General Mills Enters Second Year with HireVeterans.com

At General Mills, diversity is a key business strategy.

By Randy Miller

At General Mills, diversity is a key business strategy. The diversity of their work force gives them a competitive global advantage. It allows them to better understand and communicate with diverse consumers. They use this knowledge to their advantage when creating and marketing their products. “We are proud of our association with HireVeterans.com and invite all US Veteran men and women to our family” says Human Resource manager Jennifer Peterson. .

Their strong focus on innovation necessitates an equally strong focus on diversity. They believe, as studies indicate, that diverse teams create more and better solutions. Diversity helps them stay ahead of their competitors through growth and innovation.

The diversity of their work force encompasses a mixture of differences and similarities that include gender, race, nationality, education, sexual orientation, working style, expertise and a wide array of other characteristics and backgrounds that make each person unique. General Mills strives to not only accept and be comfortable with individual differences, but to leverage those unique capabilities and perspectives to help them fuel their growth.

They have received many awards and recognitions throughout the years and it illustrates their commitment as being a “company of champions.”

2010

• 100 Best Companies to Work For (No. 90), Fortune magazine

2009

• Global Top Companies for Leaders (No. 3), Fortune
• 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers, Working Mother magazine
• 100 Top Greenest Big Companies in America, Newsweek magazine
• Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility
• 50 Best Companies for Latinas, LATINA Style magazine
• Best Place to Launch a Career (No. 12), BusinessWeek magazine
• 40 Best Companies for Diversity – Black Enterprise Magazine
• Best Places to Work in IT (No. 1), Computerworld
• Best Companies for Multicultural Women, Working Mother magazine
• Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles, National Business Group on Health
• Top 10 in National Corporate Reputation Survey (No. 8), Harris Interactive

Employee Networks

General Mills’ Employee Networks provide a supportive, positive forum for developing, sharing, and exchanging information and ideas. They support their strategic work force objectives by:

• Attracting and retaining a highly talented diverse work force.
• Creating and maintaining an inclusive work force environment.
• Providing a voice to their leadership regarding barriers and opportunities.
• Providing a support system and forum for exchanging information and ideas.

Corporate Mentoring

Research indicates that informal mentoring relationships can be difficult to establish for minorities in corporate America. Their Corporate Mentoring Program helps to formally connect new minority employees with senior-level mentors in the company. Their employees are exposed to different parts of the company, leading to greater connections established throughout the organization.

Co-Mentoring

The Co-Mentoring Pilot Program pairs minority and female director-level and above employees with the top management of their company. Their program is designed to promote a cross-functional, two-way learning exchange and dialogue between the two partners, who serve as both mentor and mentee within the relationship. Their program generates a broader awareness of gender and racial issues at the most senior levels of the company.

Flexible Work Schedules

General Mills is committed to providing employees with a progressive work environment that encourages innovation and productivity. Their work/life benefits team is in place to assess what they need to consider on behalf of their employees. Flexible work arrangements are a matter of individual work redesign — a different and better way of working, designed to enhance performance or quality standards and to allow individuals greater control of how their work gets done. Due to the individual nature of flexible work arrangements, these will vary from location to location and person to person.

Success Stories

“The diversity and the quality of all of those who I have worked with inspire me to become even better, and to accomplish even more. It is this same spirit that has allowed me and this company to extend ourselves and give more not only to each other, but to give back and invest in our communities. We all can contribute to the future of General Mills.”

— Chuck, Vice President, Research and Development

“Over the course of my career with General Mills, I have had incredible opportunities to build my skills and grow as a leader. I’ve been given challenging assignments and also have always felt supported within the organization, both personally and professionally. I think I have met with success in my career because I am very internally motivated to achieve excellence, and this is valued in our culture. My leadership style is very collaborative, which also works well within our culture, where teamwork is integral to the way we do business.”

“I have a deep commitment to the community, so to work for a company where community service is a way of life is a privilege and in total alignment with my values. When I first signed on with the company, I never imagined that I would still be here 14 years later. But at this point, I feel that if the company can provide me with challenging growth experiences, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

–Kim, Marketing President

General Mills is proud to offer their jobs to the Veteran community and challenge all of you to visit their career page on the HireVeterans.com job board, find that career that fits your life, and apply. They welcome you to their family.

To View all available careers for General Mills click here JOBS AT GENERAL MILLS

Visit the General Mills Career page GeneralMills/Careers

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