According to the National Center for Education Statistics:
- Women made up over half (52%) of the graduates from agriculture degree programs (including Ph.D., graduate and post-secondary) in 2020.
- Women make up 36% of the total number of U.S. farm operators, and 56% of all farms have at least one female decision-maker.
Dairy farms that continue this trend to diversify their hiring are sure to reap the benefits. Many studies across multiple industries find similar outcomes: Businesses with women in leadership roles are more likely to benefit from stronger financial outcomes, reduced conflict and greater focus on transparency and ethics. These meaningful attributes have business benefits and, in turn, can add to the overall skills of the team.
These are just some of the many reasons why we are committed to closing the gender gap in our own organization. Our goal is to have women in 50% of our leadership roles and holding at least 30% of senior roles by 2030, as a member of the Paradigm for Parity coalition initiative.
Our CEO, Dave MacLennan, explains gender diversity this way, “It’s a business issue. It’s a community issue. It’s an economic issue. It’s about making all of us – our communities, our companies, all of us as people – better.”
When I think of our relevance to dairy producers, I think of our science-based research, nutrition modeling and the management consulting we do on-farm. To stay relevant in these areas, we need to hire the best talent. It’s what our customers expect from us. Overlooking women, the largest demographic of ag graduates, would be a missed opportunity. Adding women to our team is also keeping us representative of our customers – dairy producers – and their teams; women are working in all positions on-farm, from milkers and veterinarians to managers.
Successfully hiring
Dairy farms find themselves hiring continuously, whether it be for entry-level positions or to keep a door open for manager and specialized positions. If that is the case, consider these hiring practices for reaching and attracting female candidates to work for you.Are you reaching female candidates?If you are thinking to yourself, “I don’t have women applying,” then think about expanding your reach. College agriculture and dairy departments as well as collegiate clubs like the dairy science, crop science and agribusiness clubs could be great hiring connections. Make similar connections with community colleges, trade schools and high school FFA programs. Great talent can be found anywhere; you just need to let people know your dairy is hiring.
What do your job descriptions look like? One overlooked step to make your hiring more inclusive is the words used in job postings. When we removed more male-biased words like “manpower” and “dominant” from nearly 1,000 job descriptions, it resulted in twice as many open roles (56% versus 26%) being filled by women at our company.
What is your process for reviewing and interviewing applicants? You may wear multiple hats like manager, mechanic and head of the HR department. You may be the sole decider when it comes to hiring decisions. Having a team or an additional person review applicants can offer a wider perspective, and someone may see value where others do not. We all have different experiences and skills to bring to the table, but it may take more than one person to see that.
I am proud to say our dairy leadership team is 50% female and 50% male. This diversity has been valuable for recruiting and hiring, since our female managers can answer questions about what it's like to be a woman in their job. In the same sense, seeing females leading some of our different teams shows female applicants the opportunity is there to advance their careers.
What makes your dairy a great place to work?Once you offer someone a job, they have the final decision. Beyond pay, the workplace culture and inclusivity initiatives are of valuable consideration for anyone deciding to accept a job offer. When new people join your dairy’s team, regardless of gender or ethnicity, they will likely be more productive and work with you longer if they feel included, welcomed and a part of the team. Inclusivity can look like gender-specific restrooms and locker rooms, as well as physical policies for maternity and sick leave.
Just in the last couple of years, our production plants and mills have grown their teams by hiring more women. We made major investments in adding women restrooms and locker rooms to accommodate our new hires – an investment we saw as important for our future and expanding our own talent pool to female job seekers.
Mentorship (giving advice) and sponsorship (giving opportunity)
Investing your own time in growing your people can build relationships, loyalty and give a greater sense of purpose. While also adding to your workplace culture, developing talent through mentorship and sponsorship can help achieve your business goals and with retaining talent.Mentorship and sponsorship are both professional relationships where each person has a defined role and must be committed to being present and performing their role. The main difference between the two is: Mentorship is generally about providing advice and feedback, whereas sponsorship involves directly advocating for a person or providing them opportunity because you believe in their ability and potential.
I personally mentor three people and, when I first joined Cargill 17 years ago, the mentorship and sponsorship I received was key to my progression within the company and to my current position as the commercial director of the North American dairy business. Starting out, I was the only female in the room for the first nine years of my career. The mentors and sponsors I had who were male were just as important as the ones who were female. I believe it’s very important to have men mentoring women and women mentoring men.
While hiring for a dairy farm has its own nuances compared to our organization, there is business value in adding diversity to any team. Due in part to the growing number of female graduates with degrees in agriculture and dairy studies, dairy farms are in a great position to realize the benefits of hiring more women.
