Recruiting suitable staff has become more difficult in recent times, forcing many to rethink how they operate their businesses.
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Identifying what it takes to be an employer of choice needs to be front and centre of every employer's thinking.
A good starting point is for employers to ask themselves if they have the necessary people skills to be a good staff manager.
If the answer is no, identifying the areas that require improvement, then setting about upskilling them should be the focus.
In some cases, there are individuals who should never manage people and coming to that realisation sooner than later is essential.
That said, I do believe most people can change but they must want to change for a good outcome.
Most of us were never formally trained in communication, negotiation and emotional intelligence yet they are pivotal to becoming a good staff manager.
An incredible number of employers just focus on the skills a potential employee will bring to the business but I believe it all starts with attitude. You should recruit for attitude and train for skills.
Attitude is very much formed as a result of the culture of the business and culture is built on values.
Trust, honesty, integrity, dedicated work, growth, responsibility, discipline, teamwork, time management, fulfilling promises and empathy are some my more important values.
Quite often a dispute or argument can be traced back to the lack of shared values.
If an employer wants a good employee, they need to treat them as well as they would like to be treated themselves - this will require the employer to climb into the employee's shoes.
Some employers do not realise how good an employee was until after they leave.
Where an exceptional employee is gained, it is important to think outside the square as to how she or he can be retained.
Good employees usually need to grow and training is a good starting point.
Added responsibility is another part of the growth journey and of course additional reward should never be overlooked.
Reward is not always about increased wages, flexibility of time, upgrades on housing and the odd fringe benefit never go astray.
In the future I can foresee equity partnerships becoming more common.
This may take the form of an employee having a percentage ownership in the crop, machinery or livestock.
On some farms this becomes difficult as some workers are better at their job than the employee's son or daughter.
On some farms I continue to see elements of the landlord and servant culture still existing.
With opportunities elsewhere, this will need to disappear, otherwise the landlord will be left high and dry when it comes to employees.
If you are to become an 'employer of choice", it is critical to have the employees identify the values in need of improvement and owning the process to improve it.
While setting an example is important, building the culture of the business should be a "one in, all in" and everyone will then take ownership for making the workplace a better place to be.
In marketing the saying goes, "a satisfied customer is a repeat customer is a referral customer" and the same applies to good employment.
Word of mouth is usually the best advertising and building a reputation as a preferred employer should not only result in a more enjoyable workplace but a more profitable business.
