Category: Action4Youth

How do you fix a problem not enough people seem to realise we have?

My post yesterday came from a place of deep hurt. In fact my entire world is driven by my emotions.

When I came back to agriculture 20 years ago I knew there was a very good reason why I left in the first place. I didn’t want to milk cows but I did want to use my talents ( whatever they were ) to get the best outcomes for the industry my family loved so much.

It turned out I did have a talent I didn’t know I had and that was designing and delivering action learning programs for young people 

To hone my talent I sought our John Hutchison and Deanne Kennedy at JayDee events who have been delivering Cows Create Careers for the dairy industry.

John and Deanne are magnificent humans and together with Cathy Phelps ( who at the time headed up the Natural Resources Management department at Dairy Australia) we created a farmer focused first iteration of Picasso Cows where young people in primary schools explored healthy landscapes, clean waterways and energy efficient dairies. I got it funded and piloted it for two years and then Dairy Australia wanted it.

The first Picasso Cows were traffic stoppers

I was aware the budget would be in Marketing and Communications (M&C) . The people who run schools’ engagement at Dairy Australia are nutritional experts. The Dairy Australia version of Picasso Cows would not be farmer focused and instead have a health and nutrition focus

All well and good, that is their area of expertise,  but not my passion so I walked away. Handed over all the IP everything for no remuneration and knew that it was in good hands been looked after by John and Deanne.

Is Picasso Cows still being looked after by John and Deanne? No it isn’t. When will people in Marketing and Communications realise grass roots programs are successful because they are grass roots programs and the best people to deliver them are the grass roots ?

A couple of years ago Dairy Australia made the decision to no longer fund Cows Create Careers . It was so rewarding to see the farmers go into battle to have Dairy Australia reverse their decision. As I said John and Deanne are magnificent humans, they have a rapport with the demographic of farmers I don’t- the over 45’s

I also created a highly successful series called “Jhet and Emma – A Day in the Life of Two Young Girls working on a Dairy Farm ” series for the NSW DPI LandLearn program. The DPI insisted it be housed on their website. When they shut down LandLearn did they let me know the Jhet and Emma series would disappear into the ether? No they did not. Hours and hours and hours of pro bono time and a highly successful education series gone forever .

And this was just the beginning of the extractive world of agriculture I found myself in. After 20 years I feel like an abused housewife who knows deep down no matter how much people say they are going to change, the problem is too endemic, yet she keeps going back for more.

So I ask myself, why is the culture in agriculture like this and there is a good reason

Everyday WE ( Australians) wake up expecting food at rock bottom prices to be a birth rite. We are asking farmers to do what they do and we aren’t prepared to value it. The system proliferates this mindset. The supermarkets wake up everyday on a race to the bottom competing on price alone.

Food is 10% of income in this country. 70 years ago it was 50%. Our farmers getting up everyday to produce food at rock bottom prices gives us a disposable income to spend on other things.

Our farmers feel undervalued. The sector feels undervalued. Undervalued people tend to focus on problems and don’t have the energy to seek out solutions. They tend not to value people who do.

Change starts with us

How do we start the regenerative process?

 

 

Best practice workforce development – what does success look like?

I am very excited that the charity I founded has received National Careers Institute funding to prototype and pilot a model for best practice workforce development.

I am putting a lot of pressure on me and the people I am surrounding myself with to ensure we deliver a successful model that is replicable and scalable by any industry.

Working in agriculture for the last 20 years I have seen so much money wasted.

I have also seen people and organisations delivering pockets of brilliance . How impressive is this People in Agriculture  which is a partnership between a number of agricultural sectors leveraging the brilliance of the people at Dairy Australia who created People in Dairy

In the first instance – surely we could all work miracles if we bought the pockets of brilliance together so we could learn from each other because this is what people committed to best outcomes for the people they serve do.

Whilst I have seen some brilliance at Dairy Australia  I have seen a lot of things that don’t make any sense to me at all. My area of expertise is designing and delivering programs that empower young people to take action on issues that matter to them.

