Agribusiness owners and managers in Australia can all agree that there is a critical shortage of candidates for the many open roles in our vital industry.
Media coverage focuses on the lack of seasonal workers. However, permanent positions are also facing major staff shortages.
The sirens lure of the mining industry and the ongoing effects of COVID-19 play a large part in these shortages.
How can agribusinesses best combat this?
We’ve previously covered some aspects of staff attraction focusing on changing candidate expectations. This month we’re back with our tips for agricultural businesses on how to attract – and retain – quality staff members.
Workplace Culture
Your reputation and business are only as good as word on the street. Most candidates will research your organisation before applying. If you’ve got blemishes in the past, disgruntled ex-employees, or even just a reputation as an “okay” employer it’s time to work on reversing that image.
Celebrating the success of your people is one of the easiest ways to both morale and reputation. This can be from something as small as an internal congratulations or celebratory lunch to publicly announcing your team’s W’s.
Highlights
Most applicants are going to understand the key responsibilities of a job. Your advertisement needs to highlight the parts of a role that go beyond expectation.
Autonomy can be a standout highlight and help attract the best person for the role.
Incentives
A quality employee can do a similar job in any organisation – and almost everyone is hiring. Agricultural businesses need to look at what incentives are offered to current and prospective employees.
Flexibility, family-friendly hours, or working from home opportunities are often something candidates are looking for. Additionally, work “perks” like phones, vehicles and accommodation can be used to help sweeten the deal. Consider upgrading work vehicles or tired accommodation to help attract the best person for your agribusiness.
Salary
Ultimately, the best culture, incentives and highlights won’t matter if the salary isn’t at least competitive.
Salary benchmarking is a great place to start to make sure you’re paying rates comparable with other businesses in the industry. Also, implementing a regular review structure can help your agricultural business find and secure the right person.
The Lucas Group is Australia’s premier agricultural industry recruitment and human resource consultancy. We take an individual approach to each recruitment or human resource project we tackle.
We’re here to help your business – if it involves your people, you need our people.