Association Perspective

People: Invest in your biggest asset

by Ian Kane, American Angus Association

What is the greatest challenge the U.S. beef industry faces? I have asked this question frequently since becoming involved in the beef industry. You might expect to hear answers relating to rising input costs, urban development, water resources or supply chain disruptions; however, one issue rises above the rest: the availability of labor.

Drive down Main Street anywhere in America. I would be surprised if you did not see a handful of businesses displaying signs reading “Help wanted” or “Now hiring.” Challenges in the labor market are being felt in all sectors of business, not just agriculture. To make a tough issue tougher, even when labor is available, prospective candidates are often deficient in key areas considered essential by the employer.

Now that we have identified the challenge, how are we going to overcome it? When facing an endeavor of this complexity, it is essential to first review what strategies have been implemented in the past and determine their effectiveness.

Next, we must seek to understand the motivations of the available workforce. What gets candidates excited about their work? How do we motivate them to take ownership of our operation’s mission and goals? What are the best methods to increase satisfaction in the workplace, incentivize productivity and create an engaging culture?

Lastly, we need to utilize the conclusions drawn from the two previous steps to stimulate innovative recruitment strategies that attract prospective candidates, then engage and develop them once hired. This extra step is key to maximize their value to the operation and secure the future success of both employee and employer.

Recruiting the right team
How do we go about recruiting new team members? Two of the most popular strategies are reaching out to personal and industry contacts and displaying positions in a digital format (company website, job board, social media, etc.). Radio, print and outdoor advertising are used to a lesser extent.

Utilizing your network may identify qualified candidates at a higher rate, but it will likely generate a limited number of candidates. This can be problematic for organizations needing to fill multiple roles.

Digital recruitment is complex. Its strength is its ability to reach numerous candidates at an inexpensive (or sometimes free) rate in different geographic areas, industries and social circles.

This method also has some weaknesses. It can produce a high volume of candidates, which increases the amount of time invested in sorting applications and evaluating candidates. Also, some candidates may show less commitment in early stages of the interview process because they are seeking placement in multiple positions and have not yet established a relationship with your operation.

Understanding employee motivations
With these observations in place, effort can be directed to uncovering the motivations of the workforce. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. People’s motivations can be as diverse as the candidates themselves. However, there are a few key strategies that can be implemented with a high rate of success.

The most important strategy is to create a culture of value. The sage advice of “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” rings true.

Be intentional within your business to not only meet the needs of your employees, but to exceed them where you can. Perhaps you could successfully recruit a candidate for a $50,000 annual salary, but what could you gain by offering $60,000? Maybe they’d be happy to have basic health insurance, but what if you offered to match their investments in a 401K program to help secure their future? Can you offer a side of beef to the mix? What about a company vehicle? Rural housing can be an issue. Can you provide housing?

It goes beyond compensation. Positions in the agricultural field rarely operate on a set schedule. Early mornings, late nights and weekends are part of the lifestyle. This industry is not for the faint of heart, as Mother Nature enjoys challenging us with drought, snow, mud, dust, floods, fires, heat, cold and more. Increasingly, today’s labor force desires intangible benefits. Words like “balance,” “flexibility,” “purpose” and “fulfillment” are often used to describe these expectations. To put this in context, you can generate large dividends on small sacrifices by making your employees’ priorities your priorities.

For example, let’s say you need to vaccinate calves and had budgeted time on Saturday for your crew to accomplish this task. However, three of your five employees had hoped to be done in time to go to their kid’s ball game. As an employer, what could you gain by moving the processing to Monday? Your loss in terms of disease prevention is minimal by delaying vaccination 48 hours. However, by allowing your team to be present for their families, you have built trust, increased loyalty, boosted morale, and strengthened their motivation to see your business succeed.

I would categorize all these nontangible assets as “relationship capital.” Teams with high amounts of relationship capital will be more productive, take more ownership, produce higher-quality products, and will collectively sacrifice more to achieve the shared goals of the organization. Not only does this make your current team more effective and increase the long-term sustainability of your operation, but it has the potential to attract new candidates as your operation earns a reputation for being the premier place to work. An elite organizational culture appreciates as an asset by making the current team more successful and functioning as a marketing tool to recruit future candidates. As an employer, the next time you are faced with adversity or are in a vulnerable position, this relationship capital could be the difference in success or failure of your business. Now ask yourself, what generated more value for your business, vaccinating calves two days earlier, or making your people a priority?

