FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2004

 
AgCareers HR Diversity Training Workshop Provides Information, Education.

Ames, Iowa AgCareers.com the leading Human Resources Services company to the agriculture and food industry, recently hosted a workshop entitled “Effective Minority Recruiting Strategies” for human resource (HR) professionals in agriculture. The workshop, held recently in Ames, Iowa, attracted more than 25 agri-business professionals representing such companies as Archer Daniel Midland, Tyson, Pioneer Hi-Bred and many others.

Dr. Edward Romero, Assistant Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University, was one of the featured speakers. Dr. Romero spoke on recruiting and retaining Hispanic professionals in agriculture.

“It is important to understand the demographic shifts in the workforce and tap into the market,” says Dr. Romero. He also feels it’s important for companies to eliminate “parochialism” and “ethnocentrism.” Parochialism is the assumption that the ways of one culture are the only ways of doing things. Ethnocentrism assumes that the ways of one culture are the best ways of doing things.

Carrie Burnett, manager of college relations in the HR department at Tyson Foods, Inc., Springdale, AR, attended the workshop and found it very informative. “It delivered actions that can be applied quickly to our recruiting strategies,” she says.

Started in 1988, AgCareers has become the leading recruitment Web site for agriculture. The company hosts a number of seminars throughout the year to assist businesses in their recruitment needs.

“As part of our diversity initiatives, AgCareers.com is excited to have hosted this workshop,” says Eric Spell, president of AgCareers.com, headquartered in Clinton, NC with offices in Ames, IA and London, ON.

“As our industry continues to become more global, it will be increasingly important to attract and retain people from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. The mission of AgCareers.com is to be the leading supplier of human resource services to the agriculture, food, biotechnology, and natural science industries. We will continue to expand and offer similar workshops for HR Professionals in 2004/2005.”

If you are an HR professional and would like to share with us what type of workshops/training you would like to see offered, please email Eric Spell at eric.spell@agcareers.com or visit the www.agcareers.com website.