When it comes to diversity in the agriculture sector, it’s truly a mixed bag.
The number of ethnic minorities serving as principal operators on the nation’s farms grew by 15 percent between 2007 and 2012, according to the 2012 U.S. Agriculture Census. Hispanic farmers saw the biggest growth, at more than 20 percent, and increases were reported in all ethnicities. That’s great news, even as the total number of principal operators across the country declines.
On the other hand, the number of female principal operators decreased by 6 percent from 2007, faster than the overall drop in principal operators of 4.3 percent.
Today, efforts are under way across many ag-related fields to improve the involvement of minorities and women. Syngenta, for example, has policies in place that promote the two intertwined-but-distinct goals of ensuring diversity and inclusion.
A Welcoming Workplace
Diversity and inclusion have become important strategic imperatives for many multinational companies, and both represent good business practices, particularly for agriculture because it is such a global industry, says Daniel Loria, head of human resources for Syngenta.
“Inclusion is not just morally right, and diversity is not just a compliance matter,” he says. “They both make a lot of sense, business-wise.”
Loria characterizes diversity as the representation of the different groups from a society in numerical terms. The government often identifies these groups by major factors, such as gender, age, ethnicity, religious beliefs or sexual orientation, just to name a few. Diversity can also refer to differences in work styles, as employees sometimes have to adjust to having as many as four different generations working side by side.
Inclusion is reflected in the company’s values and describes how employees interact. In other words, it is a qualitative term describing the work environment. Loria has read several research reports showing that companies with inclusive work environments have higher employee retention rates and lower turnover costs.
“At Syngenta, inclusion is part of our company culture and is not a program with a defined beginning and end,” Loria says. “We want inclusion to be ongoing and a part of how we think every day.”
In an effort to make sure diversity and inclusion are top priorities across the company, Syngenta has developed a powerful, customized training program for the 900 employees whose job responsibilities include managing people. Through the training, employees learn to recognize their unconscious biases and develop a better understanding of co-workers who are different. For instance, people usually say they would have no problem hiring a person with a disability, a female or a member of a minority group; but an in-depth self-assessment often exposes unconscious mental models that cause a manager to inaccurately assess a potential employee.
“We want to ensure that when we recruit and promote people, we let go of those biases and focus instead on the knowledge, skills and experience that the person brings to the workforce,” Loria says. “If we learn to become inclusive, the representation of diversity will be an almost automatic outcome. People will come looking to Syngenta for employment because they know they will be welcome.”
The Recruiting Challenge
Despite the improvement in minority ownership from 2007, there’s still work to be done in overall participation in agriculture.
Human resource officers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for example, report several groups, including women (Caucasian and Asian), Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, black males and individuals with targeted disabilities, are underrepresented among its global workforce of more than 100,000.
That’s where organizations, such as Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, (MANRRS), come in.
MANRRS was founded more than 30 years ago to keep younger generations connected to agriculture, the environment and giving back to their communities. Through a network of 75 chapters in 35 states, MANRRS seeks to increase diversity and inclusion in the agricultural workforce through annual career fairs and training conferences. The Junior MANNRS Program is specifically designed to reach out to high school students.
“If we are going to have a sustainable agriculture industry for the future, we have to have all audiences at the table,” says Quentin Tyler, assistant dean and director of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture’s Office of Diversity as well as president of MANRRS.
Tyler has experienced the challenges of diversity and inclusion firsthand. When recruiting underrepresented students in agriculture, natural resources and related sciences, their initial response is often, “I can’t see agriculture beyond farming or myself on the farm.” But when he explains all the different careers agriculture offers, their eyes light up.
“We’ve got to keep diverse talent coming through the pipeline,” says Ebony Webber, chief officer of operations at MANRRS. “We’ve got to keep attracting underrepresented students to sustain the pipeline and show that agriculture is inclusive to everyone.”
And that starts with each of us. “If we change the way we think and act every day, that’s the type of change we can all do,” Loria says. “Let’s embrace these new generations of employees who look different from those of the past.”
For more information, visit the MANRRS website.
Source: Thrive Magazine by Syngenta