Latest / No Dirt No Flowers Podcast / Current Labor Challenges in Agriculture / Ft. Laylin Ledezma

Transcript

Current Labor Challenges in Agriculture / Ft. Laylin Ledezma · No Dirt No Flowers Podcast

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Hello everyone and welcome back to episode 13
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of No Dirt No Flowers. Today Mike and Drew sit
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down with Leland Ledesma from HR and not because
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they're in trouble. Together they discuss the
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current labor challenges facing agriculture today.
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It's a fascinating listen for all those interested
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in learning more about all the amazing people
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that make up Roy Farms. Enjoy the show. Okay,
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we're good. Okay. Episode 13, No Dirt, No Flowers,
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coming to you not live. Today we've got a very
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special guest, Leland Ledesma, who oversees HR
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for Roy Farms. No small job. No. Thanks for being
0:53
on today. Thank you for having me. Tell us a
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little bit about how did you get to Roy Farms?
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Tell us about yourself. I have worked here since
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2000, I want to say 2008, 2007, when I was young,
1:08
out in the field, and then came back in 2018.
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Worked out in Otelo, helping out with the blueberries.
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Got the opportunity to come back here and work
1:20
at Rory Farms, transferred over, and started
1:23
helping out in the safety department. And then
1:28
went into field operations last year and then
1:32
got transitioned into the HR department. So you've
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only been in HR for a little over a year? Yeah.
1:40
Jeez. Formally, but your role out in Othello
1:43
was heavily weighted to HR responsibilities.
1:47
Yeah. Like employee management. Yes. Correct.
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So talk a little bit about that because there's
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a large number of people out there that you guys
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are dealing with. Yes. There was a lot of challenges,
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for sure. A lot of changes going on out there.
2:00
A lot of things that stayed with the culture
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that was there prior. So we did face a lot of
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challenges. A lot of people did adapt after.
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But it was nice having to start from the bottom
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and kind of structure to where we left off at.
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Start over when you moved up here? Yeah. And
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you have a number of siblings that work here.
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I do. There's four of you that work here, right?
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Yes. How did all four of you end up here? Well,
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my sister Liz started here. She has about 10
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plus years. Same thing with Yenny. They started
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off here and we kind of walked in in our high
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school and then kind of on and off. So awesome.
2:41
It is pretty awesome. Yeah. And all of these
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ladies are just rock stars. Forces of nature.
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Forces of nature. Well. I mean, obviously, there's
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quite a degree of talent when after being in
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HR for, I guess, only a few months, you kind
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of took the helm of just overseeing all of it.
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Yeah, but I will say that with the support that
3:07
I've received from the company, I would definitely
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say that the way we've moved and structured to
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where we're at now has definitely helped and
3:18
has helped myself expand myself to learn. Different
3:22
responsibilities, how to learn and help other
3:25
employees. Yeah. So I definitely do appreciate
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the opportunities that have been given to me
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for sure. We appreciate you and all that you
3:34
do. It makes my head hurt thinking about the
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responsibilities that you have. For sure. Yeah,
3:41
where do we start? We just got done with Harvest.
3:43
There's probably a whole storyline there. How
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many people do you oversee at the peak? Of the
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season? Or what's the range of staff? We had
3:53
approximately about 400, and I want to say 70
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to 480. That was our highest peak. Oh, my goodness.
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And is that a combination of different, I guess,
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buckets of labor? So year -round, temp? Yes.
4:13
Some labor contracting? Yes. We definitely had.
4:17
I will say this year was one of the challenges
4:20
because we changed the structure from having
4:23
two shifts to having four shifts, which we struggled
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at first having to, you know, find people. And
4:29
then slowly started falling in to be able to
4:31
rotate and kind of adjust to the schedule, which
4:35
was, you know, Monday to Thursday. And then we
4:37
had the other shift from Thursday to Sunday.
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So rotation and it was challenging, but fun for
4:44
sure. Those are harvest. Yeah. For harvest. Yeah.
4:47
Yeah. So for those of you that are listening
4:49
that don't know over the last, like, let's say
4:52
it's probably four years in the state of Washington,
4:55
we went from having no overtime in agriculture
4:58
to, I think it went to anything over 55 hours.
5:03
Then it went down to 50 and then it eventually
5:07
went down to 40 hours. And so because of the.
5:13
tight margins in agriculture over time is just
5:16
like it will kill a farm. And so that's why we
5:21
had to move to more shifts, right? Yes. And I
5:25
will say that kind of adjusting to the four shifts,
5:27
I think it worked well. Like I said, there was
5:30
challenges, but for sure for employees, it gave
5:32
them opportunity to be able to work somewhere
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else and then be able to work with some employees
5:36
who were able to work like three days or during
5:39
the weekend. And so. They did like that and it
5:42
was something positive. But again, it was something
5:44
that everybody tried to adjust and make sure
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that, you know, we can meet the needs and not
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go over the hours that we had scheduled. Yeah,
5:56
I mean, talk a little bit about how you've seen
5:58
labor laws or the challenges with labor change
6:04
over just the period of time that you've been
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here since you started. like if i go way back
6:10
i remember where you know it's a lot simpler
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not saying it was better but it was simpler where
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you know a lot of the challenges revolved around
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just how much you were paying per hour and there
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wasn't a lot of like safety training and all
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that stuff although i think we were one of the
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first farms to have you know dedicated safety
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programs working with l and i and doing training
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but things keep getting more more challenging
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so i guess just talk a little bit about I mean,
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if you observe changes, like what changes you've
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observed over the last, you know, 10, 15 years?