I created Picasso Cows for Dairy Australia. That  meant I have worked with their Marketing and Communications teams because that’s were the budget for school engagement sits.

Can agriculture fix its images and perceptions issues through marketing and communication?

I am 100% confident that it cant.

The only way we ( farmers and the businesses that support us) can attract and keep employees is by being the places that people are proud to work for.

This requires the capacity and capability to self reflect on our businesses. Simple things like how does my business present to the public. One example rubbish and piles of old machinery lying around are not a good look.

I spent 25 years working in the world of retail. We got taught this stuff. Who is helping people in agriculture self reflect.

When we get ourselves right THEN and only then can we let the people in marketing and communications do their thing  with confidence

Organisations like Dairy Australia can lead by example and show us how its done.

Lets start by taking the pressure off the Marketing and Communications team – they cant fix things that are out of their control

In 2022 will we have the courage to hold up a mirror to ourselves and ask the big question ?

Our Young Farming Champions are participating in a series of workshops with Cynthia Mahoney doing a deep dive into Alexandra Carter’s groundbreaking book “Ask for More” 

I am enjoying the sessions and this resonated with me

Many people believe that it takes two to make a conflict, but you only need one car to have an accident! When you examine what brought you to this place, you’ll have better information to help you move through it. If you’re internally stuck, you can still go through both sides of the situation and look at the conflicting feelings, patterns, and facts that are leading to the stagnation you feel.

Today I sent our Impact Report to our funding partners. I shared my personal joy at getting the best return on investment for the organisations we work with who have all recognised investing in young people (K-12, higher education, early career) is where Australia is going to have the most impact.   Young people may only be 20% of the population but they are 100% of the future and very importantly young people are aware and they are active and they have the capacity to take others on the journey .   

I shared that 2022 has been a rewarding year for me.

      • The highlight has been getting $ from the National Careers Institute to protype a workforce strategy that any sector can replicate and scale.
      • Receiving state Government and Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation funding for the Young Environmental Champions program
      • Our YFC being invited to speak at conferences across the world

I also shared my frustrations and hopes and dreams

Whilst I enjoy supporting young people (K-12, higher education and early career) to take action on issues that matter to them, the agriculture sector remains a sector I don’t understand and continues to frustrate me.

Notably:

    • The agriculture invests in programs that aim to lift young people up whilst the wider culture in the sector rewards them for learning to fit in, for staying small, for not self-promoting.  Cynthia Mahoney touched on it in a recent YFC workshop  
    • The agriculture sector is desperately short of labour but has no workforce strategy
    • The agriculture sector has very black mark for modern slavery – yet appears to makes no real effort to address it

In 2022 will we have the courage to hold up a mirror to ourselves and ask the big question ?

 

Agriculture – how do we make it an esoteric career choice no more????

I remember when I was returning to the farm and still doing a few shifts in pharmacy and I would meet new people and they asked me what was my day job I would alternate between saying I was a farmer and a pharmacist

I remember vividly the day some -one replied “That’s an esoteric career” when I said I was a farmer . ( BTW I had to look up the word esoteric later)

This inspired me to go on a journey and work with the Action4Agriculture Young Farming Champions to “normalise” careers in agriculture.

How are we doing that?

We start by telling people agriculture- farming, food and fibre is so much more than the farm

  • It starts before the farm with custodianship of the land and the sea.
  • It progresses to encompass the farm itself;
  • The stage between the farm gate and the point of sale, which includes value-adding; and shaping of, and by, buyers’ preferences.
  • Throughout the process, there is a significant supply chain component.
  • None of the players in any of these stages stands alone. They are all linked in a web of interdependencies, where harm to one weakens the whole (for example, poor labour hire practices injure the reputation of the whole sector); and, conversely, enhancement of one strengthens the whole (for example, a focus on continuous learning in one industry spills over into another).
  • Cooperation among the players in the various stages benefits the entire sector more than if one gains a temporary benefit by disadvantaging another.
  • Unlike the 20th century, the 21st century has seen a growing realisation in the various elements of the Australian agriculture (farming, food and fibre) sector that they all hang together, and that cooperation is more constructive than conflict.

