Helping to guarantee the success of every new employee is what we do here at Harlan

New jobs can be hard.  When you take a new job, it is often because you are looking to improve.  More money, better opportunities, better benefits.  Maybe you are looking to get promoted and move up faster.  There are lots of reasons to take a new job.

But do you know the number one reason people leave new jobs in the first month?

It is because they don't feel welcome. That is why 4 out of 5 new employees leave.  They don't feel welcome, they feel excluded, they don't feel safe and they feel alone and frustrated.

This is usually because the culture of the organization doesn't value how employees feel and what is important to them.

That is not the case at Harlan.  Not only do we value our employees, we work hard as a team to ensure that our new employees thrive and succeed right out of the gate.

 

Our Harlan Food Manufacturing Professionals all receive specialized certifications under our S.A.F.E. program, which stands for Standards Based, Accountability Driven, Food Excellence.

These employees aren't just incentivized to work with new employees.  They WANT to!  Team members work together to support new employees, helping them over their first 90 days learn their job, make friends and learn what they need to know in order to pass their S.A.F.E. AFP certification.

When new employees achieve their AFP, their graduation is a small celebration for everyone.  The employee who just passed their AFP at that 90 day period gets a raise and a promotion.  Their mentors also receive a bonus for their work in helping the new employee getting their AFP certification.

Mentoring has rapidly become part of Harlan Food's culture.  We love the feeling of helping our team members succeed.  In fact mentoring is part of our company mission.  We have 3 Mission Pillars:  Integrity, Quality & Customer Service.  'HELP OTHERS SUCCEED' is part of our Integrity Pillar.  We have learned that when we do this, everyone succeeds.

Take a look at a small example of some of our mentoring activities.  This is what we do to help each other succeed, remain safe and have fun at work every single day.

If this is something you'd like to learn more about, just click here to get to our Fast Track Application.

 

 

Does Workplace Culture Matter?

Does a positive workplace culture matter?

It's pretty simple really.  Yes.

You can determine if your workplace has a good culture by asking yourself a few simple questions.

If you answered 'no' to any of these questions, then your workplace might not have the best culture.  And, if any of these things are important to you, you might want to look for a new job.

Why?  Today, you can find a job pretty much anywhere you want.  You can always find a place to make money.  You can't get the time you waste in a dead end job back though.  Never waste your time in a dead end job with an employer that doesn't care about you.  Never.  You are worth more.

Building a positive culture takes time and isn't easy, especially when there are a lot of employees who are from diverse backgrounds.  The thing you want to look for in an employer is are they committed to constantly improving culture along with business performance?

The team at Harlan Foods realizes how important a positive culture and workplace is.  We have launched a number of programs designed to grow and expand the well-being of our team of Food Professionals.  Yes, we call our employees 'Food Professional' because that is what they are.  Each week, we feed 1 in 10 Americans with safe, nutritious and delicious food.  Only professionals can do that.

For 2023, our mission is to link our mission of feeding American families with our S.A.F.E. program and a positive, healthy culture which fosters personal growth and team unity.

Here are some of the programs we have launched for our team's well-being and success:

In the first half of 2023, we are launching even more programs designed to improve the welfare, happiness and satisfaction of our team.  They are our greatest asset.  As a family run company, our commitment to this cause is in part why 20% of our workforce has been with us ten years or more.

We'd thought we would share a few pictures of a day at Harlan.  If you like what you see and are looking for a better opportunity, then give us an opportunity to share with you what Harlan is all about.

It pays to be S.A.F.E.

Meet Destiny.  Destiny has been with Harlan for over 5 years and works at our Irvington, Indiana facility.  Destiny recently was promoted to a Champion Level Mentor where she works with new employees, who are called 'Apprentices' to ensure they are successful during their 90 day food manufacturing internship.

After the first two weeks of paid, on the job training, every single Apprentice is assigned their own Mentor, like Destiny.  The Mentor's primary role is to help Apprentices be successful and find happiness in what they are doing as they learn their new roles.

After successfully completing the Mentorship program, Apprentices are able to earn their AFP certification as soon as 90 days from when they are hired.  When an Apprentice achieves their AFP certification, they receive an IMMEDIATE pay increase!