6:45
I would definitely say, like you said, with the
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hours being reduced, it does bring a lot of challenges
6:50
for a lot of employees. And it makes it difficult
6:53
at times to, you know, being on the side of,
6:58
you know, with the employees to manage as well.
7:01
Like as far as like child care, as far as like
7:03
cost. And I will say, like, we do stand and we
7:05
do pay higher. than normal and local, um, which
7:08
is good. And a lot of people do come back for
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that because we're consistently with our pay.
7:13
Um, and so a lot of people are grateful for that,
7:17
but then, you know, when you look at the minimum
7:20
and the resources that they did have before us
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to what they have now, it does make it a lot
7:27
more challenging to, to stay at float with what
7:30
the state requirements are having. And so like,
7:34
Talk a little bit more about what resources that
7:37
they you said they resources they had before.
7:39
Yeah. So unfortunately, you know, when we're
7:42
standing and have like a higher pay, some when
7:45
people are, you know, asking for help for the
7:47
state or needing that type of assistance, sometimes
7:50
they don't qualify because we do have a higher
7:53
pay. But it does benefit on one side of it, because
7:56
now that we're at the 40s hours a week. They
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have the qualifications, so they know that they're
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not going to work more than that, but they have
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more of a stability pay versus then it was X
8:07
amount of hours and it was a lower pay, but it
8:11
wasn't as low and they would still qualify. However,
8:15
I think going back to our general labor itself,
8:19
I think our crew bosses have done a great job
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and our supervisors, managers, our team in general
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to make sure. If someone needs to leave or, you
8:28
know, we can adjust to, you know, what the employee
8:31
needs as well as well for them to support. We
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have and, you know, try to have the balance of
8:37
make sure they have the benefits that we give
8:39
the employees and are able to still receive that
8:41
for the following year. Yeah, I was even thinking
8:44
about the state assistance. A lot of people support
8:48
themselves with that. Yeah. You said a lot of
8:50
people what? They support themselves with that.
8:52
Yep. Interesting. So they can get kicked out
8:57
of qualifying if they're working over 40 hours?
9:00
A certain amount of income. A certain amount
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of income, yeah. And it changes a lot because,
9:05
like we said, now that we have a structure, when
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we say, okay, 20, 40 hours or 40 hours, we know
9:11
for the time being and they can support themselves
9:13
and we can give them that tool and give it to
9:15
the state so that they can still get the assistance
9:18
that they need versus back then if they're working
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more than the 40 hours. or 45 hours, it kind
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of goes up and down. So their pay is not consistent,
9:28
their rate of it. So they always question and
9:30
sometimes they had to pay out of pocket or, you
9:33
know, they just no longer are able to qualify
9:34
for anything. That was not even on my radar.
9:39
It seems very, very nuanced, I guess, for farm
9:44
workers in general. It's like a puzzle. Yeah.
9:48
I would say labor in general is... In the top
9:52
two or three things that we get asked about from
9:55
breweries, we get asked about water because they're
9:58
concerned about their supply, quality supply,
10:00
and then are we taking care of people and things
10:04
like that. And are we getting the labor? Yeah,
10:08
one of the big questions that has come up repeatedly
10:12
this year starting, oh, you know, somewhere early
10:17
summer. You know, it was all over the news, the
10:19
ICE raids and how that would affect farms, farm
10:25
workers, families. How have you seen that affect
10:28
Roy Farms? I would say that it didn't affect
10:32
us as much. I will say that a lot of employees,
10:36
you know, we try to spread the word and give
10:37
them the information and tools that we can give
10:40
them. But for the most part, we didn't really
10:43
struggle with employees not showing up to work
10:45
or. you know, having that fear of not be able
10:50
to work. Yeah. And then, I mean, we did have,
10:54
I guess there's, I don't know if you want to
10:56
call them raids. There were some raids in the
10:58
Valley and trucks driving around adjacent to
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fields or parked right on the edges of fields.
11:04
That was a little spooky to see initially. Yes.
11:09
I do recall that we did get a call and it was
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like, you know, Hey, just want to let you guys
11:13
know, we do have. what they've seen. And so,
11:17
you know, we do have our team where we have two
11:21
of them who are the people who will be talking
11:24
to ISAF just in case they do come, which we have
11:28
our policies and kind of apply. We want to assure
11:29
employees, you know, that we have our process
11:32
that we do, but want to make sure that they stay
11:35
calm. And if they have any questions or concerns,
11:38
they're more than welcome to come to the office.
11:40
But for the most part. You know, they reported
11:42
it. We did our part, kind of looked. They didn't
11:45
come in and they have, you know, they did approach
11:47
other companies. I mean, for the most part, we're
11:50
good. Yeah, because we check paperwork and everything
11:53
when people come in and all of that, right? Yes.
11:57
Yeah. I remember hearing like that people were
12:01
just scared in general because they didn't understand
12:02
what was going on. Yeah, for that, you know,
12:06
like I said, we, a lot of people do at first,
12:09
you know, they get. frightened and scared and
12:10
don't want to show up when it first starts to
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come out but once they know and they're aware
12:14
of like the resources they have um you know there's
12:17
id or not id cards their cards are given to employees
12:20
you know their know your rights and sheets and
12:23
links that they can support themselves to and
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so like you know at the end of the day the community
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is trying to help each other and they have links
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to the maps as well where they post them and
12:34
notify it you know everybody else where they're
12:36
at but for the most part you know going out and
12:39
talking to the employees and assuring them like
12:40
what's our protocol what's our process that we
12:42
have kind of eased them and you know knowing
12:45
that it's not just you can go in and you know
12:48
kind of get anybody and just supporting like
12:51
again with the tools that we have for further
12:53
rights so thinking about labor in the valley
12:57
generally speaking would you say that you expect
13:01
it to Stay stable. New challenges coming. I mean,
13:07
what's your outlook, I guess, on farm labor for
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the coming years? I think it's going to be, I
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wouldn't say challenging. It's going to be interesting.
