Engaging and Retaining Leaders in Future Workforce Preparation: Insights from Agricultural HR Experts

By Megan Seibel -- 

Recently, I had the pleasure of listening to a webinar sponsored by several national agricultural education organizations entitled, “Empowering Agricultural Education: Engaging and Retaining Leaders for Future Workforce Preparation.” Human resource experts from BASF, Elanco, and Syngenta shared insights related to wants and needs of future workforce, and how agricultural education can support both educators and students to address these needs in preparing for the future. 

While the primary target audience of this session was educators of secondary students, the topics discussed proved to be in direct alignment with the programmatic goals of post-secondary education and training programs. When it comes to leadership skills sought by employers, there are ways to develop and enforce them at multiple times throughout a student’s education. Interest in particular careers may be planted early, so that they come to community college, university, and career and technical training programs eager to hone the leadership and management skills necessary to help their technical skills shine. 

Several questions were posed to panelists with expressive and insightful responses throughout the dialog. Highlights of the discussion are captured here. 

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As an HR leader in your company, what do you see as the single most important attribute for incoming employees? 

While technical skills, education, and experience are things often highlighted on the resume of a young employee, we know that company and trade-specific skills can be taught, and on-the job education also brings experience. The leadership “soft” skills, however, are often the most desirable. Among them, are communication and collaboration skills, agility and the ability to think on your feet, desire to try something new, a willingness to fail and learn from that failure, curiosity, the ability to move ahead even with vague instructions, and characteristics of resiliency in times of stress. 

Casandra Carter, a Senior HR Generalist with Syngenta North America Seeds, stressed the importance of communication and collaboration skills, including problem solving and conflict management, that enable employees to work across functions. Working in teams is a reality of today’s work environment and students need to develop the ability to be successful in teams as a skill that can be carried into employment. 

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The ability to learn independently and with others, is particularly important in a fast-paced tech environment, where learned skills are sometimes obsolete almost as soon as they are mastered. Flexibility and the “agility to pivot and learn something new” becomes critical, said Jennifer Overholt, Collegiate Relations and Early Talent Development Manager with BASF. 

How can leaders in agricultural education help the agricultural industry workforce today, tomorrow and into the future? 

In order to collectively develop our agricultural workforce, Jen Overholt posited that bringing industry and educators together helps us all prepare for future success. Educators can understand the needs of employers and, in turn, employers will get an idea of who is coming up through the pipeline in order to adapt employment models as well. A critical element is developing a culture of lifelong learning.“ 

Creating opportunities for life experiences and work in the real world” can be done through internships and job shadowing, said Mel Halkyard, Vice President, Elanco Global Digital Transformation and US Pet Health Medicine and Customer Marketing. Such situations afford students a chance to get a better idea of particular types of job and career opportunities, a “day-in-the-life” so to speak, which affords insight into what type of job environment and skill set may be worth pursuing through additional education. 

And, an insightful reminder was shared by Neil Bentley, Vice President Market Management at BASF, that while acknowledgment of participation is important, students also need to understand that some things require effort, that failure is part of learning, and that there is opportunity to learn and grow from that [success and failure] and be rewarded for that growth.

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What are the best ways you engage, motivate and retain employees within your company? 

Generally speaking, empowerment and confidence are valuable. These are developed when young employees know what the expectations are; the difference between strict expectations and parameters and the places where some flexibility may be leveraged. Knowing when and how to ask questions and listen to feedback are invaluable skills. Syngenta employs a strategy they call “Pause to Talk” where every employee knows that their manager will be stopping to check in and see how things are going on their career path. At BASF, a sense of community and belonging are developed with an investment in employee growth and opportunity using a simple 70-20-10 rule (which may vary in other companies). Simply stated, it is: 70% experience -what in the next year will help you develop and hold you accountable; 20% who you learn from, such as mentors and teammates; and 10% education, training and professional development.

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Key Takeaway 

Acknowledging, identifying, and talking about key employment skills for agricultural workforce leaders is a great first step. Encouraging, engaging, and supporting both educators and students is the critical next step in application toward successful outcomes. Interactive and iterative experiences foster reflective learning, which we know is more transformational than transactional and leads to longer term development of leadership skills across career sectors. The complex challenges of our global environment require a ready and agile workforce and it is our job as educators to stand ready to respond and foster the next generation.