When you consider the barriers that can thwart innovation and growth in the floriculture market, there are two ways to look at them. The first is on a personal level (why it’s hard to both find good talent and retain them with a plan for career development), and the second is at the business level, or those factors that may hinder the long-term success of a greenhouse operation.
I’d like to use this space to highlight three of those barriers, how they affect personal and business growth, and how to overcome them.
Terminology
During a recent conversation I had with Dr. Melinda Knuth from North Carolina State University, she told me that “Terminology and acronyms [which the green industry is riddled with] are a hidden barrier for new entrants.” There’s no doubt this is true. We know through feedback from business owners that the next generation of greenhouse employees values companies that use environmentally friendly growing practices. But we also use words like sustainable, green, safe, and local interchangeably, to say nothing of the labels we put on plants. This can cause confusion and might lead someone to think a company can’t back up what it is saying.
Continued Education
The knowledge base in floriculture is constantly evolving, and your employees — from the top down — need to keep up with this stream of information. Continued learning benefits personal and professional growth for employees, which promotes social sustainability within the floriculture industry. Research by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 86% of employees consider an organization’s commitment to professional development as “important” or “very important” to their overall job satisfaction, and employees who participate in these programs tend to have higher retention rates. Investing in employee education can improve sustainability and can help attract younger generations of workers to the industry.
Benefits
During the hiring and recruitment process, you’ve likely come to realize that younger generations, particularly millennials and Gen Z, are increasingly prioritizing comprehensive benefits packages when choosing employers, including in exchange for a lower salary. Updating your benefits to reflect the needs of today’s workers can demonstrate your commitment to supporting workers’ well-being and promoting a healthier, more engaged workforce. In particular, workers should have access to affordable, quality health care and parental leave, as these are important factors for human rights and economic and environmental sustainability. A lack of access to health care and maternity leave can negatively impact the health, safety, and productivity of workers, as well as their families and communities.
What do each of these barriers have in common? They are all addressed in American Floral Endowment’s Sustainabloom initiative. Established in 2022, Sustainabloom is a collaborative initiative dedicated to leading the floriculture industry toward a future enriched with sustainable practices at every level. The series of SustainaGuides by Sustainabloom provides consumable insights and practical strategies for implementing and understanding sustainable practices, from eco-friendly cultivation to effective resource management. Learn more at Sustainabloom.org.
