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Guide HR

It’s been a great advantage to our business already,” says Laura Holtmann. Better employees, better retention… it all adds up.
Guide Business, Guide HR

Crafting a new human resources plan for your farm

Don’t wait any longer. An HR management plan to protect the long-term success of your farm business could be worth working on now. Here’s why

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Reading Time: 10 minutes Agriculture is changing. Innovation abounds. More new technology and better automation arrive every year. So it’s worse than ironic that our biggest shortfall is people power. But there it is. Without the right people, can our farms even hope to adopt the technological marvels that are supposed to propel them into the future? Mechanization is […] Read more
The quality and quantity of the data collected saw clear patterns in the behaviour of the most successful farmers.
Guide Business, Guide HR

Seven strategies of successful farmers

Here’s new evidence that business skills increase farm income, no matter what size the farm

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Reading Time: 5 minutes With the harvest finally in the bin, farmers across the country are evaluating their farm management practices and they are making management decisions for the future. Business management skills are more important than ever as farmers face huge challenges, including unpredictable weather, volatile markets, labour shortages, succession, and much more. In this environment, a great […] Read more
Before meeting with an employee to discuss areas of improvement, it’s a good idea to create a plan for the conversation.
Guide HR

How to deliver constructive criticism

Focus on end results to eliminate the emotional sting and to improve performance

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Reading Time: 5 minutes If you’re like a lot of people, you’d rather do anything than give negative feedback. Even when it is well-intentioned, criticism isn’t easy to deliver. It’s anxiety-producing both for the giver of the negative feedback and for the receiver. As a result, most of us avoid giving negative feedback, which, of course, fixes nothing. Failing […] Read more
Guide HR, Management

Dealing with problem employees effectively

Instead of firing them, use these tips to coach problem cases into good employees

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Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s getting tougher to find and keep good employees. Nor, by all indications, is the situation going to improve anytime soon. According to the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council’s newly released Labour Market Forecast for the next decade, farmers can expect an already tight labour market to get even tighter. According to the council’s survey […] Read more
“Good retention starts with good recruiting. The challenge is finding people who are willing to be there for the right reasons…”
Guide HR, Management

Tapping into a new source of farm workers

Traditional labour supplies are running short. Why that may not be a bad thing

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Reading Time: 5 minutes With farms getting bigger and with rural populations getting smaller, it’s no surprise you’re having trouble finding local employees with the farm skills and the experience you want. That doesn’t mean you have no options, however. The solution may be to look beyond candidates with ag experience and to begin to look in other sectors […] Read more
When looking for a mentor, find someone who isn’t too busy and is a good listener.
Guide Business, Guide HR

Want to be a more successful farmer? Find a mentor

How you can harness the power of mentorship

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Reading Time: 4 minutes Research shows the five-year survival rate for small and medium enterprises jumps from fewer than half to more than 70 per cent if mentors are involved. That’s according to Virginia McGowan, a certified mentor who witnessed this powerful transformation while running a mentorship program for a group of 70 female entrepreneurs in Charlottetown, P.E.I. The […] Read more
Employees are looking for a role, not just a job, says Curwen, in cap, front row, right.
Guide Business, Guide HR

Grow your people

On a global tour, Nuffield Scholar Reece Curwen finds the top farms always treat employees as an investment, not a cost

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Reading Time: 5 minutes At 32, Reece Curwen farms with his family 500 kilometres south of Perth in Western Australia, where the farm produces canola, barley, wheat and sheep on 8,000 hectares. Yet although the farm is so geographically distant from Canada, when it comes to the people management side of farming, it might be right next door. As […] Read more
Sometimes a simple “thank you” can be enough to let a worker know they're appreciated.
Guide HR

Reward positive behaviour

HR Management: If something is supposed to be a reward, it has to feel like one

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Reading Time: 4 minutes With a tight labour market, farmers are looking for ways to attract and keep good employees. They naturally turn to incentives and rewards to try to keep employees happy and productive. However, getting it right when it comes to employee incentives is tricky business. “An incentive to one person can be poison to another,” explains […] Read more
Uncivil behaviour frequently occurs when there is a power differential and a mistaken belief that “nice guys finish last.”
Guide Business, Guide HR

How much did that off-colour joke cost you?

More than you probably think, because we all work harder and better in workplaces where we feel respected

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Reading Time: 4 minutes If you think those off-colour jokes, sexist comments, or the occasional angry outburst are harmless, you should think again. The research is clear that rude behaviour can hurt your farm’s bottom line. For more than 20 years, Christine Porath, an associate professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., has […] Read more
One way an employer can help employees reduce stress is by permitting flexible work schedules that create a better work-life balance.
Guide HR

A health plan that pays

It makes more and more sense to put your focus on employee health and wellness

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Creating a safe, healthy and supportive workplace isn’t just good for your workers — it’s also good for your business. “The health of your workers is tied to the health of your business,” says Jade Reeve, a manager with the Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council (CAHRC), an Ottawa-based non-profit organization focused on addressing human resource […] Read more

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AGCanadaTV: In Case You Missed It – Your National Ag News Recap for the week ending January 17, 2020.

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