How does this make our employees feel?  Here is Johnson after he received his AFP certification.  He looks pretty happy!

As a Mentor, Destiny can earn $500 for each Apprentice she works during their 90-day Mentorship program.  That can add up to a $6,000 in bonus pay each year!

Destiny recently shared, "I love helping my Apprentice team mates become happy and successful here.  It's very rewarding to me to be able to work with them each day and see them grow in their new roles.  When I am able to help them graduate and achieve their AFP Certification, it is so worth it.  They get a very important industry certification for free and a pay increase to go along with it!  What's not to love about that?!"

Click on Destiny's picture or click here to hear more about Destiny's role as a Harlan Mentor and how making more money doing that has made her even happier here at Harlan.

Being a mentor is open to all Harlan employees who have been with the company for a year and have passed both their AFP Certification as well as their Champion Mentor Certification.

What would you do this holiday season if you knew you'd be making up to an additional $6,000 per year just by helping others?

 

Job satisfaction is as much about growing as a professional as pay (but both are important)

Love what you do.  Do what you Love.

Often employees gather for safety meetings or to prepare for achieving the day’s performance goals.  Typically, these meetings are led by a supervisor or a team lead.

While our supervisors and team leads are seasoned and committed leaders, we often find time to stop and celebrate the positive growth of team members.  Each day, like other manufacturers we gather to start our day in a team huddle.  Unlike most other manufacturers and distribution facilities, it’s our team, not our supervisors who are responsible for completing our S.A.F.E. Team Activity Boards.  Each team has direct control of what it will do for the day.

We call ourselves Food Professionals for a reason.  We take what we do very seriously.  Each week, the products that Harlan Foods creates feeds nearly 33,000,000 people across the U.S.

The reason there are so many happy faces is because our teams are truly teams and this is what makes them as a group and individually successful.

In our team huddles, part of the work we engage in daily is the professional advancement and improvement of each Food Professional as well as recognition of a job well done. Yesterday, some of our team took a moment to do that and we thought we’d share that moment with you.

We are a close-knit group who are proud of what we do and who we work with on a daily basis.

If you like what you see or if our approach sounds like something you would like to be a part of, or even know a little more about, then reach out and set up a time for us to meet and allow us to introduce ourselves to you.

Click here to get started!

What does Job Satisfaction really mean?

Satisfaction.

sat·is·fac·tion

noun

“The fulfillment of wishes, expectations, or needs, or the pleasure derived from this.”

Shouldn’t the time you spend at work make you satisfied?

The rest of the world is stressful enough.  Going to your job should be something you enjoy.  You look forward to.  It should be something you are proud of doing.  Shouldn’t it be doing something worthwhile?  Shouldn’t you go home each day, safe, satisfied and fulfilled?

Mission based work…

There are lots of just jobs.  Plenty of them.  They are promoted on semi trucks, billboards and busses.  Sorting boxes filled with online orders is a job, no matter how it is presented.

Feeding families who rely on what you make, for breakfast time.  For family dinners.  For birthday parties and family celebrations.  That is mission-based work.

All things being equal, wouldn’t you rather get well compensated for doing something that really matters?

If you answered ‘yes’, then you are just a little different from everyone else who is just looking for a job.  You are special and, you matter to us.

Someone who helps to feed families across America is important and should be invested in.  That’s what we do at Harlan Foods.  We find people who matter, we invest in them, and turn them into Certified Food Manufacturing Professionals who each day feed 1 in 10 Americans.

When you become a Certified Food Professional, work is no longer work.  It is fun.  It is fulfilling.  It is rewarding.  These are things that all our Food Manufacturing Professionals deserve-fun, fulfilling and rewarding roles they and their families can be proud of and pay and benefit packages that allow them to live the lives they want.

If mission-based work, solid pay, performance bonuses, free healthcare, free training and professional certifications, upward mobility, a stable and positive work environment, and job to interest and skill matching are important to you, schedule a face to face or a phone interview and see what Harlan Foods has to offer you.

Click here to see what satisfying, mission-based work looks like here with us.

Get started on a more rewarding journey today as part of our team of Food Manufacturing Professionals.