Interested in helping local FFA chapters? Consider starting an FFA Alumni and Supporters chapter at your company or organization.
By Jami Stall, National FFA Organization
Grant Belden gets excited just talking about all the shared experiences an FFA Alumni and Supporters chapter can provide. Vice President of North American Shelling at Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts—one of many Archer Daniels Midland Company-owned entities—Belden is president of ADM’s FFA Alumni and Supporters chapter.
Because ADM employs so many past FFA members, the chapter originally was established more than a decade ago so they could serve local FFA chapters. Then it was decided the chapter should include anyone willing to volunteer his or her time and experience—not just former members.
Grateful for his own FFA days and his professional success in agribusiness, Belden views his efforts with ADM’s chapter as a way to reciprocate to an organization that profoundly impacted the course of his life.
“I’ve been very fortunate, very blessed, working for a global company that gives me the opportunity to travel extensively and learn all about soybeans and a luxury product like chocolate,” he says. I’ve lived in Nebraska, Wisconsin, The Netherlands, and Switzerland, and spent time working with colleagues in West Africa. Now I’m back, in the suburbs of Atlanta, Ga. To come full circle and be involved in our alumni chapter, connecting to FFA—the original organization—and to help other young people have these types of opportunities? C’mon, that’s brilliant, right? I think it’s an outstanding opportunity.”
Generation Z has been entering the workforce over the past couple of years. Just when you feel you have a handle on Millennials (born between 1981-1995) in the workforce, here comes Generation Z (born between 1995-2010). Work environments have changed over the past decade to help create cultures where Millennials thrive. However, Gen Z’s needs can be quite different, which may cause your company to re-think things, as Generation Z takes up a greater percentage of your employee base and will have different workplace expectations.
Approximately 73 million people make up Generation Z in the United States. This means Gen Z accounts for about 25 percent of the U.S. population. They are a larger group than Millennials and Gen Xers. Although Gen Z’s demographic profile is still being defined, they will have a big impact on the workforce because of the number of their generation alone. Learning more about Gen Z and their workplace expectations will help your company adapt and change more strategically as you continue to hire more from this new generation.
A similarity Gen Z has with Millennials is that they are very comfortable with technology, primarily because it has always been a part of their lives. They are used to immediate gratification through smartphones, Google searches and Amazon purchases. However, most of them have experienced their parents’ job loss and insecurity one or more times, which causes them to view work differently and have different expectations than Millennials.
One of the best benefits of any home-based businesses is being your own boss, controlling your schedule and being close to family throughout the day. It’s both convenient and efficient. This is especially true for farmers and anyone invested in agriculture. While there are many benefits for starting any type of home business, there are also a few drawbacks that you might worry about. You may feel overwhelmed by the monumental task in front of you, and concerns about not knowing every single detail might hold you back. This is especially true for a small agricultural home business. There are so many things to prepare that you might not know where to even begin. Luckily, if you break it down into several steps, it becomes much easier.
Guest Blog Post by young talent expert Amy Crippen, Agriculture Future of America (AFA), Leader Fellowship
There is an old saying that goes, “It’s not enough to find your purpose. The real achievement is in helping others find theirs.” I never could attribute the wisdom to a single speaker, but the advice remains sage. For those of us in the talent development business, we know helping others find their purpose is the most rewarding.
Think of the moments when you have given someone real time to sort through their thoughts and feelings, and they come away with a nugget. What about identifying someone’s strengths they’ve never noticed in themselves before? How about when you’ve helped someone figure out they are in the wrong role?
These moments all happen within the business of mentoring and coaching. What has always been true is the time requirement to build the relationship, but there are a lot of other factors that play into mentoring and coaching as well. Do you give feedback in a way that builds a person up? Are you strength-based by nature? Do you keep conversations solution-focused? Are you viewing time with them as a gift and opportunity?
Guest Blogger: Helen Eagleton
Recruiters and marketers may seemingly have very different job functions. However, in the same way that a marketer must sell a company’s products or services, a recruiter may be able to sell a job opening to a talented candidate.
