Reflection, curiosity and continuing education are learned and intentional parts of how we run our farm in southwestern Manitoba. Reflective questions help us make decisions for what we might need to change or do differently in future: “What are the things we need to learn about and integrate to make our business and family dynamic and farm better?”

As entrepreneurs, and producers, we often focus heavily on production, marketing and finance. These are good things, and certainly play a role in some of the questions asked above. One area we have been exploring more in our farm and business — and I often encourage other entrepreneurs to invest more in via my facilitation work — is human resources training. Learning the people side of things is particularly helpful if you have employees or work multi-generationally. It can also help with spousal and sibling partnerships.

Here are some key areas that fall under HR management, where skills development can be as critical for your operation as your production and marketing plans:

Staff training and retention

We need people to work on our farms. We require the skills and abilities to provide training and upskilling opportunities for ourselves and also for staff and the next generation. There is a huge incentive to retain key talent and skilled labour, to ensure continuity and capture intergenerational knowledge. Staff training and retention efforts can have significant impact on farm and ranch culture too. Providing learning and training opportunities, seeking feedback or simply posting a sign that says “We care” (while acting accordingly) can make a huge difference. Compensation can also be an issue in staff retention, so company culture that improves profitability and reduces waste (in the form of time and material waste) and focuses on liveable wages can make a big difference.

Conflict resolution and mediation

If you are looking for skill building that can change your workplace for the better — and help you raise your kids and get along with your spouse — you can start here. Conflict is everywhere, and conflict is not bad. You can be in a good conflict. Years ago, when I started taking conflict resolution and mediation training, my ‘aha’ moment was when I realized conflict skills are real and unskilled or destructive conflict prevents people from more creative forms of conflict and problem-solving. A major issue in farm transitions, family business and workplaces is unspoken and unresolved conflict.

These skills can also help when having difficult conservations around implementing new policies and best practices or exploring complex or new governance and role clarity on the farm. Many institutions and organizations provide in-person and online learning. I can sit at my farm kitchen table in Manitoba and take a course from the Justice Institute of B.C. in Vancouver — or I have the option of an in-person course at Mediation Services in Winnipeg.

Cultural and organizational alignment

What is the culture of your farm? What are your values? Knowing your culture and discussing your values can help bring you into organizational and familial alignment. Values are not prescribed, but are discussed and embraced. You have individual values and organization values. Do you value honesty, co-operation, independence, security — or is it courage, accountability, compassion and creativity? There are many more and there is no wrong answer. What’s important is to ensure alignment between family values and business goals.

What happens when different family members or family units in a business value different things? Perhaps exploring core values is more central and training can give you the skills to do and lead that effectively. Having a clear set of core values can help with leadership integration and next-generation transition as well as a founder’s exit.

Policy and governance

One recommendation for young farmers, as you step into management and leadership on your own farms, is to seek out opportunities to sit on a volunteer board and learn there about governance and policy. So often on farms, rules are not written but held in stories, histories and memory. It can be really helpful to explore, set up and practice policies that clarify expectations around matters such as compensation, perks or workplace accountability, and to have a more professional standard in a family-run environment where people might make assumptions about what others are supposed to be doing. Having a space and some skill to explore policy and governance does not mean you need to take the fun out of farming, but it can add clarity around roles, responsibilities, performance, asset transfer and transition, among other things. You might also have policies around safety and equipment use, social media, sourcing and family member engagement.

Family and non-family dynamics

It is important to appreciate and navigate the complexity of relationships and family histories within family businesses. This can be a difficult and ongoing challenge that requires skill building and personal and team work. Appreciating the unique dynamics between family members and employees can be key to the sustainability and future success of the farm or ranch.

If you have non-family employees who play significant roles in the current and future success of your business, it is important to have objective criteria for fair treatment of non-family employees and family in the business throughout a transition. When leadership changes, it’s important to communicate clearly with employees and for members of the leadership team to have training to support the continuity of employee satisfaction as well as their own confidence in leading a team, whether it be family members or non-family employees.

Investing in leadership training can build additional trust among team members and also reduce destructive conflict cycles.

