Rural contractors put their Hanzon a solution

Rural contracting is facing its toughest-ever season, with major implications for farmers and the economy, not to mention contractors, their staff and families.

WORDS AND IMAGES PROVIDED BY NZ CONTRACTORS LIMITED

It’s driven by labour shortages and when a few weeks ago I talked to Parliament’s inquiry into the future of our rural workforce. I didn’t mince words. It was put plainly to them we need support for the entire primary industry. The MPs on the Primary Production committee are all from rural areas and I got a good hearing. I told them the brutal reality was rural contractors were short 500 skilled machinery operators this season. Our members are working every hour, but there are only so many hours a day you can safely operate a complex piece of kit like a foraging machine. We’ve managed to get in around 125 skilled operators for the 2021/22 season and every one of them helps but as an organisation we are having to do that ‘pivot’ that people talk about. Do as much as last year with less. Our Board, along with MPI, is backing an initiative called HanzonJobs. It’s a phone-based app used by trainees in our sector to daily record the activities they’ve been engaged in. It provides both them and their employers with good evidence of the work being done. There’s minimal paperwork to do to sign-up for this free initiative - it really is simple and quick. Once a contractor gets started they can actually see how much training they provide. All of this data is also critical for the future of our workforce including next year’s labour imports. We now have multiple contractors in all four RCNZ Zones signed up for HanzonJobs. Richard Houston drew from his own background as a rural contractor in developing the free HanzonJobs app. He saw that every season, rural contractors train new people and see on the job learning as the best way to develop the skills. We are a seasonal industry and need the right season/ weather/conditions to provide the work necessary to learn these jobs. When I joined Rural Contractors in June, it quickly became clear that we were facing a labour crisis. RCNZ, Telford and Taratahi had done some great work last year and pre -season to develop and support training. Enrolments were lumpy, Covid didn’t help and it’s become evident that new recruits to the sector are down and training falls away as a priority for contractors under the pump. I see how training organisations and HanzonJobs could operate together. While HanzonJobs is not yet linked any qualification, it provides the sort of supporting evidence required with trainees able to record all the work they do by machinery type, terrain, weather conditions and tasks e.g mowing, cultivating, bale wrapping, harvesting. HanzonJobs was introduced in rapid fashion last year and Richard personally mentored the 70 trainees who effectively trialled the app which records all the activities they do, producing a database with multiple benefits for trainee and employer alike. I saw the early results from HanzonJobs, engaged with Richard and was sufficiently impressed to ask my Board to back it. They are all contractors, all facing the same labour shortages and wanting to see our industry come through this. Our President and some Board members are among those who’ve signed on for HanzonJobs. Richard Houston has been on the phone to many contractors and remains the key point of contact in guiding trainees and their mentors: work@hanzonjobs.co.nz or 027 615 6693. While most of those who are joining are young, there’s a few more mature people who see this as a pathway to develop their own skills. I mentioned to MPs how I hope HanzonJobs will help the industry attract more young women as part of the mix, as some are very impressive workers. One of the women MPs talked about helping her Dad who was a rural contractor in Hawkes Bay when a youngster. Perhaps we could have saved her from a life in politics if there’d been something like HanzonJobs in her day.

IMAGE: Trainee's hands on HanzonJobs app

ANDREW OLSEN IS CEO OF RURAL CONTRACTORS NZ REPRESENTING 600 MEMBERS FROM THE FAR NORTH TO SOUTHLAND WHO MAKE UP A KEY PART OF THE $2B SECTOR SUPPORTING FARM PRODUCTION.