YOUR LEVY AT WORK
T&G staff presented their Freshworx campaign at the Expo
GoHort Northland Expo attracts hundreds Industry event unites Northland growers to tackle labour issues By Hugh Chesterman : Communications & Events Assistant, HortNZ 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 full-time. On top of that, we’re going to need an additional 70 people.
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The ORCHARDIST : FEBRUARY 2021
“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. 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.
