Harvest Season & Good Works

The harvest is plentiful,

but the laborers are few.

(Matthew 9:37)

I attended a neighborhood block party in my hometown last Sunday. New Edition Day began in 2011 as a gathering of family and friends who lived and supported each other in our small community on the northeast side of town. It's hard to imagine 500 people in such a tiny area until you experience it for yourself. I saw many faces that I had not seen in 30 years. And for all the people who live in town and those who came home specifically for the weekend celebration, there were noticeable people missing: those who currently work in the rice operations supply chain. Why were those workers not present for the Sunday before Labor Day fellowship? In common local terms, it's harvest season.

On Tuesday, I toured a high volume assembly plant. Our guide explained that the operation was just beginning harvest season. Confused, because I equated harvest with agricultural industries, I asked her to explain harvest season. She shared that it's another way of saying peak season, that time of year when they ramp up production to meet the expected demand and orders related to retail shopping season. Out of curiosity, I began to research the connotation and various meanings of harvest season.

Apparently, harvest season is a term that relates back to the plantation economy, tied to mass production in agriculture. Historically, plantation crops included cotton, rubber, sugar cane, tobacco, figs, rice, kapok, sisal, and indigo. The longer a crop's harvest period, the more efficient plantations were (Boundless, 2015). Fast forward to the modern day use of the phrase, it has application in high volume production environments. In labor intensive operations, the additional labor hours required are covered by excessive overtime and temporary workers.

I am beginning to understand how the plantation economy and mindset still affects workforce readiness in the Mid-South. We have work to do to overcome generational deficits in workplace preparedness. Understanding that the shift from an agriculture economy to an industrial economy to the high-tech economy requires a paradigm shift at how we train and motivate the most important piece that impacts productivity and profitability: the direct labor. If not, we shall continue down the path of the more things change, the more things remain the same. What innovative or technology solutions are you introducing in your labor intensive operations during your harvest season? Feel free to comment or send me an email to latanyua.robinson@gmail.com. If you like this post and want to catch up on some of my previous discussions, please visit the full Purposed Work blog at http://ltr-latrobe-mfg.blogspot.com/.

Source: Boundless. “The Plantation Economy and the Planter Class.” Boundless U.S. History. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 11 Sep. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/slavery-and-reform-1820-1840-16/the-old-south-121/the-plantation-economy-and-the-planter-class-645-6993/