This summer I am interning at The J.M. Smucker Co., and something that has been stressed before I was even hired is the importance of its company culture. As soon as I arrived on campus, its company culture was shared with me as “something you can’t describe” and that’s entirely accurate. This company has an unmatched culture. It is filled with kind individuals all striving for the same goal: success. As an intern, I feel respected, cared about and feel comfortable reaching out for help when I need it. In my experience, all employees feel that way, the comfortable environment has been instrumental in my success as an intern.
Having this experience as my first interning experience has ingrained in me the importance of a company’s culture on its employee’s happiness. Company culture is going to be one of the top reasons I choose a company going forward. I can’t imagine being in a job where respect and the importance of community aren’t expressed the way The J.M. Smucker Co. expresses them. I believe all employees deserve to feel that the work they are doing is important, respected and that their personal life is also respected.
All of the leaders I have spoken to say a big reason they chose the company is the respect for their personal lives that the company has. A small thing that creates a huge moral shift is half-day Fridays. During the summer and winter months, employees are only required to work four and a half days a week. Employees are encouraged to leave at 12:30 p.m. on Friday afternoons. To me, that showcases respect for the company’s employees and their families. When you respect an employee as a whole human individual you create a happier and more productive work environment.
Experiencing a good work environment first-hand is something special that I didn’t expect to experience so early in my career. The J.M. Smucker Co. is notorious for their wonderful company culture and I encourage anyone entering the workforce or currently in the workforce to seek that out. Your quality of life matters just as much during work as it does outside of work.
Maxwell Burton is a junior studying journalism strategic communications and pursuing a minor in environmental geoscience at Ohio University. He serves as the Executive Vice President for Scripps PRSSA. Connect with him on LinkedIn here.