Staff Development

Mentoring Program
JBS developed its Mentoring Program to strengthen engagement across the company and maximize employees’ potential. A mentoring work group comprising JBS staff members from various projects, locations, and levels in the company conducted a comprehensive exploration of the literature on mentoring, met with other JBS staff members to obtain input, and received feedback from the Officers and HR. The work group applied what it learned from all these sources to develop the overall structure and guidelines for the JBS Mentoring Program.

The Mentoring Program supports mentor and protégé partnerships and endeavors to make the mentoring process rewarding. Mentors use their experiences to help protégés develop unique talents and strengths and identify opportunities for applying these assets within JBS. Mentors inspire and guide protégés toward career advancement and fulfillment by providing feedback on job performance, professional relationships, technical information, and role expectations. Through mentors’ guidance, protégés improve performance, increase self-confidence, and gain insight into positioning and presenting themselves in ways that enhance professional development.

Training Opportunities
JBS employees are talented and capable—the best in the field across the board. We recognize, however, that each employee needs continual opportunities to grow. JBS offers employees cross-training and skill development training, tuition reimbursement for degree programs and for non-degree/non-certification courses relevant to an individual’s professional position, and corporate contributions to professional memberships that promote staff growth.

We have also established a staff development work group that explores and plans internal staff development opportunities, including in-service training, guided and self-directed Web-based tutorials, and other activities to enhance knowledge, skills, and abilities. The primary goal of the work group is to ensure that employees have learning opportunities to strengthen their knowledge base and professionalism. The work group also seeks to create chances for personal growth and to improve communication and camaraderie.

Brown bag sessions, prepared and presented by employees, are frequently held on a variety of topics. Presentations are designed to enhance discussions among employees, share information and expertise, and support collaboration. Viewable from various locations via Webinars, these presentations are posted on the employee-only extranet.

In addition, JBS sponsors an Issues Briefings Series featuring invited experts who make presentations on current and emerging social challenges. We also post these sessions to the extranet.