Faced with a deepening labour shortage, farm businesses that tailor their jobs, their benefit packages and their work environments to what employees are seeking can expect more success and their choice of the best employees.
The question is: is that a realistic goal?
Clearly, the nature of farming does impose limitations on what can be offered, agree University of Guelph professors Nita Chhinzer and Thomas Sasso and Jade Reeve, program manager with the Canadian Agricultural and Human Resource Council. Farming takes hard work. Yet when Country Guide reached out to these three to learn more, we heard the opportunities are real and achievable.
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Reeve starts by acknowledging the pandemic exposed skills gaps that were already there but got more intense when farm employees left agriculture for jobs where they could work from home.
The pandemic also acted as a trigger, encouraging many employees to re-evaluate their relationship with work, says Chhinzer. “They asked themselves ‘Is this where I want to spend my time?’”
From the employees’ perspective in today’s Canada, Chhinzer says, they are exchanging time for money, as they always have. But they want more than that too. They are also looking for meaning from work.
They also wonder if agriculture is keeping up with the rest of the country, especially in equity and inclusion on farms, which was another reason behind the “great resignation,” says Sasso.
“Employees realize that they have more choice in where they work,” Sasso says. “They want to find a place and group of co-workers that will respect them.”
In today’s farm workplace, that means employers have to look beyond offering pensions and health care benefits (which are already becoming more common) and adopt practices that “signal care” to their employees, says Chhinzer.
1/ Invest in up-skilling
Let employees know that you support further education such as by offering time off or financial support for tuition and books, suggests Chhinzer. Educational opportunities are often available on-demand online and could include micro-credentials which certify the learning outcomes of short-term learning experiences. (Courses through LinkedIn and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are some examples of micro-credentials.)
With the fast-paced changes in technology, employees’ technical skills become out of date much faster, says Reeve. Up-skilling has become incredibly important to ensure employees, even recent graduates, have the skills and knowledge relevant to new and evolving technology.
2/ Provide work-life balance
Employees, especially those under age 45, are placing greater emphasis on work-life balance, says Chhinzer. Reeve agrees. While most farm work can’t be done remotely, offering flexible hours, when possible, would be advantageous, she says.
Family models are changing too, Reeve adds. In today’s Canada, more fathers and adoptive parents are taking advantage of parental leave “to have bonding time with their children and be able to return to the workplace without any negative impact (on their careers).”
Some companies are even providing support to employees to pursue hobbies or interests that have little if anything to do with their work. “This demonstrates care and that you see the employee as a whole person,” says Chhinzer.
If work environments aren’t supportive of employees (not just in their job tasks but in who they are as individuals), you may be missing out on the best talent, says Sasso, who says that if farms don’t create supportive workspaces, highly qualified individuals won’t apply for jobs and will be less inclined to stay.
3/ Support mental health
Reeve notes that with less stigma around mental health, employees — especially younger generations — are more comfortable seeking support in the workplace. “Creating a culture of openness so that employees feel confident bringing up difficulties they face” and “prioritizing their health and wellness” really helps to support employees in the workplace, she says.
Other options for supporting mental health and wellness include offering an increased number of sick days, an improved boundary between work and home (e.g. the right to disconnect) and help with other responsibilities such as child-care and elder-care, says Chhinzer. “If people are crushed with non-work responsibilities they will leave the workforce,” she says, noting that a wave of women left the workforce during the pandemic to care for their children due to a lack of support.
Chhinzer says many companies support staff through Employee Assistance Plans (EAP) which cover a range of services from marriage counselling to financial literacy courses.
Other examples of employee support that Chhinzer has seen include companies providing a subsidized dinner when employees are required to work late, providing a subsidized breakfast to ensure staff are getting a healthy start to the day, lunch-time yoga and personal development seminars.
4/ Revamp the jobs
While people do join organizations for their vision and for their policies and their benefits packages, they’ll leave if the work itself is boring, or if there are problems with management.
Both risks can be managed, says Chhinzer. For instance, giving workers opportunities to rotate through different jobs allows them to learn new skills and reduces monotony.
Automation can help too, and music can make a job more pleasant by enhancing the perception of the passage of time resulting in more feelings of happiness, Chhinzer says.
Encouraging social time and friendships at work can make a job more enjoyable as well. Softball teams, staff barbeques and informal time during meetings where employees feel comfortable sharing about their personal lives, pets, hobbies, etc., can help foster social ties. “Employees will be more likely to stay in a job if they experience positive social interactions and feelings of belonging at work,” Chhinzer summarizes.
Sasso agrees. “When individuals are in workplaces where they feel a sense of belonging, they are more productive, creative and engaged in their work. They experience greater levels of satisfaction with their jobs, organizations and supervisors. They experience a greater sense of safety and they are less likely to look for and move to another job.” This creates more efficient workplaces and a healthier culture for all employees, he adds.
5/ Invest in managers
Capable management is also vital for successful retention of employees, so investing in training for managers is important, says Chhinzer, who notes that the employees who are good at their jobs are often promoted to management. Without training, though, they may underperform at that level. Training could include mentoring, one-on-one coaching or seminars.
Many managers are doing poorly because they are overworked, adds Chhinzer. “Ask yourself how you can simplify their work or automate parts of the job so they can get back to inspiring people.”
Human Resource Information System (HRIS) software is one way to reduce managers’ workloads so they can be more effective. Software programs such as PeopleSoft allow employees to instantly access information about their vacation time, training opportunities, etc., thus freeing up managers’ time. There are many such programs and apps, or even a simple Excel spread sheet on a shared computer drive could work, says Chhinzer.
6/ actively support equity, diversity and inclusion
Reeve says managers may benefit from training in equity, diversity and inclusion (commonly called EDI). Sasso agrees: “While training for all employees is essential for a more inclusive culture change, it is most important for your leadership teams and anyone who engages in human resources work or hiring committees.” He notes that most of our current workforce did not grow up with access to training in terms of intercultural competence, inclusive language and behaviour, and anti-racism.
Canada will continue to diversify in the next 20 to 30 years, continues Sasso, and farmers must be part of it. “We are seeing more ethnic, racial, and religious diversity in our workforces.” And, he says as individuals feel safer being open about their identities, the visibility of LGBTQ workers and workers with disabilities is increasing.
Using an EDI lens to examine workplace policies, practices, recruiting materials, employee handbooks, etc., can help make a workplace more welcoming. Reeve points to online tools, for example, that can help employers use inclusive language such as “gender neutral terms that do not discriminate against a particular sex, social gender or gender identity, and that do not perpetuate gender stereotypes,” she says.
In an ideal situation, farm owners and managers will focus on the long-term sustainability of the farm, not just on getting through the current season, says Chhinzer. Farming is intensive work, she says, and if farmers focus only on the short-term, they will burn out employees and we will lose them for good.
“We need to see talent as a resource that we invest in,” says Chhinzer, “not just as an expense item.”
