Horticulture companies invest millions in technology to improve productivity and work around their labour challenges, but have not traditionally invested so much in training key frontline staff, and it’s no wonder why.

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

Upskilling new supervisors who manage the majority of seasonal labour is always a challenge because there is often limited time between their appointment and the start of the busy season. As a result, training tends to focus on downloading the technical and functional skills they need to do their job, not the soft skills of management.

Read more about the core skills required for great seasonal operational leaders here.

Our research suggests that this is starting to bite. Companies are struggling to reach establishment levels, even allowing for the COVID constraints. We are seeing higher than usual absenteeism and lower return rates affecting production and ultimately profitability. Exit interviews revealed that the key reason for early exits and absenteeism was the employees’ perceptions of their treatment by their managers.

This is not surprising. The leading cause of dissatisfaction for employees in every industry and in every organisation is the quality of their manager. This may be even more pronounced in horticulture: the pressures and stresses of the packing/harvest season coupled with a lack of ongoing training means horticulture managers often don’t have all the tools they need for a difficult job.

Some companies have invested in training their managers, and they’ve run into the other part of the problem: traditional training solutions don’t work well in most industries, but they are even less effective in seasonal industries where access to casual and transient labour is restricted. The horticulture industry needs a new approach.

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NZ Horticulture: Addressing critical labour challenges

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