Johnsonville

How do you handle difficult conversations? Steve is our Sr. Director of Learning & Culture and shares the four steps he uses in thinking through tough choices, on this Being at Work podcast with HRD* | A Leadership Development Company. He shares his strategy for initiating difficult conversations and his personal journey in shifting from a victim mentality to taking ownership. Listen to Steve and podcast host @ here: https://lnkd.in/gv7b2wGf. #BeingAtWork #Podcast #JVLWay #Leadership

It was smelling great around here when seven teams of Johnsonville interns and co-op members competed in a sausage-making contest to see whose sausage flavor would be crowned the best. The teams donned their frocks and gloves to craft their specialty sausages within our technical center. Each team received 10 pounds of pre-salted pork and then began grinding the meat, mixing ingredients, stuffing the sausages, grilling and presenting their final product. Johnsonville intern Trevor said their Old Fashioned-Flavored Sausage (which took 2nd place) developed nicely after the team made a “big, old fashioned and let it simmer in a pot to thicken into a syrup.” The teams presented their creations to a panel of six judges from the company’s R&D department, describing their flavor and what sparked the idea. The judges sampled each, and awarded points for originality and creativity, appearance, cooking performance, flavor, texture and Johnsonville fit. The winning flavor was Teriyaki Egg Roll, featuring teriyaki sausage in an egg roll, stuffed with pad thai noodles. Other sausage varieties were: Cinn-fully Sweet Breakfast Brat; Greek Freak; Blue Moon-Flavored Sausage; Al Pastor; and the BBQ Bacon Mac. NOTE: The sausage created for this internal contest was produced in a testing facility and not made for public consumption. #NationalInternDay #SummerInterns #JVLWay

There was plenty to celebrate recently as part of a local "Illuminating Project" that put the spotlight on 34 Johnsonville Members and the company's culture. The Illuminating Project, LLC founder, Juliane Troicki, Ph.D. , recently presented Johnsonville with the first "Illuminating Award for Excellence in Employee Appreciation." She established the award to recognize companies for creating a strong culture that focuses on their employee’s development and well-being. Troicki presented the award after being inspired while interviewing 34 Johnsonville female Members as part of the "Illuminating Women Project" that Johnsonville sponsored, to shine a light on female leaders in the community and workplaces.  Johnsonville Owner and Chairwoman Shelly Stayer sponsored the Illuminating Women Project at the company because "this was a great opportunity to say, ‘thank you,’ in a meaningful way to these unsung heroes who are making an impact not only in our family-owned company but also in the meat industry and in their communities.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/dw2knkkN #IlluminatingProject #inspiringwomen #companyculture #appreciation #JVLWay Photography By Studio L

We have a hall-of-famer amongst Johnsonvillle! Congratulations goes to Johnsonville’s over-the-road driver Kirk Phillips, who’s been a Johnsonville Member since 1981 and has accumulated 3.1 million miles without an accident, injury or moving violation! His impressive record and safety accomplishments were recognized by the National Private Truck Council Driver Hall of Fame during their annual conference. He was one of just four drivers who are inducted annually. To qualify, a driver must have driven 3 million+ miles, 20 years or 50,000 hours of consecutive driving without a preventable accident. Read more: https://lnkd.in/getPWpwy #JVLWay #OTR #HOF #Safety

In honor of #PositiveMediaDay we're sharing this nonprofit’s story from Greenville, SC, which is beyond positive, as is the great work they’re doing to promote and educate what it means to be kind and inclusive to children with disabilities. Check out their story that was featured on the Today Show and how we’re supporting their programming. https://lnkd.in/gZmeCMhA #PositiveMediaDay #KindOfTheUpstate #Kindness

Anyone else recognizing Positive Media Day tomorrow (June 22)? Yep, it’s real. So, we published an ad in today’s New York Times edition to bring attention to it and invite others to chime in. Why? Because: ✅ 89% of Americans wish social media was less negative.* ✅ 92% of Americans say seeing people do good things for one another makes them want to do good things for someone else.* Our plan is to post and promote content on social media (with real ad dollars) that’s “more outreach & less outrage.” Please join us! Anyone who has positive content – or comes across it elsewhere – please post it, share it, like it. And tag it with: #KeepTheInternetJuicy. Who’s in?!? *Source: The Harris Poll #PositiveMediaDay #KeepTheInternetJuicy #SeeGoodDoGood #JVLWay

Creating - and sustaining - a standout company culture requires commitment and effort across many areas. Our very own Steve Sorenson shares his personal and professional perspective on how leaders can cultivate that positive employee experience.

We give a shout-out to our youth apprentices who are about to graduate from high school, while also getting a jump-start on potential career options by working in our maintenance departments at two of our plants in Sheboygan Falls.   Kamron and Jack are Sheboygan North High School seniors building skills such as metalworking, troubleshooting, time management, preventative maintenance and working as a team. Kamron works second shift at our Countryside facility and will pursue a mechanical engineering degree after graduation. “I'd welcome an opportunity to stay with Johnsonville’s maintenance team because this environment is so friendly, helpful and cooperative.” He says the apprentice program is the perfect experience for students who may be unsure what career options exist in a technical industry. Jack works on a first-shift maintenance team at our Riverside plant, learning and helping the other maintenance team members on a variety of daily tasks and equipment repairs. He’ll apply all this learning as he also plans to attend college and earn a mechanical engineering degree. Our apprentice program gives interested students real-world work experience (and a paycheck!) as they consider different career opportunities in manufacturing and other technical fields. It’s available to eligible high school juniors and seniors. https://lnkd.in/dFJGbYaX Sheboygan Area School District #YouthApprenticeWeek #LearnForLife

The thanks below👇 goes to our thoughtful Members, who nominated Let's Ketchup to receive donations through the annual Johnsonville Member Giving Drive - that supported 20+ nonprofits. Our Momence Members recognized the need and impact that this nonprofit does in the community where they live and work, and nominated Let's Ketchup for Johnsonville to make a financial donation to as part of our annual Member Giving Drive. The donation helped Let's Ketchup in their quest to address food insecurity and nutrition among students and reduce the negative impact those challenges can have on a student's academic success and well-being. #ThankYouJohnsonvilleMembers #CommunityService #volunteer

Several Johnsonville Members used their Service Time Off hours (STO) to help design a new bedroom for a Jordan, a local teenage boy battling cancer. This project is one of many that the nonprofit Special Spaces organizes for dozens of local kids, to help make their dream bedroom a place of comfort as they fight the disease. Johnsonville Members joined a crew from KLEIBER Construction to create a custom, upholstered headboard as part of a dream bedroom makeover for Jordan. #JVLWay #Volunteer #VTO #SpecialSpaces