A hiring process for farms and agribusinesses that finds people who stay

A vegetable grower knows the transplanting window opens in the second week of the month. He has the seedlings in the nursery, the drip lines laid and a tractor with a trailer ready. What he does not have is a gang. His usual leader changed jobs. The owner rings three villages, hears three promises and finds on the day that eleven people have come against the thirty he needed. The seedlings wait. The window closes.

Hiring on a farm is not one process but two. A small core has to be found and kept through the year. A large seasonal crew has to arrive on specific dates and leave when the work ends. This post sets out a routine for each. Other farm questions sit in our hub for growers and the recruitment process consulting service.

• The core. Farm manager, field in-charge, tractor drivers, irrigation hands, packhouse leads, storekeeper. Hired with care, trained, paid through the year.
• The season. Weeders, transplanters, pickers, pruners, graders, loaders. Hired in groups for weeks, often through a gang leader, and expected back next year.

1. 1

   Write what the job is

   A half page for each post: the crop, the area, the machines, the hours in season and in lean months, who the person reports to, and what a good month looks like.

2. 2

   Look first inside

   Ask the seasonal workers who have returned for years and the families around the farm. A reliable irrigator is often a cousin of a reliable picker.

3. 3

   Test the real task

   Ask a tractor driver to reverse the trolley between two rows. Ask a packhouse lead to arrange a grading table. Ask a field in-charge to read a plot map.

4. 4

   Check the fit with the rhythm

   Say plainly what the harvest weeks look like. People who dislike long days at peak do not belong in the core.

5. 5

   Settle terms in writing

   Wage, pay day, lodging if any, leave in the festival weeks. Read it aloud to candidates who read slowly.

The seasonal crew is a logistics problem as much as a hiring one. Start the year before. After every harvest, write down who worked, in which task, how well and whether they would return. That is your returning-worker list. It is worth more than any advertisement.

Name / gang and leader:
Village and phone (or the leader's phone):
Tasks done and months worked:
Quality of work (good / average / needs watching):
Rate paid and any disputes:
Lodging used:
Willing to return? Which weeks?
Notes (skills such as grafting, pruning, driving):

Four months before the peak, ring each gang leader, the mukadam or the village contact. Agree headcount, arrival date and the rate. Put these in a short agreement that both sides can read. Include how the count is made, how pay will be settled, where people will stay, what happens on rain days and who the owner may speak to directly if the leader is unreachable.

• Headcount, with a minimum and a maximum.
• Arrival date and the last working date.
• The rate and the count method (day, crate, row, kilo).
• Pay day, and whether advances are given.
• Lodging, water, cooking arrangements.
• Rain stoppage rule.
• Replacement rule if members leave early.

When a gang arrives, watch the first morning. A good picker handles the stem and the crate with care, keeps a steady pace and leaves the row tidy. A good pruner reads the cane before cutting. A good grader does not hold up the table. Note the names of such people. They become next year's key hands and your future supervisors. Do not wait for a formal interview; the row is the interview.

Plan for absence on day one. The first week always loses people to fever, homesickness, a quarrel over the sickle or a rival offer. Ask each leader to bring a few more than needed, or keep a second gang on call in a nearby village. Pay a small retainer or a travel allowance for those who stay on standby, so the arrangement is more than a promise.

A hired person who does not know the farm will leave early. On arrival, show the gang the lodging, the water point, the toilet, the field, the crate counting point and the person to approach with a problem. Introduce the supervisor. Read the rate and count method aloud. A first-week routine for farm joiners can be printed and ticked.

For specific crop types, see how the process reads for crop farms and contract farms, where timing and buyer deadlines change the plan.

Write down every gang and every core worker who served last season. Ring each leader. Mark who will return. That single list will outperform most advertisements and speed your next harvest.