Stemilt building engagement, trust and growth
Stemilt building engagement, trust and growth
A partnership between Stemilt Growers and the Equitable Food Initiative has led to measurable gains in safety, worker engagement and workforce retention, according to a new case study from the workforce development and certification organization.
EFI, which partners with growers, farmworkers and retailers, highlighted the results of Stemilt's six-year implementation of its Responsibly Grown, Farmworker Assured certification program in a study released Feb. 25. The findings show how structured worker engagement can drive operational performance, the group said.
Since earning its first EFI certification, Stemilt has strengthened its safety performance, recording multiple months with zero injuries and bringing its overall incident rate below the Washington state OSHA average. Employee engagement scores improved 10 percent between 2022 and 2024, per-person productivity increased 16 percent since 2021, and handling damage was cut in half in the past year.
“We’ve not only seen a 15 percent reduction in workplace injuries, but have also experienced a significant lift in efficiency, with improved measures in pounds of fruit packed per hour, labor cost per acre and rejection rate,” said West Mathison, president of Stemilt Growers. “These indicators are all the intended consequences from our commitment to engaging people in the work and focusing on how to get better.”
With engagement rising, workforce stability has also strengthened. Stemilt reports a 96 percent return rate among its 1,600 H-2A workers and an 80 percent return rate among local seasonal workers. Year-round employees average 9.3 years of tenure, and more than $800,000 has been paid to workers in bonuses through the EFI certification program.
Many improvements originated directly from EFI's worker-manager collaborative teams. Employees helped redesign field water access systems, implement dedicated traffic lanes and pedestrian safety measures in facilities, upgrade packhouse ergonomics and address ladder and slip-related risks through targeted training and inspections.
“Bringing EFI into our operations has been essential in training our workforce, especially around soft skills, like collaborating to find solutions and holding up ideas for doing things better,” said Brianna Shales, director of marketing at Stemilt Growers. “The changes might be small in nature, but they add up to build engagement, trust and overall growth of our people.”
“Stemilt has shown incredible commitment to high standards, and not just with their consistently high rate of compliance to EFI's rigorous certification, but with their commitment to the whole human,” said LeAnne Ruzzamenti, the EFI's director of marketing and communications.
Kevin Boyle, the EFI's director of workforce and organizational development, added: “Every person that I have worked with at Stemilt, from the orchards to the headquarters, values relationships. There is a shared core belief that people are the key to high performance, that they are the problem solvers and should be valued. That value is having a direct impact across the operation.”
The case study is available on the EFI's website.
