It isn’t unusual to visit a farm operation and meet workers of many different nationalities.  How you go about recruiting, retaining diverse talent, as well as creating an inclusive work environment for them, can pose challenges. If your farm employs or is considering ethnically diverse talent, here are a few pointers for effectiveness.

Recruiting of talent

Utilize diverse talent that you already employ.  Engage them in reaching out to their networks.  Don’t underestimate the power of the word-of-mouth.  These communities are very close knit and share opportunities with others. 

How you go about recruiting, retaining diverse talent, as well as creating an inclusive work environment for diverse employees, can pose challenges.

A note of caution -- be sure to provide a good experience for all, even those that you don’t hire.  If you plan to continue to recruit from these talent pools, you don’t want to risk any negative impressions floating around when word-of-mouth is king.

When possible (and necessary), invest in translating key materials (job descriptions, applications, any other recruiting materials).  While it isn’t feasible to translate into all languages, evaluate the diverse populations you have locally and focus on those. 

If possible, consider hiring in pairs.  As with anyone, if there is someone you can relate to, you tend to enjoy the workplace more.

Involve the family during the recruitment process.  This support system is very influential and can help drive the decision.  Your interest in their family can make a difference in the acceptance of an offer and engagement within the operation.

Create a farm culture open to diversity

Like any business, the workplace culture is key to an employee’s happiness, motivation and even success.  Adding diversity among staff can add yet another caveat to workplace culture.  A little extra effort will need to be made to make sure everyone appreciates a cohesive workplace culture.

Again, when possible consider translating materials to fit the needs of your diverse staff (memos, time cards, manuals, SOP’s, safety guidelines, etc.)  This simple step is huge from a motivation standpoint, but also will improve performance and minimize risk and mistakes.

Showcase that you are a place of diversity and make it apparent that you value diversity. There are a lot of ways to do this, but spending time asking questions and learning about your potential hires’ culture is a good first step.  One creative way is to encourage celebrations relative to their culture on the farm.  Ask your team members to prepare traditional meals that can be shared with the full staff. If possible, invite the families to get involved!

Retaining diverse talent

Diverse employees leave for the same reasons any other employee would:

-Lack of leadership and in many cases the lack of cultural intelligence of management. 

-Lack of recognition – everyone can relate to wanting to be recognized and compensated fairly for positive contributions.

-Lack of challenging work – achievement is the number one motivator; rewarding and meaningful work is desired along with direction and the tools to complete the work.

-Lack of inclusion—like anyone else, diverse talent wants to feel like they are part of the team, operation and community.

-Lack of respect and appreciation – just like other employees, diverse talent want that same level of earned respect and appreciation

In the grand scheme of things, recruitment and retention of ethnically diverse talent isn’t all that different from others.  However, embracing not only the differences but commonalities, can make huge strides in recruitment and retention of this valuable talent pool.

The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futures or Penton Agriculture.