Developing Leaders

Our Management Approach

Our team members have the opportunity to receive leadership training through many programs. Our leadership programs are tailored to the needs of each business unit with communication across units to share best practices and results.

Internship Program

The Internship Program gives college students an opportunity to gain practical industry experience and develop extensive leadership skills. This 10-week summer internship challenges approximately 150 participants through hands-on learning experiences and meaningful projects that improve our business and provide education and valuable workplace experience.

Interns are placed in either a production or corporate business unit role where they learn from experienced leaders who offer them industry exposure and networking opportunities with senior management. Not only are our internships paid positions, but the program also allows students to receive college credits.

Management Trainee Program

Recent college graduates looking to pursue their passion for building a career in the animal protein industry can apply to our Management Trainee Program. This 12-month rotational program is designed for those ready to excel in our technical, cultural and leader-based work environments. Customizable rotations allow trainees to grow their project management, problem-solving and collaboration skills in line with their own interests and career aspirations. Each year, we onboard nearly 100 JBS USA trainees from the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The orientation curriculum empowers trainees to strive for individual success while contributing to JBS USA operations.

Mexico Trainee Program

The Mexico Trainee Program is designed to create a pipeline of recent college graduates from Mexico who will develop into future operations leaders. This 12-month rotational leadership development program is an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in multiple areas of a facility giving and an in-depth understanding of how pieces of our business work together. The first six months of the training program are spent in Mexico at a Pilgrim’s processing facility. The last six months are spent in the U.S. with the intention of trainees being placed in a leadership role at that facility. Throughout the 12 months, trainees go through three leadership development training sessions to prepare them for an accelerated career.

Supervisor Development Program

Our Supervisor Development Program was created to identify hourly production team members who possess leadership abilities and to develop those team members into frontline supervisors with the potential for continued advancement. The Supervisor Development Program is designed to invest in driven, passionate and results-oriented team members by giving them the tools they need to accelerate their careers within JBS USA. The program includes four months of rotational training in a JBS USA facility, leadership skills training and the opportunity to meet with and learn from other leaders across the company. The program totals more than 150 team members.

Leadership Warehouse Program

At JBS USA, our goal is to create a culture that yields sustained excellence. Our Leadership Warehouse works to motivate team members to do their part in the continuation of JBS USA’s culture. The Leadership Warehouse Program outlines six different leadership development offerings, providing education opportunities to different levels of leadership. We provide team members with access to programs that further their leadership abilities and propels JBS USA closer to its mission. Each of the Leadership Warehouse development programs are designed and facilitated internally allowing us to offer culturally relevant and company-oriented leadership solutions.

• Gateway
  The Gateway Executive Leadership program is built for senior and executive leaders who have been identified as potential business presidents and future executive leaders within the company. The program is a part of the JBS USA’s broader talent mapping (succession planning) process to ensure readiness and increased capabilities within our highest level leadership roles. The program is focused primarily on technical, strategic business functions and provides participants with the opportunity to master these core business areas prior to moving into broader, executive leadership roles.
• Summit
  Summit is built for senior leaders who are interested in continued learning and growth. The program is open to all JBS USA business units and brings together 25 nominated, high-potential leaders for yearlong education. The Summit introduces nominees to business concepts by partnering with executive sponsors and local business leaders to solve real-world problems occurring at local facilities. With exposure to our operations in the U.S., Australia and Brazil, Summit participants gain business knowledge from every unit of the company.
• People First
  The People First Program creates a success framework for our frontline supervisors, mid-level managers and corporate managers. The program provides specific training to all frontline supervisors in four sessions throughout the year, focusing on leadership techniques and tools that build, maintain and uplift our teams. Program topics include building trust and respect, the cost of turnover, accountability, delegation and prioritization, communication and information sharing. To empower our team members, we identify and train internal team members to become facilitators of the People First Program.
• Leadership Fundamentals 1.0 
  Leadership Fundamentals 1.0 is our new manager training program designed for recently promoted or hired team members coming from outside the company. The one-day program is offered eight times throughout the year, giving new leaders exposure to JBS USA’s Values, Mission and Beliefs, while also offering basic leadership skills such as effective team communication, delegation and performance management. This program is a pre-requisite for the more advanced Leadership Fundamentals 2.0 program.
• Leadership Fundamentals 2.0
  Leadership Fundamentals 2.0 is a weeklong leadership development education program designed to guide mid-level managers in three leadership categories: Self, Others and Process. The Strategic Leadership program builds on the groundwork that mid-management leaders have honed, pushing their knowledge and experience even further. Much of the practical items taught are adapted from the JBS USA culture, but the overall focus of the program is to develop competent and inspiring leaders.
• Development Workshops
  Development Workshops are designed for salary non-exempt and hourly team members in supporting corporate roles to meet their growing personal and professional needs. This past year, we offered more than 500 hours in development workshop trainings and plan to develop additional content and more training hours in 2020.
• Power Hour
  We created Power Hour development workshops in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As team members and leaders began working through uncertain conditions and unprecedented change, we provided a quick, weekly, one-hour program to bring everybody together. The Power Hour workshops provided training and tools training and tools for managing stress, working through change, leading remote teams and a variety of pandemic related, just-in-time content.

