Melonie Sheppard Human Resources Consultant StaffWise Ltd

Roger: My guest this week is Melonie Sheppard, a human resources consultant, who has created an HR training programme for farmers. Melonie,

welcome.

Melonie: Its good to be here.

Roger: Wheres the need for this programme come from?

Melonie: Weve been getting a lot of feed back from farmers for a long time. Theyre finding it challenging the number of staff theyre having to take on board, and how to actually manage those staff on a daily basis. So this project was generated as a result of that. Theres also been a number of industry projects like AgResearch and Agriculture ITO whove conducted surveys with farmers and bankers and other industry people to work out what the current needs are, and staff management and employer responsibilities are the key ones to come out of that.

Roger: What challenges are farmers facing in those areas?

Melonie: Farmings changed a lot over the last 10 years. An economic unit is probably twice the size it was 10 years ago and with that has come the need to of course employ people. Now farmers have gone from being farmers, where they work the farm every day, now to being people managers. And that requires a whole new skill set - and new knowledge and an attitude to go with it.

Roger: And how will your programme help with that?

Melonie: Our programme is made up of 4 modules at this stage. The first one is titled Employer Responsibilities' and that really focuses on the legal legislation you have to meet when you are an employer. Following on from that well be looking at recruitment and selection, managing staff performance and building high performing teams.

Roger: Farming is an industry which has had recruitment problems how will this programme help with that?

Melonie: Youre right. There is a real challenge out there at the moment for the farming industry and horticulture to get staff. If you look at the farm cadet programmes operating such as Agriculture New Zealand, or Taratahi, EIT, Telford all of them are struggling for numbers. Young people are not seeking agriculture as a career choice, and to be honest I dont blame them. Weve still got long hours on many farms and were not looking at what are the needs of the young person and how do we accommodate and organise our businesses to accommodate their needs to ensure weve got staff coming through.

Roger: Whos backing the programme?

Melonie: This programme is developed out of its a collaborative partnership between 2 key groups. The first one is a series of agriculture organisations, such as the Agriculture ITO, Federated Farmers, Meat and Wool New Zealand, Dexcel and Agriculture New Zealand. And the other side is a group of polytechs who have brought their sort of education expertise to the partnership.

Roger: Not everybody is going to be able to make it across to one of your seminars. What are your top 3 tips you can give farmers to be better employers?

Melonie: Number one would be: make sure all your staff have an employment agreement and job description. Not because its law it just makes sense. It helps set the relationship off on the right footing. Husbands and wives, partners you have disagreements. Sometimes you cant understand how the hell do they think that way? No different between you and your staff. People think differently and an agreement and job description sets it in writing on an equal footing.

Probably the second key thing Id like to see more of is farmers sharing their business goals with their staff. So many of the staff tell me I dont know where were heading, I dont know what hes trying to achieve; where do I fit in this? And they want to know. And equally you should ask your staff what their goals and aspirations are. You know, take an interest in what theyre trying to achieve. Cause if you do, and you can help them achieve they will stay with you a lot longer.

And probably the third thing is to acknowledge when staff have done well and be specific about your feedback.

Roger: Melonie, thanks for joining us.