Human Resource Essay: Retaining employees in Agriculture Sector
Question
Assessment Task: For Assessment 2, you selected a sector to study (e.g. agriculture; construction; financial services; health care; hospitality; manufacturing; mining; retail; transport).
You will write an essay on the key challenges in attracting and retaining a workforce in your selected sector.
Your essay will draw on at least five themes from Week 1 to Week 11 of this unit, being those most relevant to your selected industry sector.
Your essay will draw on the academic literature (including the annotated bibliography you developed for Assessment 2), and develop an argument applying that literature to your selected sector.
Answer
Introduction
Agriculture sector is one of the most important and vital sectors across the world which episode a significant amount and number of labour force in various developing Nations. It accounts for more than 40% for the total employment in the developing countries. But in the present scenario there are a number of issues problems and challenges which are faced by the agricultural sector in attracting and retaining the workforce. One of the major issues in agriculture sector is the education level of the employees or the farmers are comparatively very low. The second major issue is the increasing number of the aging work force and the declining involvement of the youth in agricultural sector (Rola, Jamias & Quizon, 2002). It has been observed that there has been a sudden decrease in the percentage of employees or workforce associated with the agricultural sector. In the past few decades people are shifting towards various other sectors which can offer them better job opportunities and monetary gains. Therefore there is increasing number of challenges at the time of attracting and retaining skilled workforce in the agricultural sector (Susilowati, 2014). The primary objective of this Human Resource Essay is to understand the various key challenges and issues in attracting and retaining the employees in the agricultural sector. The study will also highlight the phenomenon of aging farmers as well as the involvement of the young work force in the agricultural industry. The Human Resource Essay will also present a number of ways by which the agricultural sector companies can retain the skilled and competent workforce. Finally this Human Resource Essay will also address some of the policy implications which can help in attracting and retaining the workforce in agricultural sector.
Key challenges in attracting and retaining workforce in agricultural sector
There are a number of aspects and factors which represents that the agricultural sector is not so attractive which can fetch the attention of the young and educated workforce. The primary factor is the continuously increasing scarcity of the agricultural land. It is considerable a push factor which itself does not allow the skilled labour to be a part of Agricultural sector due to scarcity (Anderson, 2006). Another factor is the promising and increased wages and income in other nonagricultural sector. it is regarded as a pull factor where the other nonagricultural Industries motivate the skilled and Competent work force to join them and retain their for a longer time period because of a number of benefits attained by working in nonagricultural sector (Mukembo, Edwards, Ramsey & Henneberry, 2014). If it is seen from the cultural aspect and value system the maximum of new generation and young employees consider that while working in the nonagricultural sector will be regarded as more prestigious instead of working in farming or agricultural industry. Thus, young individuals go to the urban areas for work such as merchant, civil servants, laborers or construction work. It is one of the most common phenomenon’s which have been observed in most almost all the developing Nations where people detach themselves from the agricultural sector and focus on employees in the various non-agricultural industries (IFAD, 2014).
The continuously declining interest of new generation and skilled employees to work in the agricultural industry is not in the absence of consequences, especially in respect with the future sustainability of Agricultural industry. In the coming time with the increased population the burden towards the agricultural sector will also be increased and would be much difficult, primary when it comes to fulfilling the rising demand for food and goods (Hana, Petr, Lenka & Martina, 2017). The role of the government authorities in the promotion of rising food production and productivity will be very vital and challenging. Because of this reason, the interest of youth and skill employees to be the next generation agricultural workforce will be fostered (Davis, Ekboir & Spielman, 2008). There are some of the major challenges which have been faced by the youth in order to be a part of Agricultural sector comprises of access to land Limited skills and access to capital. Thus it is highly essential that the government authorities must formulate several subsidy and incentive policy for the young work force so that it can enhance the interest and attract the youth of the developing Nations to be a part of Agricultural sector and work in the agricultural industry (Gesualdi-Fecteau, 2014). But unfortunately at several places there is no incentive policy or other subsidies of food for increasing and motivating the young work force to become the part of Agricultural sector (Liebman, Simmons, Salzwedel, Tovar-Aguilar & Lee, 2017). It is the time when the government must come up with certain programs and policies for the new generation people, beginning farmers and skilled people who possess interest in working in the agricultural industry (Liebman, Simmons, Salzwedel, Tovar-Aguilar & Lee, 2017).