Hire character, not credentials
The next strategy is to hire based on character, not credentials. I’m not advocating you hire people who are incompetent simply because you have an opening. All that accomplishes is setting both parties up for failure and threatening to weaken your culture of value.

The strategy I am trying to illustrate is explained well by author Jim Collins in Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t as “First who, then what.” He frames this idea using a metaphor comparing companies and their staff as passengers on a bus. The “First who, then what” concept relies on getting the right people on the bus, and then figuring out how to get those people in the right seats before ever considering what the final destination of the bus will be.

In business and in life, the only guarantee is that there are no guarantees. It’s not a matter of if challenges will arise, but when challenges will arise. That is why it is essential to build a team based on who the people are, not what they know. That way, when your business is faced with a challenge, your people are your greatest asset and not your greatest liability.

With the right culture, time and investment in training, you can teach someone new skills. It is much more difficult to change a person’s character to exhibit integrity, work ethic, curiosity, courage, etc. Adopting this mindset in the recruitment process may lead you to consider candidates with the right character traits that previously would have been overlooked simply because they fell short on experience. With a culture of value, inexperienced candidates that align with your culture can develop the skillsets needed to contribute to your operation.

We have a long way to go to fill the current and future labor needs of the agriculture industry. It is essential we find a way to make this industry rewarding and profitable enough to encourage the next generation of rural America to “come back to the farm.” But we cannot stop there. We also need attract candidates from more urbanized backgrounds into our industry. By building a culture of value and hiring character, not credentials, I believe we will be able to make meaningful progress toward these aspirations.

Once you get the right people on the bus and in the right seats, and the wrong people off the bus, then you can figure out where the bus is going. For further information on the “First who, then what” concept, visit this website.

Once they’re on the bus
With the right people in place, it’s time to invest in developing you and your team to maximize the opportunities for personal and professional success. How do organizational leaders go about training new, possibly inexperienced, team members? Here are a few resources for industry networking, professional development and education that are specific to the beef industry. Some are open to all ages and experience levels. Others will be more targeted to younger members of the agricultural community. Arranging for your employees to apply for or participate in these programs is a simple, easy first step to take as an employer to invest in your work force.

• American Angus Association
• Certified Angus Beef (CAB) Feeding Quality Forum
• Beef Leaders Institute (ages 25-45, Association members)
• Angus University (digital resource)
• Angus Convention
• Youth Beef Leaders Seminar (college students interested in the beef industry)
• National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) Raising the Bar Conference (high school age)
• NJAA LEAD Conference
• National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA)
• Cattlemen’s College
• Young Cattlemen’s Conference
• Beef Quality Assurance Certification Program (digital resource)
• Masters of Beef Advocacy Program (digital resource)
• Beef Improvement Federation Research Symposium and Convention
• Range Beef Cow Symposium
• King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management
• Excellence in Ag Leadership Program (yearlong distance education program)
• Land-grant University Extension beef programs
• Montana State University
1. — Dan Scott Ranch Management Program, Issues in Ranching Seminar Series, “Ranch Labor: Finding the Employee in the Haystack”
2. — Bair Ranch Foundation Seminar Series
• Kansas State University
1. — Calving Schools
2. — Stocker Field Day
3. — Cattlemen’s Day
• Texas A&M University Beef Cattle Short Course
• University of Florida Beef Cattle Short Course
• Oklahoma State University Master Cattleman Program
• Colorado State University Ranching Legacy Program
• University of Tennessee, Knoxville
1. — Tennessee Master Beef Producer
2. — Tennessee Master Farm Manager
• University of Georgia
1. — Master Cattlemen’s Program
2. — GrassMasters Program
• State Cattlemen’s Association meetings
• State Farm Bureau conferences, including Young Farmers and Ranchers Programs
• North American Meat Institute
• International Production and Processing Expo (IPPE)
• Annual Meat Conference
• Protein Pact Summit
• National Institute for Animal Agriculture Annual Conference
• U.S. Meat Export Federation conferences and meetings

Editor’s note: Ian Kane concluded his regional manager internship for the American Angus Association Dec. 2. Ian did not grow up on a farm or ranch, but rather sought entry into the agricultural industry through education. He holds a bachelor’s degree in food and agricultural business from the University of Tennessee and has completed internships with Yon Family Farms, South Carolina; Thomas Angus Ranch, Oregon; Wulf Cattle, Nebraska; Golden Belt Feeders, Kansas; and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, as well as the American Angus Association.

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