Source 

Then we go on a journey to show and tell and highlight:

We talk about where the growth jobs in agriculture will be in the future

And we advocate to ensure that everyone feels physically, emotionally and identity safe in their workplaces

And we share this with the world in our monthly Muster 

 

A career in agriculture is not for the faint hearted – Do we spend enough time building human capital and resilience ? 

I am forever curious and I spent yesterday reading the National Agricultural Workforce Strategy 

A career in agriculture is not for the faint hearted – Do we spend enough time building human capital and resilience . Graphics source 

The strategy confirms that Australian agriculture is a complex and sophisticated system. Its performance relies heavily on the quality of its people. It highlights the need to:

  • modernise agriculture’s image
  • attract and keep workers
  • embrace innovation
  • build skills for modern agriculture
  • treat workers ethically.

I love the way the report talks about agriculture being so much more than the farm and to recognise this the committee chose to use the term “Agrifood”

It is a spectrum comprising a number of stages. Starting before the farm with custodianship of the land and the sea, it progresses to encompass the farm itself; the stage between the farm gate and the point of sale, which includes value-adding; and shaping of, and by, buyers’ preferences. Ultimately it is the end consumer’s preferences that dictate the workings of each stage. Throughout the process, there is a significant supply chain component.

It goes on to say

None of the players in any of these stages stands alone. They are all linked in a web of interdependencies, where harm to one weakens the whole (for example, poor labour hire practices injure the reputation of the whole sector); and, conversely, enhancement of one strengthens the whole (for example, a focus on continuous learning in one industry spills over into another). Cooperation among the players in the various stages benefits the entire sector more than if one gains a temporary benefit by disadvantaging another. Unlike the 20th century, the 21st century has seen a growing realisation in the various elements of the Australian AgriFood sector that they all hang together, and that cooperation is more constructive than conflict.

The committee noted with concern

 the converging problems of agricultural workforce shortages, reduced employment opportunities for young people and poor perceptions of agricultural jobs and careers.

 

As we face increasingly complex major global and domestic challenges, Australia’s social and economic future is reliant on a fit-for-purpose education system and easy to navigate training pathways that equip young people with the skills they need to transition through school, to higher education and/or the workplace and thrive

The committee then made this beautiful statement

If the sector places capability development of its people at its core, if a general recognition prevails that this is a highly diverse sector encompassing a number of stages, if the ultimate arbiter is acknowledged to be the expectations of citizens and the tastes of consumers, if industry leaders rise to the challenge, and if they unite to plan actively to recruit and educate the new workforce, Australian AgriFood will not just survive in the 21st century. It will thrive.

I came to agriculture from a 25 year career in retail and I have always been frustrated by the lack of desire or lack of availability in the agriculture sector to upskill from a human capital perspective.

For example  I spent 3 years at uni learning pharmacology – my degree did not prepare me for the world of retail but the University of New England and Financial Management Research Centre (FMRC)  filled that gap 30 years ago. I don’t know of anything similar in agriculture except the Rabobank Business Management offering . I havent done the Rabobank course so I don’t know if it covers team management and motivations.

I was so impressed by the FMRC course I still have the manual 30 years later

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Is agriculture having enough conversations with our team members? Are we doing regular surveys like this one from McKinsey? What do we know about our team members?

There is some very important work being done by Professor Peter McIlveen and Dr Nicole McDonald looking at the Vocational psychology of agriculture. (e.g., the skill, knowledge, openness to change, and motivation of farmers). Their research couldn’t come at a more important time

This research by McKinsey shows why we shouldn’t guess and why the research is so important. 