13:18
Definitely because of how the changes are going
13:20
to be going for the H -2A workers. So kind of
13:23
moving with that, they're still looking into
13:25
what changes and what they're going to do as
13:28
far as the wages and assistance that they're
13:29
currently doing. for the following year. So I
13:31
think for the most people, I will say that local
13:35
people would probably fear just because if going
13:40
forward with the H -2A workers, a lot of changes
13:42
happen, it can go both ways where some H -2A
13:45
workers were, maybe this is not going to work
13:47
out for me and I won't come back. Or they are
13:49
going to come back with the changes, which means
13:51
that from my point of view, there's going to
13:53
be a lot more farmers looking into it. And that
13:56
will kind of cut back on hiring locals. Where
14:01
I can definitely see where the locals will not
14:04
like that and, you know, see the challenges in
14:07
that way to be able to hold a job. Sure. Can
14:10
you explain the H -2A program for those that
14:12
don't know? Yeah, that's what I was going to
14:14
say. Just high level. I'm sure most people are
14:16
aware, but H -2A labor guest worker programs
14:20
have increased over the years. Initially more
14:24
with tree fruit. and stuff like that, but then
14:27
eventually working its way into the hop industry.
14:31
And I don't know what, it'd be interesting to
14:33
know what percentage of the hop industry is split
14:36
between H2A and local labor force, but I'll bet
14:40
you it's tipped into the direction of H2A at
14:43
this point. Yeah. I think so. Yeah. So more H2A
14:48
probably used than local labor. Yeah. Yeah. And
14:51
we have not used H2A. at all to date. We've used
14:57
some labor contractors from time to time that
15:00
we heavily vet, you know, and that's not necessarily
15:05
our preferred option, but sometimes we use that
15:08
for labor peaks. Yes. So yeah. So talk a little
15:12
bit about H2A guest worker program and I don't
15:16
know the challenges or the impacts that has on
15:19
the Valley. The benefits, I guess, for the H2A
15:22
that they have is that when getting them you
15:28
know they come in starting from my knowledge
15:30
is they start January the first week of January
15:32
they're here and they stay till November mid
15:36
-November and then they're back so you know whatever
15:40
requirements the company needs as far as like
15:43
the job duties they have to have the standard
15:47
they have to meet that and some of the benefits
15:50
that the H -2A workers get you know it's at that
15:53
time of this year was, you know, the food, the
15:56
housing, the transportation, a lot of it is paid.
16:01
They basically pay to get here. Correct. And
16:03
then everything else is supplied by the entity
16:07
that is employing them. And you have to be very
16:10
specific in what jobs they will be doing, correct?
16:13
Correct. Because they're essentially signing,
16:15
you're signing a contract with them. Yes. Yeah,
16:18
so these workers are coming from Mexico, South
16:21
America, Wherever they come in, they're on a
16:25
work visa contract. Correct. Yeah. And then they
16:31
come up for a specific job. It's very stable.
16:34
Yes. So as an organization, you know that you
16:39
have the labor there. And it is easier for them.
16:43
You know, when you go back into the company itself,
16:46
if that person is not meeting the needs, it's
16:48
easier for them to just take them out and replace
16:50
them with someone else. So it is, you know, as
16:53
much time and effort they put in, it's the same
16:55
thing that they have to get their money's worth
16:57
while they're having them here. And the difference
17:00
between H -2A and then just general labor contractors,
17:03
which I know a lot of people did think that we
17:05
had H -2A workers when we had our contract. There's
17:09
a difference. You know, we had their contractors
17:11
that are local. And we don't have any H -2A like
17:14
you mentioned, Michael. So how does the labor
17:17
contractor program work? They just hire, honestly,
17:22
it's more small groups. They have more locals
17:24
around the area. And, you know, it's the same
17:28
thing like if we were doing our hiring board,
17:29
except now they just have that one person hiring
17:32
people based off the needs that the company is
17:34
needing as well. But they just do the same thing
17:37
as pay -wise. There's no benefits to it. But
17:40
they just kind of require to have the people.
17:43
That is needed. So if you need 20 people and
17:49
are having trouble finding them or you just need
17:52
them for three weeks or something, then you call
17:54
the labor contractor and they bring them out?
17:57
Correct. Okay. So, I mean, that one can be really
18:00
quick in and out. You know, you don't have to
18:03
get people here and supply all of the ancillary
18:08
needs. But, I mean, sometimes it's not guaranteed
18:12
that they'll even show up because sometimes you
18:14
call them and they say, oh, yeah, we got 20 people.
18:16
And then, you know, we'll bring them out on Wednesday.
18:19
And then Wednesday morning comes around and it's
18:21
like, wait a minute, there's five. Yeah. You
18:23
know, and then they'll slowly trickle in or they
18:25
won't show up. And some contractors are better
18:29
than others. Yeah. And that's one of the things
18:30
that we will face when bringing a local contractor.
18:34
Because it just depends if, like Michael said,
18:36
if they show up or they don't show up. Jeez.
