Soft skills matter for hard-driven teams

Karen Davidson

When Shawn McGowan joined Schuyler Farms Ltd. and The Norfolk Fruit Growers’ Association (NFGA) two years ago, he brought a skill set that would be foreign to most farmers. His résumé documented 20 years of experience in corporate Toronto, a logistics company and a family-owned business. What drew him to Simcoe, Ontario was the potential of the area and opportunity to be human resources manager for two companies that have more than 400 temporary foreign workers and management staff of 10 combined.

“I responded to a Facebook posting,” McGowan recalls. “I was excited to join a team that was already in the process of building up human resources expertise and a culture of behaviour that holds true to its vision statement.”

His facilitator credentials helped the team discern its core values: humble, driven and solutions-oriented. The day-in, day-out working environment should reflect these values in terms of how each person is treated and how the team approaches communications and projects. The roll-out to employees who were skeptical, at first, included a session on what those words mean to each person. And then posters were displayed in key areas of the farm as friendly reminders of internal self-awareness and exterior realities. This has resulted in a better team culture and environment to work in.

Humble: Team players who are respectful of others and the job at hand

Driven: Motivated and focused on self-improvement

Solutions-oriented: Focused on anticipating and solving problems

These are the words and actions of a family-owned business that’s evolving with post-pandemic learnings. Schuyler Farms is a diverse enterprise spanning almost 5,500 acres that support production of apples, cherries, pears, corn, soy, sheep and geese. To move forward with focus, there’s a clear need to communicate more efficiently internally and with all levels of government.

To address those needs, McGowan is responsible for all aspects of Labour