Source 

Agriculture creating a culture where people feel physically, emotionally and identity safe

This is the fifth article in a series that looks at the Action4Youth workforce Attract-Train-Retain workforce strategy and road map  model created by the Action4Agriculture team in partnership with Professor Felicity Blackstock. 

The model acknowledges careers’ awareness starts in primary school and leverages the relationships that Action4Agriculture’s school programs have developed with schools over the past 15 years

It was rewarding to see the announcement yesterday that the cotton industry is increasing its investment in understanding people and how they think, feel and behave.  

One of the key elements of the Action4Youth model is the pastoral care package.  If agriculture is going to Attract, Train and RETAIN people, they must feel physically, emotionally and identity safe in their workplaces

The graphics shown above have been created for a program aimed at attracting young people who are disengaged from school to the foundation careers on farm/in the oceans for the dairy, fishing and wool industries

It can be adapted, replicated and scaled (or shrunk) for all industries.

Interestingly enough that is where it is getting the most traction. There are no shortage of industries with dollars to invest in best practice workforce engagement strategies that don’t have what agriculture has.

The question is are we making the most of what we have?

Agriculture is not alone in having a huge labour shortage.

With Australia’s  birthrate at its lowest ever level of 1.6 (more people choosing career over having children) and reduced accessed to overseas workers we are going to have to be very committed to building and investing in relationship building with the next gen workforce. We have to be equally committed to agriculture being the image we want the world to see.

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Agriculture in self reflection. What does self awareness look like? What is the image we want the world to see.

One of the golden rules in the Young Farming Champions program is to avoid re-enforcing the negative and using deficit language ( which agriculture by the way has turned into an artform)

But if we are going to address the pain points in the Action4Agriculture Action4Youth – Explore, Connect and Support young people to thrive in careers in agriculture Attract-Train-Retain Workforce Strategy and Roadmap we must be prepared to put our dirty linen out for washing

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And like all forward thinking sectors there are times when self-awareness and self-reflection are key to being the change required to be the image you want the world to see.

The graphics below are from the  YouthInsight Study done in WA in2017

Scott Graham from Barker College has identified others

 

Action4Agriculture’s work in schools has shown it IS possible to change of teachers and students images and perceptions

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Its possible to raise awareness of the diversity of careers

But we cant do it alone and Scott Graham and Barker College cant do it alone.

Creating resources and putting them on a website and hoping teachers see them is an equally ad hoc transaction that it not a best return on investment of expectations for anyone.

None of us can do it alone and we cant do it in silos.

How do we build a culture of co-operation in the agriculture sector  because we are not alone in needing to attract the best and brightest

Job vacancies rose 18.5 per cent to hit a record of 396,100 in the three months to November 30 as employers embarked on a hiring spree at the end of the delta lockdowns in NSW, Victoria and the ACT, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported

Of all the sectors looking for workers agriculture is the only one that gets its own subject in the school curriculum. How cool is that. 

Job vacancies rose 18.5 per cent to hit a record of 396,100 in the three months to November 30 as employers embarked on a hiring spree at the end of the delta lockdowns in NSW, Victoria and the ACT, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported.

How is agriculture ensuring we are front of mind when young people make career choices?

How are we helping young people explore and connect with our sector.?

How are we supporting them to thrive when they get there?

At Action4Agriculture we have created an Action4Youth Workforce Strategy and Roadmap. It looks like this.

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Forever grateful to Professor Felicity Blackstock for helping us create our Action4Youth model

We have also identified there are numerous pain points on the journey that need addressing by the agriculture sector and the education system

There are a number of exciting people and organisations working in this space

One of those is  Scott Graham the current winner of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Secondary School Science Teachers

Scott is head of agriculture at Barker College. He is undertaking a PhD under the supervision of Emeritus Professor Jim Pratley et al

Last Monday I was one of 21 people who had the opportunity to listen to Scott’s HDR endorsement

This was a new opportunity for me and what I learnt gave me a lot to ruminate on

It reminded me to celebrate the advantages we have in the world of agriculture

There is a huge labour shortage out there “Employers wanted 400,000 workers before omicron hit”

And of all the sectors looking for workers agriculture is the only one that gets its own subject in the school curriculum. How cool is that. 

