We didn't see that one coming!
A few weeks ago, I put up a notice to our employees that we were looking to hire a farm manager. Effectively the chief operating officer of the farm. We had some ideas as to who we could hire, there was the son of a neighbour that has just graduated with a master's in farm management, and there were others who put their hats in the ring.
Over the past two days, we interviewed three final candidates, and this morning we made it official: Congrats Jennifer! Her qualifications and references were by far the best, and we knew her. She really stood out among the candidates, and she is one of our pickers.
Her qualifications were hidden in plain sight. She has been with us since the beginning, working four mornings a week. She is one of our first hires, and she came to the farm because she was a single mother with two young children, moving back home following a divorce and family proximity. She was looking for part-time farm work that would match her home needs. Not an unusual situation for our pickers, a large percentage are women, and they are looking for hours as opposed to careers.
All these years ago we didn't pay much attention to her qualifications, she wanted the job and was immediately available. In the first year, we hired 60 people in the space of a few weeks. You wanted to job, understood the job, you got the job!
She walked in Tuesday morning dressed up looking professional. The job of a farm manager is a full-time job, and accommodations are included (it sounds patriarchal, but they really need to be on-site).
We almost offered her the job on the spot (we hinted but made it official this morning). She knows the farm, she understands the job and our philosophy and her work history (before joining us) was of the highest calibre. Ours will be the smallest farm on which she's had a management role.
On January 4th, she will move into her new lodgings. It's funny. her work history was amazing and deep for such a young woman. I would like to say that she's a great addition -- but she already works for us (hahaha). This gives us such peace of mind because we know that she understands our philosophy and is already on very good terms with our biologist and ecologist. She understands that we want to introduce new varieties to our production, and she understands the concept of high tunnels, their advantage and limitations (try picking in the middle of July...stifling).
She is a perfect match for the farm and is the first of our employees to transition from part-time to full-time (although several of our pickers attended the training sessions on our biodigesters). As to integrating Jennifer into management, all you need to know is that when it was announced this morning that she was taking the job of farm manager, everyone was smiling and congratulating her.
How lucky can we get!
Comments