“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” —Charles Darwin
As part of its workforce development program, Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) forms a Leadership Team on each of the farms it certifies. The team is comprised of farmworkers, managers and other staff who receive customized training to ensure compliance with EFI’s 300 rigorous standards during and after certification. Compliance is just one key aspect of the EFI Leadership Team, as the training is designed to both engage and strengthen the essential skills of the team members. They are guided to communicate across all levels of the organization, creating a new culture over time, one that is focused on problem-solving, increased collaboration and continuous improvement.
From large corporations to medium-sized farms, leadership training is becoming more essential because the pace of change is faster than ever before. As a result, a new form of leadership will be required, one that is more open and nimble in adapting to today’s dynamic marketplace. As former General Electric CEO Jack Welch once remarked, “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.”
Welch is considered an extremely successful leader, guiding GE’s company value to rise 4,000 percent during his tenure. He emphasized leadership skills by requiring his top executives to identify future leaders and by including coaching and training as a leading organizational metric. Under Welch’s leadership, GE’s management development institute in Crotonville, New York, became well-known for promoting business and cultural change.
Leadership training is designed to help employees grow in their roles and develop their abilities. In general, training nurtures future leaders and benefits companies through increased productivity, improved risk management, more adaptability to change and greater employee retention.
EFI’s approach to Leadership Team development recognizes that each person selected to represent workers and managers brings a unique and valuable set of skills and experiences to the role. EFI delivers participatory, multilingual trainings for a wide range of cultural backgrounds, schooling and literacy levels, skill sets and life experiences.
For the past several years, the produce industry has experienced farm labor shortages, which have been further amplified by immigration issues. Leadership training proves to be a valuable resource in attracting and retaining workers. “EFI is about workforce development and empowering employees and engaging them in the work process,” notes Victor Smith, CEO of JV Smith Companies. “We have an acute labor shortage and a marketplace that is becoming more sophisticated and demanding transparency. The EFI Program is not only the right thing to do, it is a smart business strategy since it helps you engage your workforce and drive productivity.”
According to Forbes, one mistake organizations make when it comes to leadership development is sporadic or inconsistent development opportunities. For example, leaders may enroll in topical online seminars or employees may meet with managers for annual reviews but a consistent and ongoing process to hone and develop leadership skills is missing.
EFI provides a much more dedicated hands-on, 40-hour curriculum that is often delivered in two gatherings over the course of several weeks. Leadership Teams receive ongoing support and opportunities for advanced and customized training from EFI. “Our employees were thirsting for an opportunity to provide feedback. We had feedback channels in place, but the level of engagement from our staff increased dramatically after we implemented the fundamentally bilateral structure that EFI brings with the Leadership Teams,” stated Kevin Doran, CEO of Houweling’s Tomatoes. “The staff feel more empowered, more engaged in our business and their voices matter. This has led to a tremendous amount of improvements that wouldn’t have been obvious to us unless they brought them forward.”
EFI certification and leadership training provide increased assurance for both customers and consumers. “If we want to improve, we need to do it as a team, and as a team we understand that we need to produce something of high quality so that our buyers are pleased with the product and that consumers enjoy the product. If we make our buyers happy with our quality, there will be more sales and we all benefit,” remarked Luis Octavio Lopez Calzada, Leadership Team member, JV Smith Companies.
Great leaders such as Jack Welch aren’t born, they’re made over time, and this requires recognizing and empowering their unique talents and abilities. In today’s unpredictable and ever-changing business environment, it’s more important than ever to give farmworkers, managers and potential leaders the skills necessary to benefit themselves and the organization for the long term.
For more information on the EFI Program and leadership training, contact business@equitablefood.org.