What Scott’s PhD is looking at is how do to we encourage more urban students to select agriculture as a subject with the ultimate aim they choose agricultural career pathways. Scott is ideally placed to research and report on this as he and Barker College have done a phenomenal job of the former and are keeping a close eye on the later

Barker College appears to be well and truly bucking the trend

Scott has identified the issues. Here is a few of them

At Action4Agriculture  we are complementing the work Scott is doing by tailoring our school programs to teachers and students NOT teaching/studying agriculture.  We are using similar principles to Scott and Barker College

Our programs are student-centred, individualised, contextual and culturally sensitive.

They involve key influencers, are accessible to all, can be targeted at specific groups when required and all evaluated for their effectiveness.

Students are mentored by our Young Farming Champions – young people working in agriculture who are debunking stereotypes

  • Agriculture is not all Akubra’s and moleskins or mud and flies
  • 80% of jobs are off farm, 40% are in cities

Our Young Farming Champions represent the diversity of people in the agriculture sector. Students can see they are young people like them – they can be confident that they will fit in- that agriculture is a place where you feel identity safe.

What a great time to be on this journey with Scott with his research complementing our two year project with UNSW uni students working with BCG 

#action4youth #AGSTEMcareers

Career decisions – How did you make them ?

I am currently on a journey with UNSW students who are part of a Global Consulting Group initiative to support agriculture to attract the best and the brightest

I am curious what drove your career decision pathways?

I remember in Year 11 at my rural high school  I had early entry into a Arts Law degree at ANU – not a profession I had a genuine interest in but it was a signal of what was possible

Far too many young Australians from Rural and Regional and Remote OZ don’t get these signals.

Its time for us all to step up and say ensuring “equity and excellence” is our joint responsibility

 

 

How does agriculture as a career choice reach the hearts and minds of young people (and their parents)

In an ideal world agriculture as a career pathway would have equal opportunity as any other sector to reach the hearts and minds of young people (and their parents – particularly important for 1st generation Australians)

School-to-work pathways have changed dramatically and traditional routes to work have been described as irrelevant (FYA, 2018)

The journey of young people through education into the world of work and the influences on their planning and decision making, including aspirations, sources of information and formal, school-based career education is a complex web to encounter.

Just getting in the school door can be very challenging for all sectors not just agriculture

Agriculture does have some very successful initiatives including the Action4Agriculture suite of programs Kreative Koalas and The Archibull Prize

Our secret herb and spice is our Young Farming Champions ( they know how to change hearts and minds)

Others that come to mind are Cows Create Careers run by Jaydee Events and Australian Wool Innovation’s suite of programs that introduce young people to the world of working with wool

As this graphic highlights agriculture needs to attract a very diverse workforce in the next ten years. I am excited to be working with a team of bright young minds at University of NSW through a partnership with the Global Consulting Group to come up with innovative ways we can attract the best and brightest into careers in Research, Development, Innovation and IT

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I met the team last week and we started our relationship by getting to know each other and our motivations. All of the team are either engineering students or science/commerce students and none have an agricultural background.

The students are supported by an expert from Accenture

I think I am going to learn a great deal and we can get a win:win for everyone

The Global Consulting Group (GCG) is a charity which provides pro-bono consulting services to other charities and not-for-profits.

We do this by connecting university students with experienced professionals who then work together to solve business problems for other  charities, combining the energy and passion of today’s youth with the experience and wisdom of our industry leaders.

The organisation currently has more than 150 volunteers across several locations in Australia and has completed over 150 projects for clients such  as the United Nations, Tedx, Our Big Kitchen and Shelterbox. GCG is sponsored by Bain and Monitor Deloitte, and has informal partnerships with  a range of reputed consulting firms.