YOUR LEVY AT WORK
GOHORT NORTHLAND EXPO ATTRACTS HUNDREDS Words by Hugh Chesterman : Communications and Events Assistant, HortNZ
Industry event unites Northland growers to tackle labour issues
A common theme at the GoHort Northland Expo was that people are our most valuable asset. The Expo attracted more than 200 growers, industry leaders, potential employees and government representatives. (See sidebar.) “We can’t grow our business without people,” said Mapua Avocados general manager, Ian Broadhurst. “Our business will be harvesting about one million trays of avocados each year when our plants reach maturity. People are our key asset: without them this can’t happen. “We’ve got to employ locals because we can’t rely on labour coming in from outside the area. We’ve got a great opportunity to hire locals and currently employ more than 40 fulltime. On top of that, we’re going to need an additional 70 people.
When you find good people, you need to hold onto them “We’re offering training incentives and supporting our staff to seek additional qualifications. When they achieve these qualifications, we increase their pay and offer promotions so that our staff can see the career pathway ahead of them. People in our community can see how committed we are to our people, especially when they see their whānau progressing on this pathway,” Ian said. 14
NZGROWER : FEBRUARY 2021
T&G staff presented their Freshworx campaign at the Expo
Mapua is not alone with rolling out training incentives. Orangewood HR manager Ingrid Edmonds said a similar pay incentive scheme rewards their staff when they complete additional training. “We have five of our younger employees who are currently completing a post-harvest apprenticeship, and a further 13 completing Level 2 qualifications through Primary ITO. “We identified these five apprentices when they started, as good people with a lot of promise that we want to keep. They’re all doing really well and have chosen training modules which suit their interests and career goals. “When you find good people, you need to hold onto them. At Orangewood, every position in our business is going to double, meaning we need a lot more staff in coming years. Our staff know this, and can see that we are serious about promotions and the career opportunities we talk about.
“We ask our staff ‘whose job would you like to be doing?’ and then give them a pathway to get to where they want, and give them the training and promotions they need,” Ingrid said. Focusing on providing life skills as well as professional qualifications to their staff, Tokotoko Solutions presented their holistic approach to supporting locals. Their unique approach combines life skills, pre-job training and ongoing seasonal work to provide both full-time work and personal growth opportunities to locals. Connecting the various seasonal labour demand peaks in the region, Tokotoko Solutions makes use of the downtime between peaks for further training. By filling these employment gaps, they are able to turn seasonal work into sustainable permanent jobs with career growth opportunities. Tokotoko Solutions director Isopo Samu (Samu) said that by partnering with growers, this format works towards their goal of redefining
