Welch's – “Weak CEO and Senior Leaders”

Pros

CPG company just outside Boston, MA.
Half-day Fridays in the summer and winter hours.
Well-known consumer brand with a larger brand name than sales (although beware that the current CEO and leadership team does not know how to rectify).

Cons

Welch's is a small company (<200 HQs employees and <$800M) that has NONE of the positive traits of a small company (nimble, innovative, collaborative, decisive) and MOST/ALL of the negative qualities of a large company (slow, hierarchical, risk-adverse). The CEO and senior leadership team does not have a vision or corporate strategies to guide the rest of the company and they are indecisive when teams ask for approvals to invest, launch, etc. In addition, the CEO does not have a charismatic leadership style that engages and inspires employees to follow him. Employees do not believe that the CEO is leading the company towards greatness or even, at the very least, growth! Welch's is a "family-farmer owned" company but the culture is anything but family-friendly. The CEO has no interest in transforming the Welch's culture into a family-oriented company, let along a great place to work.

Advice to Senior Management

Develop a vision for the company and corporate strategies that can cascade throughout the company. You appear to be expecting the strategies to come from the bottom up. Care about your employees as much as you care about the growers. When you recognize employees who simply "manage up" rather than getting their work done and leading teams effectively, you are sending a message that the "do-ers" will not succeed at Welch's. Do you really want to reward people who say what you want to hear and regurgitate what others have already said, not new ideas or what is the truth of the current business situation?