Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/123973
"What's different about what we're doing here is the emphasis on the people," Ruel said. "It's something that really reflects the values of the ownership. They care about the people, the environment and making good wine." RAISING THE BAR In Paso Robles, midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, Halter Ranch takes pride in raising the bar for neighboring wineries in terms of employee benefits and enticements to stay. "We are not improving our benefits to retain top talent," said Halter Ranch general manager Skylar Stuck. "Rather, we are forcing others to do so." Stuck noted that during the recession, many wineries trimmed back their benefits. However, all benefits remained intact at Halter Ranch, including matching of 401(k) funds. "We haven't stopped our matching program and I think it gives us a competitive advantage in recruiting, and probably as well in retaining," he said. "These benefits allow us to attract the best talent." Many of the wineries' 30 employees are Halter Ranch veterans and Stuck wants to keep it that way. "We're very geared toward trying to keep people and make sure we've established an institutional memory, regardless of departments." In addition to paid vacations, profit sharing and medical, dental and vision benefits, Halter Ranch also offers 50% reimbursement for job-related studies. Up north at King Estate, Oregon's largest winery (located near Eugene), education benefits have been moved to the front burner, and its executive vice president, Steve Thomson, said the winery will look for opportunities, even outside the state, for employees to advance their knowledge. "We have five employees that we're sending up to Portland later in the spring to do the first part of the Master Sommelier exam," Thomson said. "We have a number of sales employees enrolled at UC Davis in the winemaking distancelearning program. We have a couple of lower-level managers we're sending to the UC Davis Wine Executive Program. And we like to send groups to different wine areas in Oregon and Washington, Napa and Sonoma. "There are benefits for the company, certainly. We make sure we really engage them about what they learn and what they bring back." King Estate's HR director, Kristy Dobson, said that because of the winery's full benefits package and emphasis on education, it's rare that one of the 85 full-time workers would elect to leave the winery. But, she said, "I can tell you that WINETALENT The Right People for the Job • Wire-less Temperature Control • Fermentation Status From Anywhere • Brix/Temp/Pump-over Tracking • E-mail Alarm Notifications • Production Software Integration • Cellar Temp, Humidity, CO2, Night Air • Energy Saving Chiller & Tank Control AMY GARDNER 707 938-1300 WWW.ACROLON.COM ® Call for a demonstration Or visit us online for more information 86 V I N E YARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | May - June 2013 President 916-802-1280 amy@winetalent.net WineTalent.net P.O. Box 19861, Sacramento, CA 95819 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m