Cultivate'26 session preview: Smarter Recruiting Strategies for Horticulture

Editor's note: The GIE Media Horticulture Group is previewing some of the can't-miss sessions at Cultivate'26 (July 11-14 | Columbus, Ohio).

Attracting the right employees is one of the biggest challenges in horticulture today.

The Cultivate'26 session "Smarter Recruiting Strategies for Horticulture" with Lila Huelster, recruiting content lead at AgHires, will highlight current hiring trends and share practical strategies for finding stronger candidates.

Learn where to post jobs, how to reach more applicants and how to write postings that stand out and bring in the right people for your operation, the session description reads.

Editor Matt McClellan caught up with Huelster ahead of the show.

Matt McClellan: What can attendees expect to learn from your talk?

Lila Huelster: We're going to dive into the current job market in horticulture, the economy, trends, candidate behavior we're seeing, then how to attract candidates.

Then we’ll pivot into some hiring process and interviewing best practices. And then once we do have that top candidate, how do we really seal the deal and secure them?

MM: What are the biggest challenges horticultural companies face in the hiring process?

LH: One of the biggest challenges is that there is simply a talent shortage in general, and also this gap for so many of these skilled roles in hort. Yet we're seeing a lot of horticulture companies staying really rigid on their wish list or requirements for candidates in these skilled roles. And it's limiting their talent pool even more.

So, we're encouraging employers to loosen up on some of those requirements and think about "must-haves" versus "nice-to-haves" in a candidate. Be willing to train up employees with potential.

We've also seen a lot of companies have success hiring outside of horticulture with candidates who have some transferable skills, say maybe in manufacturing for example, and this can really help widen their pool significantly.

We see so many employers just getting hung up on, "Well, they have to have this many years of experience on this many different crops." And it's just hard to find exactly everything on their wish list.

MM: How can nurseries, greenhouses and garden centers attract talented new employees?

LH: First, on the marketing end, employers really need to focus on selling their role. Sometimes we have to remind employers that candidates are vetting you just as much as you're vetting them. And as much as you want them to apply for your job, they have to get excited about it. That starts with the job posting.

Picture what that job looks and feels like in your posting, rather than just a long list of responsibilities and requirements. That’s not exciting. Obviously, those things need to be in there. But there has to be some pieces about your culture. Show candidates why they should choose to work for you over your competitors.

We also recommend taking the same approach to your social media platforms. Candidates are researching companies on social media before they apply. And what they find on social media can really make or break that decision to apply. Are they going to get excited by looking at pictures of your operation and seeing a little bit more of that behind the scenes? Or are they going to get on social media and don't see any type of presence? That’s a problem.

Second, in this competitive market, employers need to come with a competitive package really to attract those top hires. But with tight margins in the industry, it's often necessary to get kind of creative with that total package beyond just the salary. So we're encouraging employers to really think of how they can expand on their perks and benefits outside of that salary. Maybe they can provide some flexibility during the off season or professional development opportunities to round out that package however they can.

MM: Once you’ve got a strong candidate that interviewed well, how can green industry businesses secure that person?

LH: Moving quickly through the process is probably the number one way to help secure that candidate. It doesn't always ensure it, but getting those interviews or on-site visits scheduled as soon as possible instead of waiting two to three weeks between each interview is really going to make a difference. Those top candidates are very likely to be interviewing with other companies at the same time, so it's really important to shorten that that window of time between each step in the process.

Obviously, you still want to be very thorough, but move quickly if you really want to secure that person. And off of what I just said in the last question, with the competitive market, you have to bring your best offer to the table really to help secure that talent as well.

MM: Is there anything else you wanted to share about your session?

LH: We're also going to be sharing some interesting insights from our job seeker survey. AgHires just conducted a survey of over 1,200 job seekers in agriculture and horticulture. We're sharing a lot of interesting statistics on candidate preferences in the hiring process, like what they want to see in job postings or how long an application should take or what they look for in considering a new role.

Want to go?

Smarter Recruiting Strategies for Horticulture

Speaker: Lila Huelster, recruiting content lead, AgHires

When: Saturday, July 11 • 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time

Where: Union Station Ballroom C (Cultivate All-Access Pass required)

This session will also be recorded for on-demand listening.