Recruiting the right people, the right way: ‘low stress staff handling’

Author: | Date: 08 Feb 2016

Introduction

A firm base to start your employment journey is to know and understand the eight employability skills that will ensure a person is trainable and then to understand their individual importance to your workplace outcomes:

  • communication
  • teamwork
  • problem solving
  • initiative and enterprise
  • planning and organising
  • learning
  • self-management
  • technology.

Successful recruitment is about knowing your business and yourself as an employment unit. Modern trends show that people are not afraid to leave secure employment in search of better job satisfaction, better opportunities and better pay. Agriculture is no different to any other industry, times have changed and every workforce is more mobile, better educated and employees are always looking for the next opportunity to move up the ranks.

It was common in the past for farm workers to stay 10, 20 or 30 years on the same farm, as a farm hand and to raise a family that often did the same. This is no longer the trend with the decrease in the number of farms and decrease in the need for full-time permanent staff. With access to increased levels of education and the ability to travel further afield, our local workforce have increased choices and often expect to enter the workforce at a higher level. We have a vastly reduced number of children growing up with a direct connection to agriculture. 

We have for 10 years now seen the working holiday visa program encouraging young travellers to work in agriculture in return for a second one-year working holiday visa. A great initiative, but with vast numbers of the travellers having no agricultural experience it has created a whole new set of employment issues for employers. These young people are often well educated and experienced employees in other fields of expertise but require intensive levels of training and supervision to get them to a suitable level of skill and productivity for our industry, in a very short time frame.

With less farming families we are seeing a dramatic decrease in the number of personnel available to do the grassroots farm work. There is no quick fix replacement for farm raised farm staff, those with a natural understanding of processes, procedures and the ways of the land. Those with an innate common sense approach and initiative that allows them to be independently productive from the start. 

Travellers have become a popular source of seasonal labour which has bought its own set of new issues for employers. This employee sector requires a more organised and specialised approach to Induction and safety to ensure a faster settling in period and quicker rise to peak season productivity outcomes. The level of previous experience can sometimes be hard to gauge from a curriculum vitae (CV). This is why we have adopted and developed the system we use at 2 Workin Oz. Their mindset is different to the permanent worker and this can lead to issues of attitude and loyalty to their employer and co-workers. They often enter during peak workload periods and stay for short periods. As employers, we need to change our methods to improve the outcomes.

The right people

  • Know the profile of the staff you are looking for. Make a list of important skills and personality traits. Prioritise them. Document them and revise them regularly.
  • Never underestimate the importance of personality matching.
  • Know the skills and aptitude levels that are essential to the success of the employment and those which you can manage without or teach if need be.
  • Know your own personality and those of your permanent staff. Be honest with yourself and know your strengths and weaknesses. If you employ the wrong person these weaknesses will become shining lights in the breakdown of the working relationship.
  • Allow sufficient lead time to source your staff. Engage with agencies and networks that build relationships that are in-sync with your requirements.

The right way

  • If you are using an employment agent or external party to employ your staff, be prepared to share as much information as possible about your work environment, expectations and yourself as an employer or the team of workers in your business.
  • Allow time to find the right person. Be flexible with start times and allow time for inductions and time to become familiar with the work area. A couple of week’s wages are soon recovered with the right people who have had the right introduction to your farm operation. 
  • Offer some off-farm induction and training if need be. There are short courses on offer from organisations like 2 Workin Oz and many other training campuses that offer accreditation for skill sets. 
  • If engaging the services of an agency, understand their methods of determining the right person for your business.
  • Make sure you have everything required for a concise induction. There are some great resources online.
  • Be prepared to do some training before the peak of the season arrives. Know your timeframes and capabilities to deliver the required training.
  • Discuss and complete all paperwork before the employment commences. Make sure all parties understand the salary package, tax and superannuation rules and outcomes. Waiting for the first pay slip to be issued can cause stress and conflict if there has been a misunderstanding. Discuss this with every new employee. Never assume they know the system. It is complicated and open to multiple interpretations especially when dealing with international employees.

Low stress

  • Communicate, communicate and communicate. Be approachable and make time to discuss the work day or days. Encourage feedback.
  • Learn to recognise a person’s learning techniques; are they visual or verbal? This can be integral to getting messages across the first time.
  • Calm creates productivity. Stress creates damage.
  • Positive Attitudes = Positive outcomes. Negative attitudes = Negative outcomes.
  • Be prepared to move someone on if they are not the right person. It is almost always better for everyone involved.
  • We all wish we could get it right 100 per cent of the time but human nature and many other factors will always prevent this from happening. Stay calm, breathe and assess the options that are viable for your business. Keep communication channels open.

Useful resources


Building Farm Business Capacity – Plan Prepare Prosper Workshops (Department of Agriculture WA) 

Workplace Learning Toolbox – Employer Resource (Food Fibre & Timber Industries Training Council)

ESKi – Employer Starter Kit initiative (Dairy Australia)

Farmsafe (Farmsafe Alliance WA)

Contact Details

Ley Webster
2 Workin Oz
PO Box 379, York WA 6302
0497 654 631