Perspectives

How can employers motivate staff to do their best work?

We make sure they have a big sense of WHY — a big sense of purpose. This creates loyalty, belonging and commitment. We also measure employee performance and satisfaction continuously in order to improve and we make sure we are creating an environment that facilitates multidimensional wellbeing and empowerment.

What ways can employers remove obstacles to job success?

The first way is to create a mechanism whereby you get to identify and acknowledge those obstacles. Employers need to hear from their employees and create an environment and healthy structures to ensure the obstacles are identified in order to then be dealt with. We make our employees part of the solution and empower them to act responsibly in order to solve an obstacle. That creates buy-in and increases collaboration.

What support or services could companies offer to help employees define goals and then reach them?

We clearly plot out our employees professional and personal development path and clearly stipulate what will happen at each stage of their career from the get-go. As part of this, we also team our employees with life coaches who help them dream about their future and create progress indicators along the way to work the plan.

How can employers motivate staff to do their best work?

I have a former professor that always pointed out that the ‘golden rule’ is less about treating others how you would like to be treated, and more about treating others how they would like to be treated. I take this into consideration a lot now, as different people want different things from their job. Some value stability and routine, while others might be most motivated to learn and be challenged. The key to determining how to best motivate anyone that you work with is frequent communication. Even the same person might want different things at different times based on factors outside of work (such as a need to pay off particular loans, or raising young children). Understanding what they need and want at any given time helps to determine what might help motivate them while they are on the job. The skill is in both paying attention and learning to ask the right questions. You can learn a lot when you care. When people feel supported they are better poised do their best work.

What ways can employers remove obstacles to job success?

Lower the barriers to entry. If a job has a specific requirement then do what you can to help potential team members jump that hurdle — for example, is there heavy lifting? Provide targeting training and/or specialized equipment to ease that burden. Do they need to have a special certification or license? Pay for the fee / direct them to the place to acquire this. Do they have to deal with customers every single day? Recognize how exhausting this is and build in breaks. Every little bit helps.

What support or services could companies offer to help employees define goals and then reach them?

At Good Food Jobs I study, absorb, and share ideas that can help improve the workplace for both the people work and those that manage. At Suarez Family Brewery I get to put these ideas into practice.

In particular, at the brewery, each year we earmark a specific amount of money for an education stipend for each employee. This is part of their overall compensation, but we designed it to encourage folks to specifically get outside of the brewery or the daily grind of their jobs so that they can remember what brought them to this line of work to begin with. This helps because they might not have considered spending money on something like this without the stipend, and that we also not only give permission but encourage this type of engagement. When you work with such a sensory product (especially one where the work is often repetitive, routine, or involves a lot of drudgery) it helps to spend some time exploring. It keeps the fire alive. We’ve had some folks who have used it to take trips to visit hop farms and breweries in the Pacific Northwest, one that flew to France to work the wine harvest and assist in a wine cellar for a month, and someone that used it complete an online business school program. Each year I get excited to see what everyone does to expand their knowledge/interest in this field.

I also make the assumption that nobody will want to stay forever. I have frequent conversations with our small staff about what they will do next, and what skills they would like to build to be able to get where they want to go. It may seem counter-intuitive to build them up for when they will be gone (or even if they stay, how their role will evolve over time), but the process is so worthwhile and rewarding. Somehow it actually helps people be more focused in the present when they have a more clear direction in which they want to go.

How can employers motivate staff to do their best work?

People often come to us very motivated, so that is less of a challenge. In general it’s a balance of: appreciate people, give them good guidance, challenge them, repeat.

What ways can employers remove obstacles to job success?

A perennial problem, not just in agriculture, is supporting people through the transition of having the technical skills to manage other people doing those more technical jobs. We’re pretty good as farmers at teaching people the technical skills, but there’s an opportunity to support our managers with formal or informal training around managing.

What support or services could companies offer to help employees define goals and then reach them?

I want to support my management team. Part of team building is conveying to people that you care for them and building trust. As a culture we have an easier time with that piece of it, the more challenging part for most of us is creating accountability and being comfortable with conflict. How do we communicate real, honest, constructive feedback and how do we keep conflict as an opportunity rather something that can be solved.

How can employers motivate staff to do their best work?

We need to listen to staff, get to know them as people and appreciate what they do in a meaningful way. It is important to provide the training, tools and feedback needed to succeed, and it is also important to provide opportunities for growth and advancement.

We work to create a culture of collaboration and inclusiveness. Leaders are responsible for providing direction, creating an environment of trust and leading by example. We have created a set of shared behaviors that create the culture we have, which include: Focusing on the Customer; Demonstrates Kindness; Collaborates; Values Diversity and Instills Trust. Additionally, our leadership behaviors include: Building Effective Teams; Ensuring Accountability; and Inspiring Others.

What ways can employers remove obstacles to job success?

Employers need to understand the impact of organizational decisions on staff. We need to ensure that staff have the skills, knowledge and training to do their best work, and we need to consistently work toward optimal staffing levels throughout the organization.

What support or services could companies offer to help employees define goals and then reach them?

Through our Learning Fund, we provide opportunities for staff to learn new skills to build their careers. We have ongoing leadership training and work with staff to create personal development plans. We are also committed to ongoing feedback and meaningful annual personal development reviews.

Additionally, our Employee Assistance Plan offers staff support for issues that arise in their personal lives that can impact them at work.