This past weekend marked the end of our second week of development as Ops Trainees with Kraft Heinz. It was a particularly exciting week as we had the chance to visit plants in both Iowa and Wisconsin. We spent two days at each production facility receiving one-on-one insights from plant management and hourly employees. This experience was incredibly valuable as we received so much advice that will undoubtedly be put use in our respective plants.
An added benefit of being on the road for a week with your peers is the opportunity for forming great working relationships and personal friendships. Hours spent travelling, shared meals in local restaurants, and evening bowling outings in small towns all contributed to a fun group dynamic which we carried into a holiday weekend. We began the weekend by attending an Escape Room event in downtown Chicago. We were tasked with solving a team-oriented puzzles in order to escape a “zombie” within an hour. In the culture of Kraft Heinz excellence, we were told that our team had one of the fastest escape times the coordinator has even seen. The rest of the holiday weekend was spent attending food festivals, exploring different Chicago neighborhoods, playing volleyball at the beach, and going to the Cubs game. We closed out a great holiday weekend with a group-viewing of fireworks in Grant Park. Now we look forward to a week of leadership presentations, management simulations, and team-building exercises.