Winepress - August 2024

Invest in people

Workforce survey provides guidance to attract and keep staff

CATHIE BELL

EMPLOYERS WHO routinely invest in their machinery, maintaining it and making sure it’s fit for purpose need to do the same for their employees, a workforce economist says. Amanda Reid from Business and Economic Research Limited (BERL) was commissioned by Wine Marlborough, in partnership with New Zealand Winegrowers and the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, to assist with gathering data on current and future workforce needs. She spoke at the WinePRO conference in Blenheim and highlighted the need for wine businesses to work together on labour workforce issues.

New Zealand is a nation of small businesses, Amanda says, and often employees are considered a cost. She says people get “protectionist” worrying about staff being poached, rather than thinking about what would keep staff with them. Small companies might feel they can’t offer career parthways, but that was a “limited” way to think about it. Careers can be lateral and different skills can be bridges to other careers. “Employers often think pay is the only lever they have, but that is not necessarily so. There are other things you can offer, such as recognition or professional development, which make people feel valued, they’re seen, they’re being invested in... We under-estimate that.” Being prepared to invest in staff to improve skill levels is a “really clear signal” to employees that they matter, she says. Generational change is also significant. Amanda says the younger generation wants to work for a business that shares their values. “They’ve been raised in a social system where they get participation certificates, it’s an indication of a system that’s about recognition and validation. They want that. They won’t complain, they will just leave. Or they won’t apply for jobs because there is not a match for them.”

The BERL report defines the roles and skills that make up the wine industry (from vineyard to market) to improve the ability to identify gaps and career pathways, and to forecast future workforce needs across roles and business types. BERL surveyed wine businesses and job advertisements were analysed and jobs were clustered according to skill sets. Valuing and developing skills and competencies that can be transferred through different roles and responsibilities is key to facing workforce shortages

and skill gaps, the report says. “When workers can more easily transition between roles and projects because of the portability and transferability of their skillsets, businesses will have greater flexibility and agility to respond to changing business needs and environments. Businesses can allocate resources more efficiently by matching workers with the skills required for specific tasks. By leveraging a diverse range of skillsets, innovation and problem-solving are more likely to increase.”

Labour workforce issues aren’t going away, she says. “We can’t continue to rely on immigration to solve our labour needs.” Amanda says there is a real opportunity for the industry in Marlborough to collaborate on how to support employees so they stay with the industry. “How can you collaborate with other businesses to offer opportunities for your workers? What you don’t want is people to be leaving the industry. In the research, some staff that did leave jobs left the industry.” The way the industry supports its workforce is going to have to change, Amanda says.

Businesses need to recognise that they don’t have all the skills and resources and equipment to solve every problem. “It’s not a one business problem, it’s an industry problem. It requires all the players thinking diffferently.” The key message from the workforce survey is “collaborate”, she says.

The Skills-Based Wine Workforce report: www.nzwine.com/en/careers/skilled-wine-workforce-report/