NORTH SIDE FOODS
Learning & Development Category
North Side Foods has evolved from a local meat provider located on the North Side of Pittsburgh to one of the highest quality pork providers in the United States. The company has grown and endured many changes over the past 99 years, but has always kept its people-oriented culture and recognizes that its people drive the business. Recently, North Side Foods realized a need for growth and refocus, which resulted in the creation of new positions and the addition of employees to support the strategic plan and the new direction of the company, including four Human Resources positions. The main challenge the new HR department faced was how to utilize its resources to develop the employees along with the changing organization, and more importantly, how to get the employees excited about the changes.
The initiative taken was inspired by the teachings of Dr. Rex Gatto, an Industrial Psychologist, and was driven by the Assistant VP of HR for North Side Foods. Through a series of programs and assessments, including the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, the Emotional Intelligence Quotient, a communications assessment and the Dale Carnegie Leadership and Training for Managers course, Dr. Gatto educated the employees on enhancing their daily interactions, understanding and managing themselves and their emotions at work and at home, understanding their own communications styles and identifying their leadership styles and methods to develop their leadership characteristics.
The results were demonstrated by the employee attitudes following this training initiative. Changing people’s attitudes and the culture of a company isn’t easy, but North Side Foods is meeting this organizational challenge. Where once, employees didn’t fully understand the value of training and development, Nord Side Foods now has a workforce that is requesting training! Through the various training projects, employees see how training content and materials directly relate to their positions, benefiting both personal and professional development. Today, employees seek out and readily participate in new and exciting training program initiatives. The overall change in employees’ attitudes from ‘why do I have to do this’ to requesting training and attending voluntary workshops has shown the success of this initiative for North Side Foods.
Company Bio:
Founded in 1909, North Side Foods is a family-operated company that boasts nearly a century of producing quality foods.
Today, as a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, North Side Foods provides top-quality pork sausage products to customers all over the country and the world. Still operated by the founding family, North Side Foods has operations in both Pennsylvania and Georgia and supplies a variety of fully-cooked sausage products to some of the biggest names in the foodservice industry.
Our patented, proprietary method of preparing sausage transformed the company from its earliest roots as a family butcher shop, to one of the nation’s leading foodservice provider. And, our commitment to safety, traceability and social responsibility are second to none.
Through the dedication of our employees and partners, and with the trust of our customers, North Side Foods has become a leader in the industry in providing a delicious, versatile and profitable product.
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