The high country could be the last bastion for a good keen bloke in New Zealand’s increasingly diverse farm employment tapestry.
But Nuffield Scholar Hamish Murray’s work on the changing nature of farm work highlights how even that bastion of stalwart farming types needs to change to remain a relevant, exciting and desirable place to work for a new generation.
His home base at Bluff Station in the Clarence River Valley brings plenty of daily challenges in addition to the unexpected trauma of earthquake damage and repair that has occupied many in the region for the past few seasons.
On a broader, long-term level Murray was prompted to use his year of Nuffield study to look at how to better attract and retain a new generation of staff expecting frequent feedback, communication and input from farm bosses.
“We are now at a point where there are more New Zealanders born after 1980 than before it and the generation who tend to be employers, particularly in high-country operations, will tend to fall before then rather than after.”
With that comes a disparity between what the older generation perceive as being a good boss and how that comes across to staff.
“And it seems every farmer you talk to, and this includes all over the world, will tell you the single biggest challenge for them is to get and keep good staff.
“We are talking a younger generation who are so different from their equivalents in the 1950s, 60s and even 70s. They have come through a schooling system where they are getting constant feedback, they have grown up in an environment where computer responses to questions are rapid and they expect that in their workplace too.”
He emphasises the nature of the feedback does not always have to be positive and aggrandising.
“They are as ambitious as any generation before them but their means of measuring and improving is that level of feedback.”
An insight on feedback value came through a chance encounter with San Francisco gaming company Kongregate, developer of more than 110,000 online games.
“Through constant positive and negative feedback players have the opportunity to navigate their own paths. Similar research sits behind some of our most popular social media websites and the clever ways we are hooked in through constant notifications, constant feedback is fascinating.
“Traditionally, farming leaders are not good at feedback and a real gap exists in our workplaces and teams and opportunity presents itself. Done well, it is the difference between the disengaged and engaged.”
Figures indicating about 50% of the working population describe themselves as disengaged from their work should also give more potency to providing feedback.
A simple process of checking, asking, sharing intentions and providing specific observations puts the role of a senior leader closer to that of a coach rather than boss when working with this generation.
“Farming tends to naturally self-select for the people who want to be there but people often leave a job not because of the work but because of the team or the boss they work with.”
Studying the culture of the team in his scholarship year Murray ended up looking closer to home and the success enjoyed by Canterbury’s Crusaders.
“It is their ability to have clear goals and a vision and to use a collaborate process that engages with all players and members.They are big on reflection and feedback while leadership is about coaching people to solve their own challenges.”
The effort to tap into and understand each player’s personality and learning style results in a varied delivery method that combines visual, verbal and kinesthetic communication.
“There is a big emphasis on using your soft skills to communicate and it is ingrained in their culture.
“In farming this can be applied.
“We need to give time and consideration to our team and ask them what they want their workplace to be. We do get caught up in the day-to-day operations and don’t take time to think about how we can make it work.”
Murray’s team of seven permanent staff makes a point of taking smoko time together whenever possible, using the break as a chance to relax and catch up but also recognising it as an integral activity they share as a team.
“I realise the members of your team can change quickly but feel like we are in a good space for the team to adapt and accept new members. The leadership comes from within the group.”
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