18:40
What is your preferred labor source? I would
18:48
say definitely our locals. Yeah. Yeah. Because
18:51
they know, I mean, the people we've had, to be
18:53
honest with you, we faced a lot of changes within
18:57
the last couple of years. And, you know, with
19:00
the changes that have happened with the company,
19:03
a lot of employees have adjusted, you know, what
19:07
the company needs. They know where the locations
19:10
are at. And for the most part, you know, I think
19:14
for myself, where I stand out to where I started
19:18
at to where I'm at now, the opportunities that
19:19
the company gives us, we definitely try to see
19:23
the best in everyone. And if there's an opportunity
19:26
that we see in an employee, we support them and
19:29
help them grow. And I think we have a couple
19:31
employees here that, you know, started outside
19:33
and now have had different positions to where,
19:36
you know. Coming in as a contractor, it's just
19:39
the basic needs, and then they're in and out.
19:41
So do you see a lot of the same people from year
19:44
to year? I have. We've had a lot of the same
19:48
people. Unfortunately, when it comes to that
19:51
time where it has to get cut back, a lot of people
19:54
look forward to still either ways to come back.
19:55
If it's not right in the beginning of the year,
19:58
they're coming back during the season for the
20:00
harvest. It's nice to see that we're getting
20:03
that support back. you know that they're being
20:06
heard if there's any questions or concerns that
20:08
they have you know our job is to make sure that
20:09
we're hearing them and of course we can't solve
20:11
everything that at once but we definitely try
20:15
to give them the support they need circling back
20:19
to h2a i know one of the the things that's happened
20:22
with h2a labor coming in is that it's pulled
20:25
the um the local hourly wage up along with the
20:32
h2a wages correct yes It has. It's made a lot
20:36
of changes or challenges, I should say. And I
20:39
think it makes a big challenge when you have
20:43
H -2A workers at a higher rate and then you have
20:46
the locals at a lower rate, which can cause conflict.
20:50
And I think I faced that, I would want to say,
20:52
in Othello versus here in Moxie, where a lot
20:58
of them were comparing themselves to having H
21:01
-2A. They had to pay the same. And it's just
21:04
a culture itself. But having H -2A workers at
21:07
a higher rate, it does change everything. And
21:10
again, the rate does stay based off what activity
21:13
they're going to be doing. And it can change.
21:17
But when you're paying higher, you got to change
21:20
it for everybody. And so it affects, I want to
21:23
say, the company itself. And I don't see too
21:26
much of a positive in that. Gotcha. And then
21:31
some of the new changes potentially coming around
21:34
H -2A, what were those again? So the new changes
21:38
that they're considering is lowering their wage,
21:40
which we are one of the highest in the state
21:44
of Washington compared to other states. So from
21:47
what I've seen, they've thought about between
21:49
going back down to 16 -something to 17 roughly.
21:53
And where are they at now? At 19. So it's a big
21:57
change. Going to go back into changing, you know,
22:01
their hourly rate. Besides that, the cost as
22:05
far as transportation, I've heard that they are
22:08
considering just to pay the transportation. For
22:10
example, if they're going to Mexico, it's going
22:12
to go Mexico. They will no longer pay back to
22:15
their hometown, which they currently do. So that
22:17
is a big change. Oh, wow. Yeah. I do kind of
22:21
look at it and it's one of the things that they
22:23
haven't set in stone yet. But transportation,
22:25
as far as like what they can take, I know that
22:29
there's companies like that will pay whether
22:33
it's an airplane, whether they're driving, whether
22:35
they're taking the bus, that's going to get reduced.
22:38
Food and housing, it's probably in a possibility
22:41
as well. Yeah, I think I heard that. So what
22:44
was the specifics around housing? They're not
22:46
going to or they'll be able to. deduct that off
22:51
of their pay or something yeah yeah they're looking
22:53
into that yeah oh wow so it is a big change so
22:56
that's what i'm saying i don't know if it's a
22:57
benefit for h2a workers to come they might say
23:02
yes or they might say no you know we might have
23:05
less of h2a workers coming back oh interesting
23:08
is my my train of thought of that you know and
23:11
or it can be you know what it's going to work
23:14
out and they might just come back and give, you
23:17
know, in this case, I would say for companies
23:19
who want to get things at a certain amount of
23:22
time, which a lot of us do, we'll kind of fall
23:25
into getting H2A workers because the cost is
23:27
not as high. There's no more, you know, having
23:30
to pay the additional that is currently happening
23:35
right now. So recruitment wise on local labor,
23:40
we've been doing pretty good. How easy or hard
23:43
is it to acquire, I guess, like this next generation
23:46
or younger people? Do they want to come into
23:50
agriculture or not? I say it's a 50 -50. Why?
23:57
Because I think because we've had family members
23:59
work here. And so a lot of them do come through
24:03
a family member. I will definitely say we don't
24:06
see a lot of kids coming out of high school and
24:09
wanting to apply. But I definitely do see a higher
24:13
number in between age group of like 22 and up.
24:19
So we do get a lot of people who actually voice
24:23
for us and will communicate with other members
24:27
that are working somewhere else. And this is
24:30
where the part comes in where it's like the pay
24:31
wise, the hours are working. You know, for this
24:34
year, we did get a lot of a lot of employees
24:36
who. benefited because we were giving them the
24:39
40 hours. There's other companies who were not
24:40
even working the 40 hours and it made it difficult.
24:43
Or I've heard through employees that unfortunately
24:48
there's other companies who were not hiring any
24:50
females this year. We had, you know, on our group,
24:53
we, we had, yeah, we had, yeah. Is that illegal?
24:57
It is. It is. Isn't that illegal? Yes, it is.
25:03
I think that I believe that's called discrimination.
25:05
Yeah. And to be very clear, that does not happen
25:10
at Roy Farms. It does not. No. No. You know,
25:13
and it's the same thing I always tell all the
25:14
employees that are coming in. Like, this is what
25:16
we're requiring. This is what we can do. If you're
25:18
wanting to do it, great. You know, we'll give
25:20
it a chance. And they hung on. You know, like,
25:22
we had a couple drivers here in the front at
25:25
Roy Farms in the main office at this main machine.
