How Do You Improve External Culture When You Can’t Move the Farm?
If you want your employees to stick around for a while, improving your internal culture can only take you so far. Jorge Delgado, training and talent development lead for Alltech T²R Program, says external culture is critical.
As more and more agricultural workers come to the U.S. from foreign countries, external culture is becoming increasingly important. People want to feel close to their community and sometimes that is challenging.
“They're looking for communities where they can find people with similar passions from sports to food and from religion to communication,” Delgado says.
This means employers need to look outside of their business culture to the community they live in to see if it supports their employees, he adds.
One of the things Alltech does to build external culture is to organize a soccer tournament once a year where they invite their customers to attend with their employees and families. They have door prizes, games, food and ultimately create a safe environment for families to have fun and get to know each other better.
“I know employers can’t move their operations,” Delgado says. “But they can rely on external parties like vendors, commercial companies, etc., to organize events in the community.”
Read the series Don't Complicate the Labor Crisis: Take Care of People.
More from Farm Journal's PORK:
Antibiotic Resistance in 2020: Fight Fiction with Facts
USMEF Audio: U.S. Ready to Reclaim Red Meat Market Share in Japan
