Labor Advice on Tap: Women farmers offer insider tips to successfully hire & manage farm staff
Name: Bethanee Wright
Farm Name: Winterfell Acres
Website: www.winterfellacres.com
City/State: Brooklyn, WI
Years farming: 11+
Years managing staff: 9
Bio:
Farmer Bethanee Wright is owner and organic vegetable farmer at Winterfell Acres. She is a lover of the Earth, enjoys yoga and functional fitness, loves to cook and is a devourer of books. Bethanee runs her organic farm, facilitates healing work for others and enjoys rural life with her husband, two daughters (a five-year old and an under one year old), three big white fluffy dogs and one tiny farm cat.
FLD: What advice would you give a fellow woman farmer about the decision to become an employer and take on staff? What did you wish you knew when you started?
BW: I was very nervous to take on employees on my own farm, although I did manage employees on other farms. I was worried payroll was going to be hard and, of course, I also worried that things would get messed up and it was just easier if I did it all. But the reality is that you CAN’T do it all and it took me having my second child until I really realized that and shifted.
My biggest advice is this: if it seems like you need more help, if it seems like you can’t do it all on your own or with just your farm partner; trust your instincts and go for it. Hire help! Putting trust into employees was just a huge opportunity for me to become a better farmer. Truly! The systems I have created on my farm got better when I had to organize them more clearly for employees. Things got more streamlined and easier. There was less waste and I didn’t have to work as hard.
Putting trust into employees was just a huge opportunity for me to become a better farmer.
FLD: What advice would you give someone hiring their first employee?
BW: Do payroll yourself. And just jump in! You will mess it up at some point but mostly, you’ll do great.
FLD: How did you find your employees? Where did you recruit from/look? Did you develop a job description and any advice on that?
BW: I have never put a job announcement out into the world. All of my employees have been friends, friends of friends or people who have come to me asking to work on my farm specifically because it felt aligned with their life goals to work here. I find word of mouth is the most effective form of advertising for jobs.
FLD: How do you keep momentum and energy going amongst your staff during the busiest peak of summer?
BW: Paid days off, regular check-ins with me and fun things like frozen popsicles, cold sparkle waters and yummy food during the work day.
FLD: What have been your biggest challenges as a woman farmer managing employees and how did you manage?
BW: My biggest challenge has been learning to be okay with not always being in the field with my employees 9-5. I spend probably 10-12 hours a week doing computer work and other managerial tasks that can’t be done in the field and that is important work to keep the farm flowing. I also work odd hours with having little ones now.
It's hard for me not to be out there all the time. But that isn’t my work anymore; I am not the primary labor on the farm. My work now is to keep the whole farm organism flowing and moving and I can’t do that from the field exclusively. So I try to spend special, focused time with each crew member in the field or pack shed each week so we can keep a connection. That helps people feel valued and coming back each year.
FLD: When an employee isn’t performing well, how do you address that?
BW: I try to address things before they become an issue. I do monthly check-ins with my apprentices and quarterly check-in meetings with regular employees in which I have space for employees to ask questions and for me to address any possible issues. I like to keep a lean, integrated crew and I always give space for talking or sharing of issues. I am willing to take feedback- that is pretty key too!
Your employees are mirrors for you and show you what is an important area of your life to explore and work on.
FLD: Advice on working through conflict?
BW: Be humble and be willing to openly take feedback, without defensiveness. Don’t let your own “stuff” get in the way of hearing what others need to say. Stay open to possibilities and don’t assume you know it all.
FLD: Advice on navigating cell phone use? Do you have a cell phone policy with employees?
BW: I expect my employees to communicate with me and other crew members via phone. I set the expectation that a phone is an important tool for work but I also don’t expect them to never check their phone during the day for personal stuff (that isn’t realistic). If I see inappropriate phone usage, I call it out at our check ins. I have never had an issue with this but you have to set the expectation before the season starts about what appropriate phone usage during work hours looks like.
FLD: Anything else you would like to add under the labor management advice topic?
BW: So much of our work as farmers mirrors our inner experience. What your farm looks and feels like, is an expression of your interior world. Your employees are mirrors for you and show you what is an important area of your life to explore and work on.
For example, when I hired my first employees for my own farm, I was a RELUCTANT manager. Looking back now, I can see that I was not committed to having an employee (even though I needed the help) and it showed in how frustrated I was by how those employees also reluctantly showed up for work (often late and noncommittal about many things). It was hard to see at the moment but it’s so clear now.
If your farm is in the space of needing more help than you can give it, listen to that and explore it. Perhaps employees are the right option, but are you willing to formalize your systems and set up a workplace environment that will help them be successful?
So much challenge for farmers comes with “right-sizing” our farm to fit our needs, desires and passions. I thought I wanted to farm full time and make all of my families income on the farm and I did that for a few years but I found it sucked much of the joy out of it for me, so I have pivoted to hiring enough employees so I don’t have to do it all but also can make a modest income on a small acreage. It’s a constant fine tuning each year.