A system is a series of interconnected parts that drive an organization forward.  A “systems approach” to human resources management on your farm considers the interconnectedness of all the efforts you’ve made to make your farm a great place to work.  It includes every aspect of the employee life-cycle, from the first time a prospective employee contacts you for a job interview to the point where a valued employee retires after a long, successful career with you.  Taking this approach on your farm emphasizes all aspects of HR, from talent acquisition, learning and development, employee engagement, performance evaluation, compensation and benefits.

How is it that all these processes are connected?  Think of it this way; let’s say you’ve put great efforts into improving recruiting of new employees on your farm.  You’ve developed a pipeline of talented applicants and you’ve refined your selection process to hire the best-of-the best.  But if your onboarding falls short of people’s expectations, or you don’t have training processes in place to help employees build skills, chances are they will quickly lose engagement and move on to other employers.

Take the next step by putting your team first, and building ways to become “people-centric”. Being people-centric means considering your employees’ perspective on how they want to work and what might motivate them to work more efficiently. You not only need to get the right people, but you also need to share with your employees what success looks like. You share information by implementing a communication pipeline. You could have individual meetings and team meetings. In these meetings, you would provide timely feedback that helps in employee development.  In addition, you give your employees an opportunity to provide feedback to you regarding their goals and what motivates them to do a good job.

People-first cultures have gained significant recognition and importance in modern workplaces, as organizations realize the benefits they reap from individual employees. Research conducted by Gallup shows that companies with highly engaged employees—in other words, people-first cultures—experience 21% higher overall profitability.

Studies like this highlight the business case for prioritizing employees by working to develop a people-first culture. To realize these benefits, however, you must first understand what this means — as well as how to implement one within your farm.

If you’re interested in learning more about people-centric HR processes and building a systems approach on your farm join us for Becoming the Employer of Choice. Becoming the Employer of Choice is a 4-week online course with facilitated discussion groups that helps farm managers take their people-programs to the next level. Visit go.wisc.edu/btec to learn more.