

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Monthly Shift Meetings

• On a monthly basis, the manufacturing and
  distribution associates are presented with the
  following topics in an hour-long meeting
• Business performance, emphasizing the tie-in to
  their bonus metrics
• Overall business update sales, new customers,
  consumer issues
• Quality update
• Safety update
• Policy update / HR issues

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Monthly Birthday Lunches

• Hosted by the President of the Company and VP of
  HR, all associates who have a birthday occurring
  that month attend a luncheon celebration.
• These are done on shift
• Associates from all positions, levels in the
  organization are included
• Informal chance for two-way communication
  regarding the business, and an opportunity to
  voice questions and concerns
• And we serve healthy snacks!

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Monthly Manager Meetings

• Scorecard Recap critical business measures
• Consumer / customer updates
• Current challenges
• Bonus outlook

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State of the Company Meetings

• Facilitated by the Company President, this is a
  review of the business for the most recent
  quarter, including
• Sales, customer, and product recaps
• Operational issues quality, efficiency, safety
• Human capital issues
• Community update
• Every associate attends or has virtual access to
  this meeting

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Questions?