With this in mind, a recruiter may focus his or her efforts on cultivating top skills and habits that are necessary for success in the marketing field as well. These are some of the top areas that both marketers and recruiters can equally improve on.
Just as a successful marketer needs to focus on satisfying the needs of the customer, a successful recruiter must understand and satisfy the needs of a job seeker to be successful. In addition, marketers usually conduct thorough research to learn why consumers are drawn to some products, and recruiters also need to research job seekers to determine what they are looking for in a new position.
In both of these areas, professionals must work actively with people and determine what they need in order to be successful in their positions. More than that, they both need to actively put another person’s interests ahead of their own for optimal success. Finding the right talent may not be easy, but things can get easier if you are capable of viewing things from the candidate’s perspective.
Guest Blogger: Ashley Collins, Agriculture Future of America
It’s almost August. Stores are stocking school supplies and commercials advertising back to school are in full swing. For employers, an approaching fall means preparation is underway for college recruitment programs. Today, more than ever before, agricultural employers will need a strategic plan and to utilize their available resources effectively to create success. According to the AgCareers.com 2016/2017 Agribusiness HR Review, when HR professionals were asked about their workforce size predictions for the next two years, 51% (the majority) reported that their workface size would remain the same. Only 45% are predicting an increase, which is a drop of 14% from 2015 when nearly 60% of ag employers predicted their workforce would grow. However, new grads and students looking for internships, need not worry; the annual report also states that 46% of employers remain committed to new graduate recruitment (up 1% over the year before) as part of their strategy for succession planning and to compete for top talent. This also means competition for the top talent on campus is going to be as competitive if not more than it has in the past! Here are a few tips to help employers be successful in college recruitment this fall.
Guest Blogger: Becky Wilcox
One of the best things a manager can do is to surround himself or herself with people who make the business better. The employees you hire can make you or break you.
Nobody is good at everything, so in the case of a manager, a good criterion to consider in hiring people is to bring in personnel who compensate for your shortcomings. They can complement your best features in a way that makes both of you more effective.
Technology is often one of the areas where senior staff find themselves lacking. After 15 or 20 years in management, it can be easy to find yourself behind the times on information technology. Yet the business goes right on demanding it, providing profit and growth when the right tech tools are implemented.
Guest Blogger: Amy Crippen, Agriculture Future of America
AFA asks questions. We genuinely value curiosity and learning. Our current question is this:
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Let me explain. Almost a year ago AFA launched the Leader Fellowship™ experience which partners a young person and a coach. Part of the relationship is geared toward direct mentoring and part of the relationship is geared toward direct coaching. These are very different skills, and as we have developed, we have had to think through models that serve both needs.
Mentoring tends to be directionally-based: “Do this.” It is position-led and can look a lot like good supervision. It is performance oriented, and the mentor tends to be viewed as a role model. It sounds like “Try these things to solve your problem.”
Guest Blog Post by Bill Stumph, Chief Financial Officer for Ag Alumni Seed and a 2016 graduate of the MS-MBA in Food and Agribusiness Management from Purdue University
Successful employees are searching for improvement. They are putting in extra effort and time to make a difference for the company and for themselves. Those employees can make an even better impact on your company if they are given great tools to work with.
Providing the employees hungry for growth with the tools they need to be more effective means that they make your business more effective. I should know. I recently completed a program offered by Purdue University’s Center for Food and Agricultural Business called the MS-MBA in Food and Agribusiness Management. The program is a collaboration between Purdue University’s College of Agriculture and Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. The rigor of a master’s in agricultural economics is paired with the diversity of study in the MBA.
Enrolling in the program was one of the best decisions I have made, personally and professionally.
Sometimes you want to be the company everyone is talking about, sometimes you don’t, but if you are hoping to build your workforce with the best and brightest – you do! Especially when the venue is college campuses during recruiting season and the chatter is positive! Working a career fair booth and seeing a line of students who want to talk to your company representatives can be a warm and fuzzy moment for anyone who works in recruiting, however, that line doesn’t form overnight. Building a strong campus brand takes time, creativity, some financial investment, and more time. Then there is maintenance, but that is an entirely different post! Here are 5 ideas to help your company begin the process of building an on-campus brand.
