Reading Time: 7 minutes If you build it, they will come, right? Dedicated and hard-working employees will if you follow the advice Barr-Ag has to offer about the “people factor”.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor If you want something done, ask a busy person. We all sometimes say this, and there’s a good reason why. As generalizations go, this […] Read more
Summer Series: If you build it on HR…
[Leadership] This Alberta hay outfit is people first, business second, and boss Barry Schmitt says that’s why they post great numbers. So could their approach work for you?
Summer Series: It Pays to Listen Better
[Best Advice] Know somebody who’s missing out on great advice because they don’t hear what they’re told? Could it be you?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Being a good listener is harder than it sounds. And some of the ways we respond to others prevent us from being present and truly connecting with them. Active listening is a high-value risk management tool, partly because listening is such a big part of conflict resolution. The good news? With practice, you can learn […] Read more
Time to celebrate
Summer is the perfect opportunity to host an employee appreciation party
Reading Time: 4 minutes On a sunny June afternoon, productivity comes to a standstill at Big Marble Farms as more than 300 employees leave the offices, greenhouse and packhouse and spend several hours playing games, navigating obstacle courses, throwing axes and jumping in blowup castles, all as part of the annual Employee Appreciation Day at the farm. “A reduction […] Read more
Next gen talent scouting in agriculture
Reading Time: 3 minutes Taylor Schmitt, son of company founder Barry, is operations and business manager at Barr-Ag and is in charge of Middle East and domestic sales as well as domestic logistics. Yet it is on the HR side where Taylor has really come into his own. Over the last seven years, Taylor has interviewed 250-plus candidates and […] Read more
Get the best and brightest
Attracting new employees is tougher than ever, but there may be lessons to learn from other sectors
Reading Time: 4 minutes With job vacancies in a growing number of economic sectors across Canada far exceeding the pool of people available to fill those jobs, businesses are running harder to recruit and retain staff. It’s turning into a marathon. “We anticipate the employee-driven labour market will continue in the next few years,” says William Howard, director of […] Read more
Keeping workers on the farm
Scientific HR really can help ensure your farm business has the people and skills it needs
Reading Time: 8 minutes There are multiple moving parts to any busy farm, and there have to be just as many to a sound HR plan too. You can pretty quickly run out of fingers if you try to count them. There’s recruitment, retention, training, evaluation … the list goes on and on. But that doesn’t mean HR has […] Read more
Tap into these labour markets
Labour is harder to find than ever, and the future isn’t looking any better
Reading Time: 5 minutes “It’s grim,” admits Nita Chhinzer, professor of human resources in the department of management at the University of Guelph. It’s a function of demographics, she says. Our population is aging, the pool of young replacements is thin, and our immigration policies are tilted in favour of those at the mid-to upper stages of their careers. […] Read more
Overcoming personal biases
You think you’re not biased. So put it to the test
Reading Time: 3 minutes Do you stand with your arms crossed when you talk to an employee or family member about work? Do you ignore some people when they share ideas or contribute to a conversation? Are you cheerful when you say good morning to some work colleagues, but others not so much? These are all warning signs of […] Read more
Manage anger on the farm
Angry outbursts affect you, those you work with and ultimately your farm business
Reading Time: 5 minutes A Chinese proverb says, “if you can be patient in a moment of anger, you will escape 100 days of sorrow.” It’s wise advice, but we all know it can also be tough advice to follow if you’re prone to angry outbursts. Yes, you may feel remorse for it afterwards. But do you understand why […] Read more
Facing facts
It’s still very early days, but agriculture is on its way to becoming a more diverse and inclusive sector
Reading Time: 11 minutes Canadian agriculture has a problem and needs to talk about it. Partly, it’s a human resource issue. Every year, Canada’s farms and agricultural businesses fall further behind. More and more traditional farm jobs go unfilled while, at the same time, new job descriptions are being created that demand even harder-to-find skills and vision. And it […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