It has been analyzed and forecasted that the global population will be increased to 9 million by the year 2050 with 14 % of the age group as the youth that comprises of the individuals aged between 15 to 24 years. With the increase in the youth of the global world, there has also an increased in the entrepreneur and employment opportunities for the young people mainly in the several developing Nations. But still the opportunities in the rural areas are poorly remunerated and remain limited for employment (Hana, Petr, Lenka & Martina, 2017). Young work force and the rural youth are considered as the future for the food security of the global world. But across the globe, little number of young individuals sees themselves as the future of agricultural industry (Gesualdi-Fecteau, 2014). There are a number of hurdles and challenges experienced by the rural youth at the time of earning a livelihood while working in the agricultural sector (Syed & Kramar, 2017). There is high pressure upon the arable land in various regions of the globe and therefore it is making very difficult for the budding farmers to start the agricultural business. The young people lack access to productive resources as well as access to credit which restrict them to be a part of agricultural sector. The first most challenge or issue which has been analyzed is insufficient access of youth towards information, knowledge and education (Irshad, 2013). Because of the inadequate and poor availability of education, it has limited the acquisition of the skills and productivity of the workers (Hana, Petr, Lenka & Martina, 2017). The improper access to education and knowledge hinders the development of the several entrepreneurial ventures in the agricultural sector. In the developing nations, there is a distinct need to enhance and improve the access of women to education and knowledge and also to incorporate efficient skills to work in agricultural fields (Kramar & Syed, 2012). The agricultural education and training should also be adapted so that there can be ensured that the skills and competence of the individuals are meeting the requirements of rural labour market.
The second major challenge which has been identified in attracting and retaining the workforce in agricultural sector is because of the limited access to land. Earlier it was easy to start farming or agricultural business but in present time it is very difficult for the young individuals to attain access to land. The various customs and inheritance laws in several developing nations have made it difficult to acquire land or to transfer it to young women. There are also issues and difficulties in getting loans for the land acquisition (Liebman, Simmons, Salzwedel, Tovar-Aguilar & Lee, 2017). It is also essential to improve the living arrangements so that the youth and the young work force can get the access to land. The next major issue experienced by the industries in retaining employees in the agricultural sector is the access to financial services. It has been identified that maximum of the financial service providers are not ready to offer their services such as insurance, savings and credit to the rural youth because of the lack of financial literacy, lack of collateral and various other reasons. It is essential that the financial products must be promoted to cater the needs of youth (Gesualdi-Fecteau, 2014). There must also be used tea startup funding opportunities as well as the mentoring programs for resolving the issue of access to Financial Services. Is the youth are increased to group them self and start informal saving club then it can also be proved useful for having adequate financial access (Hana, Petr, Lenka & Martina, 2017). The next key issue which has been highlighted in several researches is the difficulty in accessing the green employment or green jobs. It is the fourth major challenge which districts the effective retaining of young individuals in the agricultural sector (Liebman, Simmons, Salzwedel, Tovar-Aguilar & Lee, 2017). The green Jobs or employment offer highest sustainable livelihood from the future perspective and it is also labour intensive which ultimately include higher value added moreover the young work force of the rural areas do not possess potential skills because of the major reason that they do not have an access to necessary educational and knowledge for participating in green economy. Thus, it is essential for the government authorities to improve the access of youth to training and education both at informal and formal level so that they can undergo on job training (Syed & Kramar, 2009).
