EFI-Certified Farms See Increased Employee Retention
The tough labor market affecting U.S. growers isn’t a recent development, but new data show that the produce industry is having a harder time finding and keeping workers than most other U.S. business sectors.
World at Work’s cross-industry survey of more than 6,000 U.S. employers reports that nearly 70% of employers said finding qualified employees was the No. 1 issue they faced and that retaining employees was also a big concern. A comparison to data collected in the United Fresh Produce Association’s Compensation and Benefits Survey, which gathered responses from 100 U.S. produce industry companies, shows the U.S. produce industry is suffering from higher turnover rates for executive level, management and other positions compared to other industries.
In contrast, farms certified by Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) are seeing increased worker retention. In fact, one EFI-certified farm reports that its turnover rate was reduced by 16% in the year after certification.
The management at Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce/GoodFarms can attest to the difference certification has made in retaining a robust workforce. Jackie Vazquez, Director of Operations for the Andrew & Williamson/GoodFarms Watsonville District, says that before instituting the EFI model it was normal for her staff to put in overtime hours to keep up with the strawberry harvest — due to lack of workers. Three years into the program, her well-staffed crews have been able to stay on target and stop working earlier in the afternoon each day, no overtime required.
According to the United Fresh survey, reinstating benefits that were cut during the recession is a current strategy that produce companies are using to keep workers on the payroll. Some of these benefits include incentive compensation, profit-sharing, added vacation days, medical benefits, more flexible work schedules and above-market salaries.
Farmworkers on EFI-certified farms enjoy bonuses funded by sales to participating retailers who have agreed to pay a premium for EFI-certified products. Additionally, EFI workforce development training offers professional growth opportunities to staff and ensures a respectful, safe and harassment-free workplace. Generating benefits for individual farmworkers and transforming the organizational culture of a farm yield results for the produce industry’s specific labor needs.
General Manager of Keystone Fruit Marketing Dan Borer says that EFI helped create value for Keystone’s seasonal workers, which led to more stability, with the same workers returning each season.
Kenton Harmer, Director of Certification and Impact at EFI, explains the strategy behind EFI’s approach to employee retention this way: “You attract and retain workers by bringing them into an environment where they feel valued, safe and dignified — where they have a career path and receive adequate compensation. Those things make the grower an employer of choice.”
According to Harmer, there are winners and losers in a tight labor market; the winners are the growers that employees want to work for.
Find out more about the EFI Program incentives that support worker retention at equitablefood.org.
