Horticulture faces a ‘perfect storm’ of labour challenges at the moment.

Across the NZ economy it’s currently challenging to find staff at any level, let alone good-quality staff. We at The Breakthrough work with employers across many industries, and they tell us that having a talent strategy is now every bit as important as having a market strategy. Most businesses report no trouble finding customers, but they’re struggling to meet demand because of labour limitations.

Download our guide NZ Horticulture: Addressing critical labour challenges to transform the way you think about Horticulture management training.

The Rules of the Labour Market

It’s important to remember that labour is a market like any other. It’s subject to the same rules of supply and demand: when supply is limited and demand is high, the price goes up. And that’s what we’re seeing.

We’ve long maintained that the principles and practices of marketing apply as much to talent as they do to customers. For example, it’s really helpful to apply the find/win/keep/grow marketing framework to your talent strategy.

These days we take it a step further: the toughest competition we face now is not for new clients, it’s for people. We’re hearing extraordinary stories about what businesses are prepared to pay to get or keep the best people.

But it’s bigger than that. In marketing, you will be more successful if you understand and play to your competitive advantage. In labour, you will be more successful if you understand your competitive point of difference as an employer — why someone should work for you.

Find more solutions for the seasonal labour shortage here here.

How to Improve Your Position In the Horticulture Labour Market

Talent is becoming more demanding and discerning. Employees have a wealth of opportunities today and the market is very much in their favour.

We see that in wages and salaries rising across the board, and changes in generational expectations of employer behaviour. A lot of people have come into the market without any experience of recession and they have been conditioned to expect non-financial benefits like flexibility and work–life balance. They also want more support for their professional development. According to the HR Industry Benchmark Survey Report 2021 by HR system provider ELMO:

·        59 per cent of frontline leaders want more formal workshops, training courses and seminars than they are getting. This rose to 65 per cent in Millennial leaders.

·        49 per cent of leaders want more coaching from their manager, and 57 per cent want more external coaching.

It’s always been hard to keep good people but COVID has made it so much harder: a global survey of 30,000 workers by Microsoft found that 41 per cent were considering quitting or changing professions this year. In the US, more than four million quit their jobs in April 2021 according to a summary from the Department of Labor — the biggest spike on record. Some economists are talking about the ‘Great Resignation’.

It has never been more important to have a strong employment brand, built on a brand promise of fairness, consistency and respect. And here’s the thing: it’s your managers who deliver your promise. They define your employees’ workplace experience. According to Gallup, 70 per cent of the reasons people give for leaving a job relate to their manager.

FREE GUIDE

NZ Horticulture: Addressing critical labour challenges

Download our guide to transform the way you think about Horticulture management training.