FW Opinion: Time to roll out red carpet for good staff
© Tim Scrivener To what extent are farmers in competition with one another?
At the Institute of Agricultural Managers (IAgrM) conference this week, I was struck again by how many farmers are concerned about future policy changes that would put other farmers out of business, but not necessarily themselves.
You cannot imagine this sort of solidarity happening in many other industries.
How many accountants would mourn the loss of another practitioner down the street?
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This rural camaraderie is one of the fine things that sets agriculture apart from many other walks of life, and it is to be celebrated.
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Yet underneath this veneer of cordiality there are, of course, plenty of sharp elbows jostling to lead the pack.
While most of our sectors don’t engage in many make-or-break competitions to land a contract at the expense of the farm down the road, there is one particularly scarce resource that farms are fighting for at the moment – the best labour.
There are half a million vacancies across the food and drink sector and the government has come in for sharp criticism again this week for not doing more to help businesses recruit seasonal labour from overseas.
It seems unlikely there will be another U-turn that significantly increases availability, even if this administration specialises in changing its mind.
If help isn’t coming, this leaves businesses with a choice: compete harder for the available staff, or choose to do something else that requires less labour.
One farmer told me this week they are installing a cinema room for their temporary staff. It sounded a far cry from the usual tales of static caravans.
Within the full-time agricultural jobs sector there is also little slack in the system.
Rural camaraderie is one of the fine things that sets agriculture apart from many other walks of life
Attention has focused previously on the threat posed by other industries stealing workers from our sector.
Someone who is simply searching for a job that keeps them on a seat all day – and doesn’t particularly mind if it’s a forklift, excavator or tractor – may switch to another industrial sector for a higher wage or better working conditions.
Yet specialist farmworkers at all levels of qualification and experience, who are determined to carry on in agriculture, also have the luxury of an increasing number of options.
There has been heightened activity in Farmers Weekly’s own jobs pages this year, and discussions at IAgrM’s conference repeatedly returned to the importance of attracting and retaining good personnel.
Employers will lament that amid soaring costs in every sector, now is not the time to be paying higher wages.
However, those who choose to dig in their heels should be aware that there will be others willing to offer more to keep people.
This may not just be by increasing pay, although that helps. It is also about businesses that make staff feel valued in the broadest sense of the word, whether it is personal development, an equity partnership or more flexible working arrangements outside of the busiest periods.
Rivalry is a curious thing. I’m currently reading Too Big to Fail, an excellent blow-by-blow account of what happened on Wall Street during the 2008 financial crash.
There, the unchecked rivalry and soaring egos of some of the key participants drove them to take enormous risks and eventually contributed to the downfall of the whole economy.
But too little competition will stunt progress. If there is anything good to come out of this current labour crisis, it will be an increase in the standards of working life within agriculture, helping to attract more high-quality people into our industry.