Hershey’s Sweet Mission
The Hershey Company is the number one chocolate and non- chocolate confectionary manufacturer in North America (www.datamonitor.com). Founded in 1894 by Milton Hershey, the Hershey Company has managed to withstand the ever changing economy and manage its workforce in a way that has resulted in extreme success.
Companies often undergo organizational restructure as a means to keep up with today’s shifting workforce and in an effort to attract and maintain the best talent. Especially in the United States, which is now being considered the world’s melting pot, the workforce is becoming much more diverse and great effort is required to address these changes.
This paper discusses recommendations for the redesign of Hershey’s performance management system in order to appeal to its diverse workforce. Also discussed is how an employee would interpret the Hershey Company’s values in relation to their role. Workforce trends will be examined and how they could impact Hershey. Finally, the mentoring program that Hershey has implemented will be discussed along with the effects that this program has on integrating the culture at the Hershey Company.
Recommend the redesign of Hershey’s performance manageir ment system to appeal to the diverse groups that it employs. A performance management system is a system put into place that makes certain that the employees’ outputs and activities align with the goals of the company or organization (Noe et al, 2011). Hershey’s current performance management system caters more so to the younger generation of workforce that it hires. It satisfies their desire for autonomy, challenge and results. Each employee in the company sets goals and monitor and manages their progress attaining the set goals. Also measured is if the goals are met in respect to the Hershey Company’s core values. This type of performance management system seems to be working for the company. The new millennia workers are the future of the workforce. However, a concern is that it is set in place to appeal to the younger generations. Some type of system needs to be set in place that will appeal to the aging generation as well. The baby-boomers are generally retiring later in life so therefore are staying in the workforce a lot longer than in previous generations. The baby boomers are said to be concerned more with leaving a legacy.
There is a mentoring program in place at Hershey that pairs more experience workers with the newly hired workers. This is a good strategy because working together in a team environment can produce a good mix- you have the employees that want to make an impact on the work and create a legacy and then you have the employees that want a challenge and are results oriented. Working together can be the ultimate success for the company. Ideas and information can be exchanged and there will be more cohesiveness. Even though there will be a generational gap between the age of the workers, both groups can work together and their combined outputs will contribute to the overall goals of the company. Also another suggestion is to implement a rewards system. It is safe to say that an employee wants recognition for jobs well done no matter what diverse group they belong to. It is important to address and acknowledge team and individual inputs.

If you were a Hershey’s employee, analyze how you would interpret the values that Hershey embraces in relation to your role. The Hershey Company has developed a mission and four values communicated to their employees in a way that is direct, clear and hopefully through an employee’s eyes- empowering. According to Hershey’s company website, their values are::
• We are open to possibilities by embracing diversity, seeking new approaches and striving for continuous improvement.
• We are growing together by sharing knowledge and unwrapping human potential in an environment of mutual respect.
• We are making a difference by leading with integrity and determination to have a positive impact on everything we do.
• We are one Hershey, winning together while accepting individual responsibility for out results.

As an employee of Hershey, these values would speak volumes to me as far as what ultimately my goals and objectives are. There is a high standard of responsibility, trust, integrity and accountability. Overall, if I were an employee at Hershey, I would experience some sense of empowerment because those statements are so profound. It would make me feel as if my contributions were important, appreciated and needed. This is what an employee should feel about their careers or jobs- overall satisfaction.
In terms of trends identified in this chapter, describe which one may impact Hershey the most. One trend that was discussed in Chapter 2 that may impact Hershey the most is the aging workforce (Noe et al, 2011) . It was discussed previously in this paper that the Baby-Boomers that are employed with Hershey are among the aging workforce. They are concerned with leaving a legacy. This generation of workers would be the group that would receive and apply the Hershey values to their work. This could be one of the reasons that Hershey implemented the mentoring program so that the more experienced workers can share some of their knowledge, expertise and interpretation of company values with the younger generations. What will happen when these baby boomers retire, who will be there to leave the legacy? Will the culture of Hershey change? If Hershey’s entire workforce population changed and there was a shift in the age demographics, will the values, cultures and environment change at Hershey?
It is important to consider this possibility because the millennia workers that are being groomed today may not be there tomorrow. Millennia workers many times are not concerned with longevity as some of these baby boomers were when they first entered the workforce. As bigger and better opportunities present itself for millennia workers, they are more willing to expand and therefore may switch jobs more often (Samuelson, 2005).
Describe the effects on mentoring could have on integrating values into the Hershey culture. Mentoring can have a positive effect on integrating values into the Hershey culture because aged or more experienced workers have mastered the skill set and have the Hershey values already instilled in them. They understand the values and how embracing and applying values to their careers contribute to the common good of the company. By mentoring, the aged workers can share this and imbed the same company values into the new generation causing the values to travel with them throughout their careers.
When they become more experienced workers, they will in turn, mentor the newly workers coming into Hershey and be responsible for sharing the same values and expertise that were taught to them. This causes the values of the organization to live on in future generation workers.

Conclusion
In closing, the performance management system at Hershey seems to be working for them. It appeals to the millennia workers which are the future workforce. However, human resource professionals employed with Hershey should look into incorporating a performance management system to appeal to all groups. Incorporating more teamwork initiatives would be a suggestion. This way there would be a uniform system in place for all employees. Hershey’s values can be interpreted by each employee for any type of role in the company they have. Accountability, social responsibility, integrity and growth can be achieved by following these core values. The aging workforce can have a major impact on the Hershey Company as a whole because as the older generation workers are retiring, it will be questioned whether they have enough of the core values instilled in workforce to continue its legacy. Lastly, the mentoring program seems to be a major positive impact because you have the older generation workforce working together to mold the millennia workers to continue the legacy.