From the Ground Up - McCain Foods Limited

Janice Wismer at the
McCain offices at BCE Place
in Toronto, Canada, 2005.
JanIce wIsmer
preFaCe
There is a certain simplicity to life at McCain that many large,
public companies today are trying to achieve. Underlying that
simplicity is a purposeful resolve to win. That winning attitude
is deeply ingrained in the culture of McCain, a culture that values
treating all people at all levels – customers, employees, and
suppliers – with respect. That a small-town Canadian business
could become, fifty years after its founding, a global megabrand
and one of the world’s most respected companies is a
testament to the loyalty and efforts of its employees.
It doesn’t matter where you travel with McCain in the
world, whether it be Ballarat, Australia; Scarborough,
England; Johannesburg, South Africa; or the place that started
it all, Florenceville, New Brunswick, the stories of the founding
fathers and the vision that they inspired to build the finest
global food business in the world, are endless. Woven
through all these stories are common threads: The joy of
watching young people develop and rise through the leadership
ranks. The constant craving to learn on the fly. The acceptance
of mistakes in the pursuit of excellence. Embracing
the local culture and respecting small-town values wherever McCain developed
operations. The great pride in being a family business in a global village.
This book is an attempt to tell the whole tale of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs
– Wallace and Harrison McCain – but it’s really a book about great leadership.
There is so much for us all – current and future employees – to learn from within
these pages. Even the story of how this book came to be holds a lesson: that it is the
stories we share that help us to grow and keep our culture constant and rich.
It was at the first board meeting of the McCain Learning Centre – governed by
talented McCain leaders from around the world – that the seed was planted to write
this book. The McCain Learning Centre itself was the product of a vision set out with
the launch of a new strategic plan in 2004. Its mission is clear: to provide the tools
for all employees to continuously learn and grow, achieving excellence in every job
every day, making McCain the preferred choice in all our markets. The board, which
represents the interests of employees around the world, strongly believes that sharing
the experiences, entrepreneurship, and sheer fortitude of the remarkable people who
built McCain into the global force it is today would inspire in our employees the caring,
committed attitude that has carried McCain forward and that will take us to the
next level of performance.
We have all been chosen – and have chosen ourselves – to be a part of this family. We
have been given a great gift – a global success story, a place where we can learn, grow,
and be valued for our contributions. It’s up to us now to be the standard-bearers for the
future. I have every confidence that we will continue to make the family proud.
Janice Wismer
Vice-President, Human Resources
McCain Foods Limited
Toronto, Canada
May 2007
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