25:28
And we had people who were hanging. Which is
25:31
a horribly hard job. It is. And so, you know,
25:35
we made adjustments and they adapted and they
25:37
finished the season with us and they're looking
25:39
forward to coming back next year. Cool. Yeah.
25:42
You know, for us, I want to say that being able
25:45
to give the opportunities to the employees and,
25:47
you know, give them the shot to whatever job
25:49
tasks we're having. They try to do what they
25:53
can, you know, for the best part. And if they
25:54
understand if they don't meet the needs and let
25:56
them know and, you know, always let them know
25:58
maybe for this job you can't do it. there might
26:01
be something, you know, later on that you can
26:03
do. It doesn't, we don't stop them from not getting
26:06
them back anymore. And then you spoke a little
26:08
bit about, I mean, what I heard was communicating
26:11
expectations. So how's that? I mean, cause I
26:14
know we're doing a lot more of that these days
26:16
for different reasons. You know, it's like, Hey,
26:19
this is what we expect, you know, and, and communicating
26:22
that up front so that no one is surprised by
26:25
anything. I mean, has that changed? Has it always
26:28
been, have we always been that? upfront heavy
26:31
on communications or is that evolved over time?
26:34
I think it's evolved for sure. I would definitely
26:36
say from the time that I've been here, one of
26:39
the biggest things that I came across was having
26:42
people open up and kind of speaking their own
26:44
mind and then being comfortable to, you know,
26:47
I don't know if it's happened to you guys this
26:49
year, last year, where if you were coming in
26:50
and you were not supposed to. have your PPE or
26:53
you had, you were supposed to have your PPE and,
26:55
um, you know, the answer to that question. Don't,
26:58
don't beat around the bush. We have guilty as
27:02
charged, but I mean like having the employees
27:05
have the confidence and. you know, know that
27:08
what they're doing, what was taught to them,
27:10
they're, they're able to do it without feeling
27:12
intimidated or scared or, you know what I mean?
27:14
Like feeling, you know, for the most part, I
27:16
feel like a lot of people are like, am I going
27:17
to get written up for this? Or am I going to
27:19
get in trouble? Am I going to get retaliated?
27:21
You know, not being hired because I said, I said,
27:23
no, no, no. The rules apply to everybody, you
27:25
know, and it doesn't matter who it is. And if
27:27
you see them, call them out. I'm going to have
27:29
to step my game up next year. Let's just say
27:31
that. I definitely ran across some people that
27:34
did not seem like they were afraid to point it
27:36
out to me. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we got, you
27:41
know, they're like, who are these jackasses walking
27:43
through the kiln without a five is on? I followed
27:47
all the food safety regulations. There might
27:49
have been a couple, a time or two. No, no, no.
27:53
You just looked down at my flip -flops. Those
27:55
flip -flops definitely made it through the kiln.
27:59
I didn't go on the cooling room floor. And I
28:01
didn't walk in the kiln. That's true. I went
28:09
on the killing room floor. I put booties on over
28:12
my flip flops. It counts. See? Thank you. I would
28:18
definitely say we've gotten a lot better. I was
28:20
not perfect. And it was pointed out to me. And
28:26
I need to improve. No, but I do think that. You
28:31
know, having that with employees and interacting
28:33
has definitely helped and kind of build a confidence.
28:36
And as well, like having our visitors come in
28:39
and making sure they're wearing what they're
28:40
supposed to as well is something that we have
28:42
improved dramatically. I have a clarifying question.
28:45
Okay. This is part of my improvement plan. Clarifying
28:48
question for my improvement plan. Isn't the only
28:52
place that you technically need to have a hard
28:54
hat is if you're walking through the Roy Main?
28:56
Because everywhere else, there isn't really the
28:58
risk of overhead. What? You're shaking your head
29:00
at me like I'm wrong. I am wrong? Yeah. Okay,
29:03
clarify. So you do have to have it in the machines,
29:09
in the Roy's at DR. I guess if you're walking
29:13
underneath the equipment. If you're going in.
29:15
If you're going in. If you're going in. If you're
29:17
going in. You cross that door. That's our rule.
29:20
If you're going in, yes. Okay. In the Paladin
29:24
as well. Okay. See, I was trying to skirt. I
29:31
was like, well, there's really the only place
29:32
where's overhead hazard is with the hooks that
29:35
are going through the machine. Apparently my
29:37
interpretation was wrong. I am 100 % certain
29:40
that I heard at least twice this harvest. If
29:44
it's not necessary, I'm not going to do it. Don't
29:46
let Nancy. Well, no, we got, we both got reprimanded.
29:51
Yes. Nancy reprimanded us. Very nicely though.
29:54
Very nicely. And I need to improve. We've been
29:59
ratted out, boys. We'll be better next year.
30:04
So to everybody out there that did follow the
30:08
protocol, thank you. If you saw me and I was
30:13
not perfect, I apologize. We're going to get
30:19
some embroidered with our names on it. Yeah.
30:24
Next year. Okay. All right. Moving on. Moving
30:30
on. What's the biggest challenge overseeing HR?
30:37
Maybe top five. Maybe top three. Whatever you
30:40
want. The biggest challenge? That's a good question.
