Baking & Snack - August 2016 - 12

Getting it right

Good help is hard to find ... quite the understatement,
isn't it?
For the past few years, whenever we asked bakers about
where they'll find the next crop of talent, nine times out
of 10, the answer has been, "That's a really good question."
For years, the industry has been struggling with filling its
positions and retaining its workforce. However, most managers have been caught up in figuring out how to deal with
millennials rather than strategizing on how to build their
talent pool.
Maybe, just maybe, the industry has been looking at talent through the wrong lens. Perhaps it's not really about
generations; perhaps it's more about the baking industry
changing its paradigm. If you need proof, look no further
than Clif Bar & Company. It's turning the old-school business mentality about staffing on its head.
Through five aspirations - sustaining the planet,
people, business, brands and community - the Clif
Bar model created a whole new way of thinking
about business and food manufacturing. "You do
have to be profitable," said Jen Freitas, director of
people, learning and engagement for Clif Bar.
"We need to have our profit to fuel everything
we're doing across the aspirations."
And believe me, they're doing a lot. Editorial
Director Dan Malovany and I recently had
the privilege of visiting Clif Bar's corporate
headquarters in Emeryville, CA, and its first fromthe-ground-up bakery plant in Twin Falls, ID. The
culture of the five bottom lines is everywhere from health
and wellness centers, to the Clif Corps Wall where it tracks
community service, to the sustainable building design.

EDITORIAL
Editorial Director
Dan Malovany
Executive Editor
Laurie Gorton
Editor/Managing Editor
Joanie Spencer
Senior Editor
Charlotte Atchley
Multimedia Editor
Matt Hamer
Contributing Editors:
Donna Berry
Theresa Cogswell
Jim Kline
Joe Stout
DESIGN
Design Services Manager
Sadowna Conarroe
Associate Design Services Manager Ryan Alcantara
Designer
Brian Peterman
Manager of Advertising Design
Becky White
Classified Ad Layout
Nick Martens

Anyone who walks into the plant - be it a visitor,
bakery worker, front office employee or the plant's general
manager - immediately feels what the bakery is all about.
Just inside the facility's only entrance, the aspirations are
etched unmistakably into five illuminated wood pillars.
Clif Bar's commitment to making these aspirations
measurable aspects of the bottom line also makes the
company an attractive employer. Despite the fact that
the Twin Falls area has just a 3.7% unemployment
rate, Clif Bar received 6,000 applications before the
facility even opened. And the home office started
getting job inquiries almost immediately after making
the announcement about the new bakery. "We got
bombarded with questions about where to apply, and we
didn't even have job descriptions, yet," Ms. Freitas said.
This speaks more to the business model than to
millennials. After all, when Clif Bar owners, Gary
Erickson and Kit Crawford, first established the five
aspirations, the millennials were just a bunch of kids.
These two simply felt it was the right thing to do.
The workforce won't stop changing, so the baking
industry will have to keep up. The American Bakers'
Association and the American Society of Baking last year
commissioned Cypress Research Associates to conduct
a Workforce Gap Study; the results are in, and you can
read about some other companies who are getting it right,
as well as find out more specific workforce issues facing
the industry in "Bridging the Gap" on Page 21. And find
out exactly what is setting Clif Bar ahead of the rest in
"Breaking Away" on Page 30.

PUBLISHING
Publisher
Paul Lattan
Associate Publisher
Steve Berne
Audience Development Director Michael Barbee
Director of E-Business
Jon Hall
Advertising Manager
Nora Wages
Ad Materials Coordinator
Erica Reyes
Digital Systems Analyst
Marj Potts
Circulation Manager
Whitney Hartman
Director of Online Advertising & Promotions
Carrie Fluegge
Promotions Marketing Manager
Jim White

Joanie Spencer, editor/managing editor
jspencer@sosland.com

CORPORATE
Chairman and CEO
Charles S. Sosland
President
L. Joshua Sosland
Chief Financial Officer
Staci Greco
Director of Publishing
G. Michael Gude

Editorial and Midwest Sales Office
4801 Main St., Suite 650, Kansas City, MO 64112 / Phone: (816) 756-1000; Fax: (816) 756-0494
E-mail: BakingSnack@sosland.com / Internet: www.bakingandsnack.com

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Baking & Snack - August 2016

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