Tips & Tricks When Recruiting Staff

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Pippa Piotrowicz (FCG WhiteAvon)

Recently I joined an interesting and topical webinar by The Farmers Weekly on ‘How to recruit and retain the best farm staff?’. Here are some key takeaways focused on recruitment.

Finding the Right Fit

When recruiting, it’s important to recognise no candidate will be ‘perfect’, it’s about who fits in best with your team.  This doesn’t mean just technically but equally about the personality and character.

Ask yourself:

  • Do they align with your business culture? You need a clear understanding of your own business values and culture to be able to answer this.
  • Do they have the right mindset? Look for individuals who will contribute to the growth of the business. Are they reliable? Do they show up on time? Are they team players?
  • Can they communicate in a style that suits the business? This often comes into play in understanding the personalities you have in the business and how they work together.
  • Are they willing to learn? Remember skills can be taught, but attitude is much harder to change. It’s not always a bad thing if someone doesn’t have the correct skills, as you can then train them the way you want.

Interview Effectively

The way you interview matters. Focus on open ended questions, often starting with ‘how’, to get a deeper insight into their personality, problem-solving ability and communication style. An example of this would be ‘How would you deal with someone who spoke to you in a challenging way?’.

Make Your Business Attractive

One of the most important (and often overlooked) aspects of recruiting is how attractive your business is to candidates. Build a strong reputation in the local area. Make a website even if it is basic. You are competing with external non-agricultural businesses, so you need to be to the level they are. Be POSITIVE about what you do, to not only be attractive but retain the staff you have.

The Candidate is Interviewing You Too

Remember, interviews go both ways. Candidates are also deciding whether they want to work for you. Are the facilities on the farm good, this includes a warm place to sit on their lunch break and a working, clean toilet? Is the accommodation being provided clean, warm and damp free? If long working hours, is there flexibility for time off during quieter periods?

Final Thoughts

All of these things sound basic but often make a huge difference and missed by a lot of businesses. In today’s competitive labour market, you want to be as attractive as possible to help recruit good staff, which you can then retain long term.

For help with labour management issues, contact Pippa at pippa@fcgagric.com or your local FCG Office.

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