30:46
Nothing's challenging. It's just smooth sailing
30:48
every day. I was going to say you guys. No, it's
30:51
because everything's challenging. Everything's
30:53
challenging. Yeah. But I still stand by what
30:56
I say. Definitely. I mean, everything is challenging,
31:00
what we come across, what I like. I think the
31:04
improvement that we've done so far this year,
31:06
you know, if you would ask me if I want to be
31:08
in this department last year, I would tell you
31:11
no. Appreciate the honesty. Yes. But this year
31:17
for sure, you know, has kind of helped with supporting
31:21
each other for sure. If there's something that
31:24
we don't know, you know, we kind of poke people,
31:26
but definitely get our answer and kind of see
31:29
or how to guide us to, you know, not just in
31:32
our own department, but in all the departments,
31:35
you know, and I feel that's one thing that we're
31:38
still growing and trying to help out. And I think
31:40
that for the most part, I don't know if you guys
31:43
disagree or agree with me, but I think everyone's
31:45
pretty vocal, you know, on our team, on our team.
31:50
And. I mean, I mean. That's actually a good thing.
31:54
Yeah. Oh, yeah. I think that, you know, if something's
31:57
not right or something that. But I feel like
32:00
everyone's able to have their own opinion. Yeah.
32:02
To prior kind of just shutting down and not saying
32:07
much. Not feeling the support. Yeah. Not feeling
32:11
the love. Yeah. Yeah. And I think I will say
32:13
that, you know, seeing you guys often is awesome.
32:18
You know, a lot of people. get to see the faces
32:21
of the company and, you know, appreciate. And
32:23
like I said, if they see you do something wrong,
32:26
they'll call you on it. It's good. Makes me very
32:29
happy. Yeah. So it's just nice to know that,
32:32
you know, the communication we bring out as far
32:35
as from, you know, the bottom to the top, it's
32:38
getting there. Yeah. Yeah. How much of your job
32:41
do you feel is just kind of being a liaison and
32:45
communicating? Because there's like these different.
32:48
pressures i don't know all of them but you said
32:50
it's all hard so you have you know we're trying
32:53
to get the number of people here we're trying
32:55
to like find the sweet spot of you know hourly
32:58
rate and hours trying to get the required output
33:03
out of the individual to meet the budget you
33:09
know and and there's all these different forces
33:11
at play and then there's just not just but then
33:15
there's the I don't know, human psychology side
33:18
of things, I imagine where people just want to
33:20
be heard. Sometimes like maybe they just need
33:23
to vent or they want to be heard. And it's not
33:26
like major tweaks, but they're small tweaks.
33:28
And just like having that open dialogue, I would
33:31
imagine goes a long way. It does. And so like
33:34
out of like those types of things, like, you
33:36
know, getting the number of people, you know,
33:39
getting the output, hourly rates, budgets, like
33:42
all of that communication, like, is there anything?
33:45
in that that's harder than the other? Do you
33:47
feel like one thing you spend a majority of your
33:50
time on? I would say that balancing. Just balancing
33:58
between all of that? Yeah. I would definitely
34:00
say balancing because the employees in general,
34:03
like you say, you know, I try to leave my door
34:05
open. And if it's not for me, for them to feel
34:08
comfortable enough to go to the manager, to go
34:11
to the crew bosses if there's something that
34:12
they need and kind of guiding them that way.
34:15
But I would definitely say I think the biggest
34:16
challenge for me this year was definitely the
34:19
switch of the crews, which I'm like, think positive.
34:22
We'll get the people. We got to have, you know,
34:25
a plan from A through D just in case to make
34:28
sure that, you know, if we didn't get the people,
34:30
what other options can we do to rotate if it's
34:33
needed, which we were able to. And then as people
34:35
started coming back, then kind of slowly adjusting
34:38
the hours that. Needed to get two. Are you talking
34:41
about in the spring or for harvest? For harvest.
34:43
For harvest, yeah. For harvest is definitely
34:44
the one I would say. Yeah, because that's the
34:46
time of the year where unless you do something
34:50
like what we did and you can explain it, it's
34:52
really hard to avoid overtime. Correct. And that's
34:56
the numbers add up pretty quick when you're running
34:58
seven days a week, 24 hours a day for 30 to 40
35:02
days. Real quick. Real quick. Because, I mean,
35:05
correct me if I'm wrong, we have a couple different
35:07
labor. spikes during the year you know uh or
35:11
where we need to get a lot of work done in a
35:13
short period of time twining training planting
35:16
babies but the real big one is harvest correct
35:18
and so you spoke about it a little bit but what
35:21
what exactly did we change going into harvest
35:24
this year and then how did that work out because
35:26
we kind of had to pivot real time and adjust
35:28
to how it was working or yeah yeah so um the
35:33
changes that we did from last year to this year
35:35
were You know, like I mentioned, the two shifts.
35:38
So we had the shifts where they're working seven
35:41
days last year. And the difference from this
35:46
year, we had four shifts, which means double
35:48
the people for both facilities and having to
35:53
maintain to be able to keep up to make sure that
35:55
we had enough people for each shift. And so for
35:58
me, that was one of the biggest challenging starting.
36:01
And I thought it was going to be more. in our
36:06
drivers, which it was for a moment. But then
36:10
we were able to adjust where if we wouldn't have
36:14
the people enough, making sure that we had enough
36:17
people to cover for the shift, where we would
36:19
pull people from our group A to our group B or
36:21
from our group B to our group A so that we had
36:24
enough people covering in our shift. I will say
36:27
the biggest one where I did have challenges on
36:31
having our people stay was our chopper boys.
36:34
Which seems like a completely random spot to
36:37
have an issue. Yep. Why was that? They just didn't
36:41
stay. They wanted to hang for the most part.
36:46
Some of them wanted to hang and others wanted
36:49
to drive. Is there a material pay difference
36:52
between the two? No. They're about the same.
