First people management consultant certified

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First people management consultant certified under new scheme

Waikato farm consultant Sharlene Charleston received certification from the New Zealand Institute of Primary Industry Management (NZIPIM) in a ceremony in Hamilton today.

She is the first to achieve accreditation under a new people management certification scheme launched last month at the NZIPIM’s annual conference. Sharlene works for Te Awamutu-based farm people management consultancy, No.8 HR.

NZIPIM chief executive Stephen Macaulay says the programme, supported by funding from DairyNZ, was introduced to provide farmers with confidence that industry standards have been met by the consultant in 10 key areas. They include performance management; coaching and mentoring; recruitment; and health and wellbeing.

“People on-farm are key to productivity and business growth and too often this is stunted by high staff turnover,” says Stephen. “Certified people management consultants can improve the way farmers manage their staff and then everybody wins – the farmer, the employee and the industry.

“A high standard in providing people management advice to farmers is vital for productivity, business performance as well as staff engagement and retention on-farm. We need to provide top class employment conditions on our farms if we want to attract the skilled and talented people the industry needs.”

The people management accreditation scheme recognises skills and knowledge, and ensures on-going professional development. Stephen says farmers can be confident that a certified consultant will have the ability to address the full range of people management issues on-farm.

“As well as benefits for the farmer, the consultant benefits from additional training, support, promotion and participation in a referral network, growing their value to clients and potentially growing their consulting business,” says Stephen.

Sharlene is a former dairy farmer who started with No.8 HR in January 2011. She says the training and development programme that led to her certification is an excellent opportunity to support her on-the-job learning and development at No.8HR where she has moved into a full consulting role.

Farm consultants interested in finding out more about NZIPIM’s people management certification should visit www.nzipim.co.nz and click on ‘accreditation’.

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