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I have talked to many farmers who are keen to learn from others and apply their learning to their land and stock management and farm businesses practices. Successors and founders alike are taking courses, reading, sharing with their peers, going to events and conferences — the types of things that can contribute to farm and farmer success and wellbeing.

Here are some ideas for how to stay curious and maintain a learner’s mindset on the farm.

Engage with next-gen new energy and new ideas

People on your team, often the next generation, will come to the founders and farm partners to express that they want to try something new, or to ask questions about why things are done a certain way. The motivation might be to gain better understanding and contribute to some shifts or improvements to human resources management or staffing, increase profitability or add a new revenue stream, make changes to grazing or crop planning to manage the resource base, work to access new markets, or apply new learning. Expressing an interest in new ideas or trying new things demonstrates a degree of leadership, enthusiasm and interest in the work. Coming forward with new ideas can take courage, vulnerability and trust, especially if new ideas or free thinking haven’t been given space or been received well in the past.

I often talk to next-generations of farmers who feel frustrated there is not enough room or space to try something new. Note, though, it can also be the case that folks assume there is no room for new ideas, and the real issue is one of open communication rather than having an open mind. When people want some influence and agency to try something new, and are faced with “This is the way the grandparents always did it,” enthusiasm and creativity can be dampened. I am first-generation on my farm and while the cash flow challenges of running a startup presented a major hurdle, the independence of getting to try things (and sometimes having them not work out) served to build my entrepreneurial skills, resilience and creativity from a young adult age. Of course, some things have been tried before, and it can be wise to seek advice and wisdom from others via mentorship rather than have to make the same mistakes over again. It’s a balance: open communication and a culture of learning and curiosity and leaning into wisdom, mentorship and traditional knowledge are all very important.

Join (or organize) a peer group

Over the years I have been a part of a number of farmer-to-farmer peer support and learning groups. These have been great spaces to hear about what others are doing on the operations side of their business and also to create space for community. Some of those peer groups have been very family-friendly while others have been more focused on finances and production. Years ago, we hosted a series of peer group meetings in our local hall, and people would drive from hundreds of kilometres away to join. It was a great space to come together, and often share a meal. We would present topics to one another and discuss some of the finer details of managing our cattle, grain and vegetable operations and share and discuss other aspects of working and living where we do in Manitoba. We could ask questions, explore ideas and redefine measures of success for our farms. Our peer groups have changed and morphed over the years, and have contributed to building a web of connections across Canada and the U.S.

Embrace change

Farmers can feel significant amounts of stress when faced with change, especially when a change was not planned or foreseen. Faced with financial difficulty and uncertainty, high debt load, overwork, labour shortages and climate variability, making small changes to a system that seems to be working relatively well can be daunting or unappetizing. Years of experience in a particular way of doing something moves us toward a “right way” and a “wrong way.” Negative emotions that come with unforeseen changes, or hardship related to change, can cause us to miss opportunities for positive change. On the other hand, embracing positive emotions around change, such as hope, curiosity, creativity or optimism, can create a lot of possible options that we might not otherwise see. Exploring change can foster co-operative working relationships with employees, spouses and team members and within farm transitions, and allows us to move from zero-sum to mutually beneficial outcomes as we shift and move.

Calculate your risk and keep an open mind

When new ideas are brought to the table, or members of the farm team go out seeking new learnings and other ways of doing and seeing things, this either may be embraced or may lead to tension at home. Sometimes a desire for change by one party can be interpreted as an identity issue for the other party — say, maybe the next generation thinks the founder was ‘incorrect’ or ‘wrong.’ The culture of your farm will create the space for learners and changemakers to feel comfortable, and knowing that past contributions and future learning are complementary, not adversarial, can lead you toward better outcomes in communication and team building.

Often I hear from founders that successors have not been working on the farm for 30-plus years; they don’t have the experience to understand the potential outcomes and risks of specific decisions, or sometimes it is a spouse saying they do not want to start a new project or engage in major systems changes at this age or stage of life. It is important to know the “why” or the interests behind our desires for change and to keep learning from one another as we adapt, shift and transition.

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