2. Surviving the Storm:
Recruitment and Retention Strategies
for Businesses of Every Size
Moderator:
Speaker:
Paul Schrimpf
Group Editor
CropLife Media Group
paul@croplife.com
Mark Waschek
Recruiting Consultant – Partner
Ag 1 Source
markwaschek@ag1source.com
Mark Esfeld
Recruiting Consultant – Partner
Ag 1 Source
markesfeld@ag1source.com
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3. Today’s Forecast
The Employment Situation
The impact of Geography, Education
& Retirement
Weatherproofing
Understand and Reduce Turnover
Recruiting Talented Employees
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4. Why Worry About The Storm?
• People are your most important asset –
Ultimately, your customer will figure out
where the best people are working
• Your ability to Hire and retain employees IS
your competitive advantage in the future
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8. Changes in Overall Employment
In 5 years, the
overall U.S.
employment is
expected to
increase by about
12 million.
Source – Georgetown Univ.
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9. The Education Component
• The Demand for college educated is outpacing
supply at a rate of 300,000 per year.
• By 2018, the postsecondary system will have
produced 3 million fewer college graduates than
demanded by the labor market –
– Source – Georgetown University Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements
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11. USDA/Purdue Sales and
Business Degree Predictions
24,000 Annual Openings
20,188 Ag and Allied graduates to fill those
positions
We are 3,822 graduates every year short of
filling all of the open sales and business
related positions which will compound the
problem year after year
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12. Employment Trends
• 50% of the agriculture employee base will retire in the
next 10 years--Baby Boomers
• The graduation rate of Ag degrees for Ag jobs is
decreasing at 3% per year
• The consolidation in Ag Business and farm level
economics from 1996-2005 have pushed many people
out of Ag—We probably won’t get them back
Source—Farm Credit Administration and 2005 USDA data.
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13. Impact of Employment Trends
Hiring the really smart farm kid with the right
personality may no longer be an option
“Rock Star” mentality
Rural population and farm family decline
Competing with other ag companies
Compensation is trending up faster than the
general economy
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14. Our Future Employees
• Fewer Have Agricultural Backgrounds.
(UC Davis Claims Less Than 5% In The College Of Ag Have Ag Backgrounds.)
• More Ag Background Students Are Returning Back To
Their “Baby Boomer” Parents’ or Grandparents’
Operations.
• Student Population Is Now About 60% Female And
40% Male. Complete Reversal From 5 Years Ago.
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15. The Perfect Storm
Ag Background
Applicants
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Total Labor
Supply
Aggressive
Competitors
Retirements
Turnover
16. If you are looking for a mid-career, college educated, experienced individual with skill
requirements, and located in the Heartland of the country
A MAJOR STORM IS HEADED YOUR WAY
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17. Weatherproof Your Organization
• As Talent Becomes More Scarce, All Ag Businesses
Will Have To Become More Focused On:
–
–
–
–
Reducing Turnover
Streamline Hiring Process
Hire based on Performance vs. Skills
Flexibility
• Trainer or mentor
• Enable/ Encourage Education
• 55+ age group
– Becoming a Destination Employer
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18. The Eye Of The
Storm
Employee Turnover
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20. Perception vs. Reality
• 89% of managers believe employees leave for
more money
• 11% believe they leave for other reasons
• 12% of employees leave for more money
• 88% of employees leave for reasons other than
money
Saratoga Institute 2003
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21. Take Your Cues From Why Employees Leave
Numbers taken from research provided by the Saratoga Institute – research from 1996-2004
{
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Lack of Respect
Lack of leadership
Favoritism
Poor employee relations
Incompetence
Lack of Technical Skills
}
Supervisor - 32%
Limited Growth - 16%
Compensation - 12%
Unchallenged - 10%
Work hours - 6%
Unavoidable reasons - 5%
Lack of recognition - 4%
Poor conditions - 3%
Training - 3%
Poor Senior Leadership - 2%
Discrimination - 1%
Harassment - 1%
Benefits - 1%
Coworkers attitude - 1%
22. 2012 Ag Retail Job Satisfaction
20%
35%
Very Satisfied
Neither Satisfied or
Unsatisfied
Negative
45%
Survey conducted June 2012 by Ag1Source.
