Hello, my name is Jim Versweyveld. I’m a farm management outreach specialist with UW Madison’s Division of Extension. In this video, I’ll be discussing some ways to help your business find the right people. Effective recruiting plans should be a critical part of your business model as you seek out key talent to help your business grow. An effective recruiting plan in place is an important business process for your farm or food business. Developing a recruiting plan refers to having a pre-arranged strategy for hiring employees. 

First, let’s set the stage as to why effective recruiting is so important. We all know that agriculture and related food industry sectors are experiencing worker shortages due to a number of factors, and the long-term outlook indicates that this issue may even get worse. 

Wisconsin’s workforce is approaching full employment with an unemployment rate of 3.3%. Simply stated, that means that the vast majority of workers who want to be working are already working. Wisconsin’s available rural workforce is decreasing due to an aging population, and this is in connection with a trend for young people to leave rural areas. 

Across rural America, we see help wanted signs, with many farms finding it difficult to complete for available talent. To compound the problem, high employee turnover also plagues many farms and food businesses. Our industry sees turnover rates significantly higher than broader industry benchmarks. We also know that employee turnover is expensive. 

The Society for Human Resource Management estimates the average cost per new hire at over $4,000. This includes not only recruiting costs, but the loss of productivity while a position is vacant. Businesses with high turnover also see negative impacts on the morale of existing workers. With fewer workers available to get the work done. It’s natural for employees to wonder, why is everyone quitting? Maybe I should go too. 

How can you set your business up for success and find key talent in this tight labor market? Well, there are several methods for finding qualified candidates. Word of mouth is one. Four out of five farm managers find employees by word of mouth, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this tried-and-true method for sourcing talent. It’s just that it may not be enough. 

Employee referrals are another good way, and it’s based on the concept of good people knowing good people. You may be wondering if I’m doing employee referrals and getting candidates submittals from my team, should I be offering a bonus? I think this is a great idea to encourage your employees to submit qualified applicants for your vacancies.  

Local newspapers may be a source, although some may have limited readership with the target audience that you’re trying to reach. Papers with online classifies may be more effective. Social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are great ways to reach a broad audience. Craigslist may also be a way to source out candidates. There are job boards available like indeed, Monster and Glassdoor, and these may all be helpful. 

The question that I’m often asked is do I need a formal job application? Well, it’s not actually a requirement, but I think it’s a good idea. I think there is value in job applications. First of all, it gauges the interest level a candidate has in working on your farm by forcing them to take the time to fill out the necessary information. It also captures important contact information that you may need later, and it can provide you with previous work experience in places of employment. If you do decide to use a job application, make sure every applicant fills it out. Even if a person you know well ends up filling the position.

Here’s an example of a Facebook posting for recruiting advertisement. This is an ag tourism business and direct marketing farm and notice how the employees in the picture are all smiling and happy to be at work. The caption below the pictures starts with a direct statement saying that the farm is hiring. The advertisement continues with a call-to-action exclaiming, “join our team”. It also encourages future applicants to apply immediately and when the jobs will actually begin. 

Kelders farm in this posting provides a list of tasks that the new hires will do, and the advertisement sets expectations of what job duties entail. Notice Kelder’s farm does not mention a specific monetary amount for wages. This encourages applicants to call you first. If you do say at a specific salary, sometimes people who might otherwise be interested in the job will exclude themselves before speaking with you and in some cases, salary may be somewhat negotiable for the right candidate. 

Always make sure that your job posting starts with a strong call to action. What do you want the person to do next. This is a great opportunity to leverage your farm’s mission vision and values, so that applicants know who you are, and why your business exists. 

The next step is to set the stage. Before the interview, straighten out any clutter in your office and make sure you’re on time. Show the job applicant that you’re glad to meet them with a warm welcome. Clarify the applicants’ name and how they prefer to be referred to.  Share your farm’s vision and mission statements with the new candidates so that they can understand what your farm values and why your business is important. Give them a brief summary of the position and why it matters to your business. 

As you ask interview questions that get critical skills, make sure you’re focused on the critical skills of that position. It’s important to ask every candidate the same questions and to understand their skills even if they don’t have a back farm background. 

There are also a number of questions that are off limits in job interviews, and potentially discriminatory. Do not ask family related questions like: Are you single, engaged, married? Do you have kids? Are you planning to have kids? Instead, you can simply say we start at 5am, are you able to work at that time? 

Do not ask employees age or questions that might indicate their age. Like when did you graduate from high school? Or when are you thinking of retiring? Instead, you can ask what are your career goals? 

There is one exception to this age question and that’s for job candidates that are under age 18. In that case, you should ask how old they are, because it may ultimately limit the amount of hours they’re able to dedicate too the farm. 

Do not ask nationality related questions. For example, don’t ask “Where was your family from? Where were you born?” But you certainly can ask and should ask, “are you authorized to work in the US?’ And do not ask faith related questions like, “do you go to church? What’s your religious background?” Instead, you can simply ask, if you are selected, are you able to work weekends and holidays? If the job candidate shares information with you that you know is off limits, it’s best to just change the subject and move on with the rest of the interview.

It’s best to use behavioral questions in your interview, which often start with, “Tell me about a time…”  These behavioral questions help get the candidate talking and hopefully share specific and relevant information. Questions like, “tell me about a job you didn’t like? Or tell me about your favorite supervisor and what was it about them that made them your favorite?” can get you useful information about the individual’s work history. 

On this slide, you can see a skid steer example that shows the difference between straight non behavioral and behavioral questions. So, if you ask the question, “Can you drive a skid loader?” The candidate may respond with a simple yes or no which really doesn’t tell you are they experienced in driving a skid loader or if they just think that they probably could because they can drive other vehicles. 

If you use a behavioral question, in this case, like “tell me about a time when you used a skid loader to complete a job”. Then you get the candidate talking about specific examples of how and when they used a skid loader. 

What comes next? Thank the candidate for their time and their interest in working for you. Always close the interview with the next steps that give an approximate timeframe but don’t lock yourself in, in case something comes up that may delay the process. If you are planning on having a second round of interviews for finalists, then let the candidates know that. 

Evaluate the candidates best fit for the job versus other characteristics that you may notice about them. And remember, the perfect candidate may not exist, it’s usually best to hire for attitude, and train for skills. It’s a good idea to ask for and check references. Try to focus on business references like former supervisors who would have firsthand knowledge of the candidates work record. 

When you select the top candidate, start with a verbal offer, then follow up with an offer in writing, including wage, hours, specifics about what to bring with them, and what their first day might look like. Let your new hire give notice to their current employer. Two weeks’ notice is generally an industry standard, and then agree to a mutual start date. Remember, it should always be your goal that every job candidate has a positive experience at your farm, even for the ones that you don’t end up selecting. 

In summary, one of the biggest mistakes farm or food business managers make is assuming that new workers are readily available and will just show up. Good employees are too valuable, too hard to find, and too difficult to replace, to leave things to chance. Having a recruiting plan in place for your farm can reap benefits in productivity, engagement, and retention. 

If you’d like more information about recruiting employees, or other best practices in human resources management, please visit our topic hub website at farms.extension.wisc.edu. If you click on the Human Resources tab, you’ll find other resources including our becoming the Employer of Choice Program. Thanks for watching!