36:56
They're just basically managing, kind of hanging
36:59
out and dealing with the mess that the choppers
37:02
make sometimes, yeah? Yeah. Yeah. Interesting.
37:06
If the machine stops or having to clean it out,
37:10
that's what they were doing. It would be a pain
37:12
to clean those things out. Yeah, but I think
37:14
it's because... It is a pain. I've been involved
37:16
in a couple of those. I think for the most part,
37:20
it's because they're standing and having to look
37:22
versus kind of on the move, on the go, go, go,
37:26
which the time does go by faster. Put a couple
37:30
of Rubik's cubes back by the choppers. Sounds
37:34
like a good use of money. Yeah. I mean, not that
37:37
expensive. Camden's got probably 10 of them.
37:38
We could grab a couple. Isn't it kind of odd
37:41
that they're called chopper boys? They like to
37:44
chop things. Should it be chopper people or chopper
37:48
men? I don't know. Don't mess with a good thing.
37:53
I know. Okay. But I remember that when I was
37:56
young. It's like this always referred to that
37:58
position as like chopper boy. And I don't know
38:00
where that started. It's the name. It's the name.
38:04
It's the name. Where'd Batboy come from? Batboy?
38:07
Is that like Batman's? No, like in baseball.
38:12
Oh, yeah. Waterboy? Yeah. All right. So one of
38:21
the things that I mentioned was, you know, we've
38:25
really had to, I don't know how you want to phrase
38:27
it, but really tried to get. more output out
38:30
of the same hour, generally speaking, across
38:32
everything, including labor around the farm.
38:35
And I think a different way to phrase that is
38:38
that we are trying to hold people more accountable
38:42
to their position. And I mean, I can speak from,
38:46
you know, my point of view over the years is
38:49
that, you know, we've always thought of and the
38:54
intention to treat you know, everybody around
38:57
here is as part of the family, bigger family.
39:00
And I think sometimes like that got the, we are
39:03
a family and we want to take care of our employees
39:07
like their family and then holding people accountable.
39:11
Haven't always been in alignment. And they've
39:14
sometimes I think like maybe been at odds where
39:16
it's like, like you can't have one without the
39:18
other. Do you have any thoughts about that? I
39:22
will definitely agree with that. Yeah. I will
39:25
say that for the most part, that has been another
39:30
challenge where, you know, people are like, I'm
39:33
a full -time employee. You know, we had our first
39:37
time where we, back in 2022, where everybody
39:41
was so used to having, you know, their full -time
39:46
benefits, working year -round. I would say having
39:52
the expectation. but for the company not receiving
39:56
back and so transitioning into the adjustment
40:00
of we no longer keep well keep everybody on full
40:06
full time because at that at that time we're
40:08
I mean keeping people on what I mean essentially
40:12
year -round almost like with you know full benefits
40:15
and yes and that was when the hop industry was
40:18
doing very well and so it's not a bad thing that
40:23
we plowed that uh some of those profits or a
40:27
good chunk of those profits back into employees
40:29
but then it just wasn't sustainable which is
40:32
the negative thing and so then when we had to
40:33
go back to kind of like not having as many year
40:37
-round employees it was i'm assuming it was challenging
40:40
yeah yeah so it was challenging on that way because
40:43
you know they assumed that they were going to
40:45
have their job they assumed that you know they
40:47
were going to come back But, you know, when you
40:49
have to look back is what did the company needs?
40:51
How many people we can actually bring back based
40:54
on the job activity? It was no longer because
40:57
we needed to bring them back. It was what are
41:00
the requirements we need? What is it that the
41:02
company needs? And then, you know, we do have
41:05
our who met the hours and kind of support them
41:09
as far as when they stop working, kind of giving
41:13
them resources where they can go to and look.
41:16
trying to balance out having their benefits,
41:18
their medical benefits, whoever has benefits
41:20
with us. So one of the things is that normally
41:23
once you stop, you kind of lose those benefits,
41:26
especially if you're not making payments. So
41:29
we've been flexible, making sure employees are
41:32
coming in, you know, within the month, understanding
41:34
the situation, you know, because they're no longer
41:36
working, but also providing them the tools, the
41:40
letters. the resources they need from the company
41:44
too that they can get an assistance or, you know,
41:47
just kind of touching and base with them. A lot
41:50
of them appreciate that they'll have medical
41:53
insurance because they don't qualify through
41:54
the state. And so some employees understand the
41:58
difference now when they don't meet the hours
42:00
because there is not a clear understanding in
42:03
saying, well, I'm a full -time employee. I need
42:05
to get my benefits. I need to get my vacation.
42:08
They didn't have that clarity. And now they understand
42:11
like, okay, well, I needed me my hours. It's
42:13
not counting, you know, the vacation. It's not
42:15
counting the sick. It's not counting the holiday.
42:17
It's physically hours worked. So we've done a
42:21
great job, I want to say, with everyone trying
42:23
to make sure that we're communicating that and
42:25
having them understand it's not that we don't
42:28
want to give them the benefits. It's just that
42:29
we have our requirements and now we're standing
42:31
by our policies that. you know, we're gladly
42:35
and wanting to support them and give them the
42:37
benefits if they qualify, you know, and then
42:40
just having them understand a lot of people are
42:42
like, okay, we did get a lot of people where
42:44
they're like, oh, well, I thought it was included
42:47
with all of this. And I'm like, no. So I would
42:49
say did our attendance reduce from, you know,
42:55
not showing up every day? I would say definitely.
