Hershey's Sweet Mission

Redesign of Hershey’s Performance Management System Hershey Company employs diverse groups of employees to include baby boomers and millennial workers. Hershey has redesigned their performance management system to appeal to both generations focusing on knowledge workers, employee empowerment and teamwork. Hershey Company benefits from both its baby boomers and millennial workers because they represent its knowledge workers. According to Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright (2011), “ Knowledge workers are employees whose main contribution to the organization is specialized knowledge, such as knowledge of customers, a process, or a profession” (p.35). Baby boomers and millennial workers’ specific knowledge is important to the successful operations of Hershey.
Hershey’s redesigned performance management system appeals to both generations in terms of employee empowerment. Hershey Company has a mentoring program in place where the baby boomers are paired with millennial workers to develop a professional relationship between the new millennial workers and the experienced baby boomers. In this mentoring program, baby boomers feel empowered because they are able to advise and guide the younger generation to Hershey’s corporate practices and processes by sharing their own experience and knowledge acquired from working at Hershey. Hershey challenges the younger generation with special projects to help them develop thinking skills and talent, which makes them feel involved and empowered to make decisions. Employee empowerment in both generations has a positive impact on the company as a whole.
Hershey’s redesigned performance management system focuses also on teamwork by encouraging baby boomers and millennial workers to work together in planning, organizing, and participating in corporate social responsibility activities and community events such as recycle or donation events. The redesign of Hershey’s performance management system will result in individual