More information can be found in the
September, October, and November 2012 issues
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23. Communication is Key to Retention
Is your employer
providing you with
enough resources to
learn the business?
100%
Does your Employer
share enough info so
you understand the
direction?
100%
71%
72%
50%
28%
0%
50%
29%
0%
Yes
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No
Yes
No
Job Satisfaction
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
35%
Negative
24. Employees Need Answers
•
•
•
•
•
•
Where are we going as a company?
How are we getting there?
How do you expect me to contribute?
How am I doing?
What is my career path?
How will I get the skills necessary to keep me on that
path?
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25. Employees want knowledge
so they can be better!
6 Steps to knowledge transfer
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Determine what knowledge needs to be transferred
Assign knowledge to who needs it
Build a delivery timeline
Make each goal measurable
Make sure the plan is simple to execute
Make knowledge transfer a piece of the companies
culture
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The most trusted and
26. The Cost Of Turnover
•
Average US cost of losing an employee is
equal to their annual salary
• A company with 20% turnover, 100 employees, and an
average salary of $40,000 has an annual loss of
$800,000 due to just employee turnover
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27. A Failure To Plan Is A Plan To Fail
You know that you need to hire,
but most importantly,
You must know what you are
looking for……
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28. Study Your Best Performers
• Identify the traits that make your high performers—HIGH
PERFORMERS
• Identify the core personality type of top performers
• Performance Profile – What is your definition of success?
Can they do what you expect in 3, 12, and 36 months?
• Is it really the job experience that you need or is it the right
Behavioral traits?
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29. People are hired for what they
can do, and are fired for who
they are
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30. Great Employees Are Great
Recruiters!
• After last spring 31%
of agronomy
employees were NOT
looking to make a
change and were
happy with their
employer
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• After last spring 27%
of respondents would
be highly likely to
recommend their
employer to a friend
looking for a job
The most trusted and
31. The Passive vs. Active Difference
Most candidates that apply to
jobs on their own are “Active”
applicants – 17% on average
of the work force
Active
Passive - 83%
Active - 17%
Passive
Explorers - 40%
Active
Tiptoers - 15%
Explorers
Super Passive - 28%
Super Passive
Active - 17%
Tip-toer’s
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“Explorers” and “Tip-toer’s” (55%) of potential candidates
that will listen to a compelling
opportunity, one that could
substantially improve their
career.
33. Convert a Career into Words
What’s the EVP?
Why would a top, fully-employed
person take this position?
Impact, Growth, Company
Long term component of a career
move – the becoming!
FUTURE
PRESENT
Performance Profile
What do the best do?
Build team
Improve process
Complete project
Short term component of a
career move – DOING not
HAVING
Lead with EVP DOING Having
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PAST
Job Description
Skills
Experience
Academics
Industry
Competencies
Responsibilities
34. Career Movers seek 30% value improvement.
Seeking to find Passives that are willing to listen to the EVP.
There is value in: (positive or negative)
• Career track or a future that aligns better for their goals
• More challenging or engaging work duties
• Compensation (rarely more than 15%)
• Benefits
• Better supervisor
• Geography
• Better hours
• And more…How about a family atmosphere?
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35. Become a Destination Employer
Example of an existing business • Reduced Turnover – Low turnover is much more attractive to
candidates-9%
• Brand Building - Utilize colleges, trade schools, and the community
to find well-qualified candidates & build brand reputation
• Internships – Challenging internships with the hope of bringing them
on as FT employees
• Recruiting Services – Make sure the recruiters they use focus on
screening candidates against both position description and company
culture
• Company Culture – create culture where everyone is bringing in
talent to fuel the organization
• Of most importance – Led by a leader who embraces constant
internal recruiting.
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36. The Key To A Weatherproofing
Strategy
- People will forget what you said, will forget
what you did, but people will never forget
how you made them feel – Maya Angelou
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