42:57
And that's something I am curious to see. Because
43:01
I feel that we did have a lot of people stay
43:03
and want to work because they want to meet the
43:08
full time requirements so that they can qualify
43:10
for the following year. So it's nice to be able
43:14
to see that they appreciate and they know what
43:16
the company gives because there's other companies
43:18
that don't give them that benefits. They know
43:19
that they have that short period of window and
43:21
it's only a time frame. So they're in and out
43:24
and don't get those benefits. I've heard, you
43:27
know, through numerous of employees who. are
43:30
um grateful and appreciate they're like no no
43:33
we don't want to look for another job because
43:34
i want to come back and work here so i think
43:37
um being up front and being honest with them
43:39
and letting them know like hey you know we might
43:41
not be able to bring you guys back at this time
43:43
but kind of going forward around this time frame
43:45
they tend to wait and i seen that a lot for this
43:49
year it's good to hear i mean what would you
43:53
say our retention rate is from year to year i
43:55
would say like how many people like just like
43:58
would choose to not come back? Oh, I would say
44:02
a 20%. Yeah. Probably. So 80 % retention, 20
44:08
% kind of people that just for whatever reason
44:11
don't come back. Yeah. And then a lot of it's
44:12
because they're jumping from job to job. And
44:15
so we go back to the same thing. So even, even
44:18
then that 20 % might not stay with us, but they're
44:22
here for twining time. You know, they're here
44:25
for that root digging time and then because they're
44:27
going somewhere else to go work. But we do. That's
44:30
why I'm saying like we do have a good like turnaround
44:34
that come back and look and year after year,
44:36
you know, they do come and apply. And if for
44:39
some reason some incident happens and they're
44:42
not able to work here anymore, you know, we have
44:46
a window where like, OK, depending what happened,
44:49
then, you know, kind of seeing if we can give
44:51
them another opportunity. But if not, then they
44:54
also understand. Our full -time employees, we
44:57
have a really low turnover, right? Like how many
45:01
people just quit on our kind of more year -round
45:04
employees? Maybe two. Two a year? Yeah. Yeah.
45:10
It's like a 90%, 95 % retention. Oh, no, it's
45:14
higher than that. Higher than that. Something
45:16
to be proud of. You must be doing something right.
45:18
We are all doing something right. From your perspective,
45:24
what could Roy Farms, or I guess you could even
45:30
make it more broad, like what could employers
45:32
do better in the agricultural industry? Or what
45:43
could we do better? Other one. I would definitely
45:46
say checking in. Yeah. Checking in with the employees.
45:50
With employees. I know this is something that
45:53
has plagued me for years is I want to learn Spanish.
45:56
Like if kicking myself, I kick myself over and
46:00
over again for not learning it when I was younger.
46:02
Cause like there's this intimidation factor to
46:04
go out there. And then I only know like four
46:07
words. So it's like, Hey, how are you doing?
46:10
Sweet. You gotta just commit and go for it. Commit
46:16
and learn. Yeah. I know. Watch cartoons. You
46:20
think that? Yeah. And music, for sure. I only
46:24
have so much capacity. What do you mean music?
46:26
Just listen to music. Listen to? A whole mix.
46:30
Of what? Like mariachi? Yeah. I like mariachi.
46:36
Mariachi? Yeah, that would be a good one. So
46:46
just showing that we care. I mean, I wouldn't
46:52
say showing that you care. I would definitely
46:54
say that that has shown. But saying hi goes a
46:58
long ways for sure. So I think that we did get
47:01
good feedback on that as well. We're like, hey,
47:04
we've seen so -and -so. I'm like, yeah, he's
47:06
around here. So I will say it was nice. And a
47:11
lot of people, you know, like they feel it's
47:13
the little things that matter. They feel appreciated,
47:15
you know. Because a lot of people couldn't go
47:17
to work and you don't know what they're going
47:19
through. And, you know, they're like, oh, another
47:21
day. But that just stopping by and say, hey,
47:24
how's it going? Do you think that I mean, because
47:27
I remember back when, you know, I mean, you go
47:30
all the way back to when my with my grandfather,
47:33
like he individually, like probably talk to everybody
47:35
on a daily basis because there wasn't that many
47:38
people. And then as these companies grow, which
47:41
this is not just a, you know, Yakima. Valley
47:44
agricultural issue or a hop industry issue or
47:47
a farms issue, but it does become more challenging
47:49
to have that connection as these companies grow.
47:53
Yes. You have to be more intentional about it
47:56
for sure. Yeah. And just constantly being out
47:59
there. I mean, even if it's having to go check
48:03
in something, you know, just, it's one of the
48:05
things I would say was one of my challenges where
48:08
coming into it was like, Oh my gosh, what am
48:10
I going to do? I got to learn so much. I got
48:12
to do this. And I'm not a desk person. So that
48:17
was challenging having to adjust to that. And
48:20
then I'm like, OK, I need to go. I need to go
48:22
see what what the people need or the crew bosses
48:24
in this case. And just, you know, saying hi or
48:27
getting corrected myself. I got corrected last
48:30
year quite a bit. But for the most part, it's
48:34
nice because I'm like, oh, yeah, they're here.
48:36
Or, you know, they don't I feel like a lot of
48:38
people and I will speak for myself. Like when
48:40
I was working in the paladin myself. I was like,
48:42
oh my gosh, I kind of want to just dug my head
48:44
and not say hi to anybody, you know, but when
48:47
we just kind of interact, if even if it's for,
48:51
you know, two minutes, it's, it's nice. Good
48:55
feedback. Do you feel like we covered everything
48:59
you wanted to cover? I think so. I'll probably
49:03
have like, I'll think about it after. Yeah. But
49:06
I think for the most part we did. Leland, thanks
49:09
for coming on the show today. Thanks for having
49:11
me. No dirt, no flowers. Thanks. Out.