The next major challenge which abstracts the recruitment and retention of skilled workforce in agricultural sector is the Limited access to market of The Young individuals. In the absence of the access to the market the young individuals are not able to effectively engage themselves in the sustainable and viable agricultural Ventures (Hana, Petr, Lenka & Martina, 2017). Therefore the adequate access to markets by the young individuals is highly necessary. Because of the increased influence of the international supermarkets there has been higher level of difficulty to get access to the markets because of the difficult standards of their supply chains (Liebman, Simmons, Salzwedel, Tovar-Aguilar & Lee, 2017). Even the young rural women have higher level of constraints in accessing the market because of the reason that their freedom is still restricted because of the several cultural norms and values (Gesualdi-Fecteau, 2014). To enhance the access of youth to the market it is necessary to give them access to training education and also provide them with market information so that they can get significant opportunities to get access to niche markets. By facilitating and enhancing the involvement of The Young individuals in the producers' groups there can be increase the access to the markets (Liebman, Simmons, Salzwedel, Tovar-Aguilar & Lee, 2017). The next challenge identified is the Limited engagement of the youth in the policy dialogue. In the various policy making process the voice and opinions of The Young individuals are often not heard and therefore their multifaceted and complex needs are not identified as well as met. The policies are usually filled in considering the youth's heterogeneity and therefore they are not able to provide the young individuals with effective support. As its remedy, the youth is required to possess the educator capacities and skills for undertaking a collective action for ensuring that the policymakers heard their voice. It is also essential that the policy makers must engage the young individuals in the process of policy making (Hana, Petr, Lenka & Martina, 2017).
By effectively analyzing and addressing the various key challenges and issues identified in attracting and retaining the employees in the agricultural sector there will be increased number of young individuals have their involvement in the agricultural industry (Kramar, 2014). It will also help in addressing the various vital untapped potential of the growing and sizable demographic. Mostly in the developing Nations, it is essential to facilitate the youth to have their effective participation in the agricultural sector so that there can be a sudden reduction in the rural poverty and there can be effective development of the agricultural industry. All these challenges and issues are complex in nature and there can be drawn several conclusion from identifying and analyzing the key issues. It can be concluded that the youth must be ensured to have higher access to write information (Hana, Petr, Lenka & Martina, 2017). There is also required to provide them with integrated training approaches so that the young individuals can effectively respond towards the requirement of modern agricultural sector communication Technologies modern information and the innovative ways of performing agricultural business. It is essential to organize as well as bring the young individuals together to enhance their capabilities for taking corrective actions such as by having their participation in the programs and projects related to the agricultural sector (Liebman, Simmons, Salzwedel, Tovar-Aguilar & Lee, 2017). They must be given an opportunity to provide their view point and their voices must be heard while policies are making for the agricultural industry. Indeed there is a need of a coordinated response for increasing the involvement of The Young individuals as the competent workforce in the agricultural sector. There has been analyzed a continuous decrease in the agricultural productivity and increase in the global population which can hamper the successful and sustainable living of the individuals (Gesualdi-Fecteau, 2014). Therefore it is essential that competent and skilled employees must be retained in the agricultural sector so that they can help in future food security and for serving the future and upcoming generation.
Conclusion
Agriculture sector is one of the most important and vital sectors across the world which episode a significant amount and number of labour force in various developing Nations. It has been observed in this Human Resource Essay that there has been a sudden decrease in the percentage of employees or workforce associated with the agricultural sector. The young people lack access to productive resources as well as access to credit which restrict them to be a part of agricultural sector. To improve the increase the participation of the young individuals and to retain the workforce in the agricultural sector it is concluded that to improve the living arrangements so that the youth and the young work force can get the access to land. It is also stated in this Human Resource Essay that the government authorities must improve the access of youth to training and education both at informal and formal level so that they can undergo on job training. It is also concluded in this Human Resource Essay that the individuals must be provided with integrated training approaches so that the young individuals can effectively respond towards the requirement of modern agricultural sector communication. Thus by attracting and retaining competent and skilled employees in the agricultural sector there can be attained future food security across the globe. Human resource essay assignments are being prepared by our hr assignment help experts from top universities which let us to provide you a reliable essay help online service.
References
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