increase font size
Hanzon’s web-based app allows new entrants and established workers to create a real-time work experience log in a simple and straightforward manner.
With a 12-year history of recruiting specialised operators from overseas to service the agricultural contracting industry, Hanzon Jobs typically brings in around 200 people to New Zealand each year from the UK and Ireland.
Covid-19 has caused massive disruption to the agri-contracting sector, but the Marlborough-based company has stuck to its core business, which centres on connecting suitable candidates with good job opportunities.
Realising that a number of different businesses have sprung up to recruit NZ-based, displaced workers with understaffed contractors, Hanzon has come up with a clever, web-based app. This allows new entrants and established workers to create a real-time work experience log in a simple and straightforward manner.
The app can be used to show potential employers an applicant’s work history. It also allows employers to seek out suitable candidates for their business.
The app takes the form of a Daily Log, split into four periods. The employee can record the tasks being undertaken – for example, mowing, raking or baling. They are also able to list the type of machine being operated (mounted, trailed or triple mower).
As part of an individual job, the app also offers a list of sub-tasks, such as attaching the mower, daily maintenance and identifying hazards.
Data collected also runs to the brand of machinery being used, for example, Claas, Krone or JD. It also records the conditions – wet, dry or muddy – and the type of terrain being operated over. The data, which is verified by the employer, builds up over the season to become a virtual CV for the operator – as well as a valuable tool for a prospective employer.
The latter can look at a resume and assess potential staff based on their experience at a task and their familiarity with certain machinery brands or tractors. Alternatively, potential employers can look at an operator’s experience based around terrain or types of crop – favouring candidates who might have more experience in a landscape similar to their own area of operation.
Richard Houston, a 20 year veteran of the ag industry with experience as a machine operator, contractor and recruitment consultant, suggests that the app will become a valuable tool particularly in the current Covid-compromised era. This has seen a large percentage of recently recruited staff having limited experience in the sector.
Houston claims with candidates building up a worthwhile resume, they should be able to become valuable contributors to the sector. He says it will also show potential employers that they are committed to making a career in the industry and worth investing in.
Building on the success of last year's events, the opportunity to attend People Expos is back for 2025, offering farmers the chance to be inspired and gain more tips and insights for their toolkits to support their people on farm.
OPINION: Welcome to the second annual NZ Dairy Expo at Matamata – an event created to bring together the best of the New Zealand dairy industry in a focused, grassroots environment where dairy farmers and rural professionals can meet, talk, compare products, and make smart decisions for their farms.
It's a bloody tough year for sheep farmers, but the worst may be over, and the future looks optimistic.
One of the country’s two largest supermarket chains is reporting that for the first time since the disruption of Covid, they have largely full supply on almost all fruit and vegetables grown locally.
Covid-19 took global shipping rates to mind boggling highs, but over the subsequent 12-15 months they returned to more sustainable levels. Fast forward to July 2024 and rates have nearly doubled over three months.
New Zealand's TBfree programme has made great progress in reducing the impact of the disease on livestock herds, but there’s still a long way to go, according to Beef+Lamb NZ.
With much of the North Island experiencing drought this summer and climate change projected to bring drier and hotter conditions, securing New Zealand’s freshwater resilience is vital, according to state-owned GNS Science.
OPINION: Otago farmer and NZ First MP Mark Patterson is humble about the role that he’s played in mandating government agencies to use wool wherever possible in new and refurbished buildings.
For Wonky Box co-founder Angus Simms, the decision to open the service to those in rural areas is a personal one.
The golden age of orcharding in West Auckland was recently celebrated at the launch of a book which tells the story of its rise, then retreat in the face of industry change and urban expansion.
Everyone from experienced veterinarians and young professionals to the Wormwise programme and outstanding clinics have been recognised in this year’s New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) awards. As part of a series looking at this year’s rural winners, Leo Argent talked with Ginny Dodunski, winner of the Veterinary Impact Award for raising the profile of the Wormwise programme.
OPINION: The appendage swinging contest between the US and China continues, with China hitting back with a new rate of…
OPINION: The irony of President Trump’s tariff obsession is that the worst damage may be done to his own people.
