How to promote work-life balance in agribusiness: 5 tips from agricultural recruiters

In essence, the goal of work-life balance is overall stress reduction. It's a proven fact that taking the time to learn how to make room for balance can benefit both your employees' well-being and overall job performance.

In this guide, we'll look into some tips you'll be able to use to reap the advantages of work-life balance within your organization.

1. Communicate with your employees

Facilitating open communication is one of the easiest and most effective ways for both employers and employees to get feedback on what works in the workplace and what doesn't.

Although no one likes bad news, when you're running a business, it's definitely better to hear it sooner rather than later. One way to make sure your employees are comfortable coming to you is to model transparency and be approachable. Share as much information as you can from top to bottom, and you'll notice your employees start to do the same.

In addition to building trust and respect among your workforce, maintaining an open communication channel will also make it easier to spot signs of burnout among your employees and contribute to your company culture.

2. Think about your workplace culture

Whether you've consciously selected your workplace culture or simply let it develop over time, your workplace has a culture. The quality and characteristics of your workplace culture not only contribute to job satisfaction and morale among current employees, but can attract (or discourage) future employees.

Take a moment and list the qualities and values of your ideal workplace from an employee's perspective, and compare them to the personality of your company.

3. Know the signs of burnout

All workers in all industries experience stress at one time or another; The worry is when this stress increases and turns into exhaustion that affects daily work and personal life. Unfortunately, certain characteristics of the agricultural industry make it especially prone to depletion.

Farming naturally requires a unique level of commitment and hard work. Employees in agriculture reflect not only that, but also an admirable high level of pride and independence in what they do.

Knowing the signs is the first step. The next step is to make efforts to relieve stress on current employees.

4. Lighten the load on your employees

With a limited workforce and jobs that can't wait, it can be especially difficult to find ways to ease the workload on your employees. However, it's important to remember that getting the job done right is more important than doing it, and actually saves you resources in the long run.

In addition to attracting more employees, which is possibly the clearest way to relieve stress for current employees, there are other methods you can use to relieve pressure and avoid burnout.

• Implement mandatory cut-off hours. While many employees will work overtime at night without being asked, getting enough sleep is important for both overall health and overall job performance. Not only are your sleep deprived employee more likely to make mistakes that take time and resources to undo, but they can also put themselves and others at risk.
• Rotate shifts. Rotating shifts and responsibilities can help employees not only by constantly avoiding late hours, but also by keeping things interesting. However, try to take into account the preferences of the employees; Don't give your employee a hating shift if you can help it, as this will decrease engagement and overall job satisfaction.
• Encourage communication. This includes management clearly defining job expectations and responsibilities, as well as allowing employees to admit when they need help. Foster a community and culture where people feel comfortable leaning on each other for help.
• Offer flexible options when possible. Allow employees to go home early, take time off to spend with family, or take care of family matters. Peak season or not, your employees are human and not just farm workers. When you recognize that they have off-farm lives that take priority, it takes some of the pressure off them and allows them to rest more fully, which translates to better participation and performance in the workplace.

5. Attract new hires

Common sense states that the simplest way to ease the burden on your employee and avoid burnout is to attract new hires. This may seem tricky when you have the industry's reputation for poor work-life balance against you, but with a little thought and creativity, you may find that there are some avenues you haven't tried yet.

• Think about your company culture. Put yourself in the shoes of your employees: would you recommend your friends to work for this company? What would it take to create an environment in which you would be proud to work?
• Prioritize work-life balance. Showing that you view employees as human beings and not just cogs in the machine can help attract new hires who would otherwise be put off by the reputation of the industry.
• Assess what your business has to offer. Think not only about the payment, but also about the benefits and advantages. You are competing not only against other companies within the agricultural industry, but against other industries as well. At the very least, employees should be fairly compensated for their work, but what else do they offer? How do your insurance and leisure policies compare? Company field trips, free lunches, and wellness incentives are some other affordable ideas.
• Consider alternative sources of work. Advertise to college students looking for late-night schedules and partner with industries that have opposite peak seasons or shifted hours. A farm recruiting company can also help do some of the work of attracting new talent.
• Be selective. Although it can be difficult to get new recruits, hiring an employee who really wants to be there and is dedicated to what he does can save you time and resources when hiring a long-term replacement. Consider how this person will contribute to the chemistry and environment of the workplace.

Remember: After doing the work to find new employees, you must do the work to retain them. Be the type of employer you would like to work for. You can browse latest jobs here!

Conclusive thoughts

While it's not always easy, there are ways to create space for work-life balance in your farm or agribusiness operation. It is important to understand that neglecting to create a work-life balance is counterproductive and indeed detrimental in the long run for both your employees and your company.

Need help with your agricultural recruitment or agricultural executive search? Agricultural Appointments is a leader in recruiting and advertising jobs for agriculture, food production, wine, agronomy and more.