Retaining Ag Talent: ‘We Need to Change Our Story’
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe chief executive officer of Terre Haute-based Clabber Girl Corp. says in order for Indiana to retain top talent within the agriculture industry, the state needs to look beyond food and ag professionals. Gary Morris says there are numerous types of professions typically not associated with agriculture, such as marketing, engineering and graphic design, from which ag companies can draw talent.
Morris says Indiana is in a prime spot to create a pool of talent within the ag industry. "Whatever you can possibly think of, we have a job for you and as a matter of fact, those jobs probably play at or more than many of the other industries you can go into. We need accounting. We need finance. We need people who are doing financial analysis, every discipline you can possibly think of."
Morris says, regardless of the industry, it is "always tough" to find top talent which means companies must change the conversation in order to attract the types of employees they are searching for. "Some of these folks graduating from college, they’re going to want to a large metropolitan area regardless of what we offer them. But those who are looking for a good career, I think we need to change our story."