Individual Development

JBS USA also offers full tuition sponsorship for a wide array of coursework through our 10-year partnership with Colorado State University. This partnership includes executive MBA, online MBA, graduate certificate, professional certificate and online agribusiness degree completion programs.

University of Pilgrim’s, Mexico

University of Pilgrim’s is a training and leadership program designed to benefit all levels of team members. To date, we have been able to help more than 275 team members develop personally and professionally and obtain their High School Degree.

Moy Park Accelerate Future Leaders Program

The Accelerate Future Leaders program supports the development of our future senior leaders in the business by focusing on effectiveness, influence and awareness to better lead our teams to “Be the Best.”

Pilgrim’s UK Operational Leadership Trainee Program

The Pilgrim’s UK Operational Leadership Trainee Program was created in 2019 to identify internal and external early career talent, such as recent graduates or apprentices, who have the potential to become future operational leaders. It is a 24-month rotational program whereby trainees spend six-month placements at various UK facilities working on key operational projects.

Pilgrim’s UK Apprenticeships

The Pilgrim’s UK apprenticeship program supports and develop colleagues by combining on and off-the-job learning to improve knowledge, skills and behaviors. Currently, colleagues are enrolled in apprenticeships across a wide range of disciplines including finance, project management, HR, food science and management. Our apprenticeships range from entry-level to MBA degrees.

JBS Australia

Senior Leaders

JBS Australia offers tailored leadership development opportunities for company executives and senior leadership. Offerings include the JBS USA Summit Program, Executive MBA programs, post-graduate individual placements, executive coaching and international secondments.

Next Generation Leaders

For senior leaders aspiring to executive roles within JBS Australia, development opportunities include an eight-month Next Generation Leaders course delivered annually in partnership with the Queensland University of Technology, the JBS USA Summit Program, and individual coaching and rotations.

Senior Supervisors

The JBS Australia Impact leadership development program prepares those at the senior supervisor level for a role as 2IC, plant manager or an equivalent support function. The program combines residential experience with active learning in the workplace in the form of structured mentoring from nominated senior leaders.

People First Program

JBS Australia debuted its People First Program in 2019. Modeled on the JBS USA People First, the program supports team members transitioning from an hourly role to a salaried position by giving them foundational leadership and management skills.

At JBS USA, our programs create a culture of excellence and result in strong retention of graduates and high job satisfaction among seasoned team members. In 2020, we experienced success across all leadership and development programs.

Each of our talent initiatives yielded impressive results in 2020:

• A record $31 million investment in leadership training and development
• A record 429,000 hours of virtual and in-person leadership training and development programming
• Our talent initiatives are garnering more and more attention worldwide, with applicants to our programs exceeding 12,000 in 2020
• Our 2020 JBS USA Internship Program grew to 125 interns, and we maintained our strong intern conversion rates into full-time team members as either JBS USA trainees or direct hires
• Our 2020 JBS USA Management Trainee Program on-boarded 80 trainees and enjoyed a 80% retention rate
• In 2020, we graduated more than 75% of our 2019 JBS USA trainees into management roles at the superintendent level and above
• Our 2020 Supervisor Development Program had a 80% retention rate and enjoyed turnover 10% below the average for managers at the same level elsewhere in the company
• In 2020, we provided approximately 170,000 hours of training through University of Pilgrim’s Mexico and University of Pilgrim’s US.
• Pilgrim’s Mexico assisted more than 275 team members with obtaining their High School degree
• Pilgrim’s Moy Park trained 28 people through their Accelerate program
• Pilgrim’s UK enrolled two inaugural trainees through their Operational Leadership Trainee program and enrolled 128 team members in their apprenticeship program
• 15 JBS Australia team member leaders completed the inaugural Next Generation Leaders program in 2020
• In 2020, 25 senior supervisors completed the JBS Australia Impact leadership development program
• We provided academic services for:
• 25 undergraduate degrees in agribusiness
• 25 online MBAs
• Even more aggressive MBA participation and overall formal education figures budgeted for in 2020

Looking ahead, we are excited about and committed to supporting the growth of our interns, trainees and team members as they start or continue their careers in the food industry.

We are proud of our results and will continue to look for ways to strengthen all our team member engagement programs and efforts in 2021.