Harvest the power of a team full of unique viewpoints and skills
People with diverse backgrounds, including, but not limited to differences in age, gender and race, — bring rich perspective to the table that can better inform how farms operate.
To ensure your farm is armed for the future, emphasize diversity as part of your hiring process, suggests Shannon Kellner, assistant vice president of Merck Animal Health’s livestock team.
“We really believe the collective thought process and diverse inputs give us the opportunity to grow and be very successful as a business,” Kellner says. “It’s not a check-the-box exercise. It’s truly building an organization that can relate to customers and the industry.”
More Views, Bigger Ideas
Accelerate your operation’s commitment to diversity by thinking about your intern and hiring pipeline, Kellner says. Merck has updated its internship programs from a one-way approach of training into a two-way dialogue that allows employees to learn — and identify talent they want to be part of the company.
“We’ve started to create positions to bring younger individuals in to help us, either specifically in the areas of technology or through the intern program, to find a talent that you can’t let go of because they’re a rock star,” Kellner explains.
As you work toward building a more resilient team, be intentional and stay focused on your goals, says Mia Farrell, University of Kentucky assistant dean and director for diversity, and national president of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences.
“These conversations are uncomfortable to have, but we have to have them to make change,” she says. “Remember, it is not ‘we’ versus ‘them.’ If we don’t work together and unite together, we will not move forward.”
To listen to a webinar about scaling diversity and inclusion across U.S. agriculture, visit AgWeb.com/diversity-panel
