Ten is the magic number for new talent in the fresh produce industry. The Center for Growing Talent by PMA recently launched the 10 for Talent fundraising campaign with a goal to get 10,000 produce and floral professionals to give $10 in celebration of their 10 years growing talent in the industry. DMA is excited to support this effort and we encourage you to do the same!

So to keep the magic 10s coming, we wanted to share 10 tips for connecting with and strengthening young talent coming into your organization:

1. Identify potential talent by actively engaging with college communities and offering to speak at student organizations about the industry. You can also post job opportunities to the organization Facebook and Twitter pages, and offer to mentor students at local universities.
2. Provide new hires (interns and full-time employees alike) with a brief background of your company so they can begin to understand your story and your mission.
3. Allow new hires to sit and listen in on as many relevant meetings as possible, whether internal or with a client/customer. This will help them to see and adjust to the communication styles of the company faster, as well as get up to speed with customer relationships.
4. Provide opportunities for quality time with your company’s top leadership to be entrenched in the vision and passion that drives your company forward. This will help to excite and engage them in that forward momentum.
5. If you hire interns, allow them to rotate and spend time working in different departments and shadow different team members. Your interns may be surprised by how much they enjoy working in an unexpected area of the company if they are given the opportunity to do so. If you decide to hire your intern to work with you full-time beyond graduation, they will arrive with a 360 degree understanding of your business, ultimately making for a more valuable employee.
6. Connect your young team members to the right professional development opportunities. From free webinars and digital certifications to programs offered through the Center for Growing Talent by PMA, these opportunities are key to growing their leadership potential.
7. Nurture talent by having them set SMART goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. Working towards a specific objective and meeting benchmarks along the way will help new-hires feel a sense of accomplishment and motivate them to continually generate that feeling of success.
8. Acquaint new talent with the industry by taking them to events. Getting facetime with other industry professionals is extremely valuable in helping them develop their own professional networks and foster mentoring relationships outside of your company.
9. Strengthen leadership skills by assigning manageable standalone projects that reinforce research, problem-solving and presentation skills.
10. Acknowledge wins and milestone growth achievements to encourage and empower your talent to continue striving for excellence.

Here at DMA Solutions, we have no doubt that our industry is one of the absolute best industries to work in. If we work together to share our sense of pride and passion in produce with upcoming talent, our industry will be able to continue its trend of growth and turn the dial on the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

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