Bayside Group

Culture is King

In Australia's vast wine sector an employee's personality and willingness to contribute to a company's culture is often as important as their skills, according to the industry's leading recruitment organisation.

This year CozWine celebrates 10 years in supplying the industry with permanent, part-time and contract staff to Australia's best wine regions: Barossa, McLaren Vale and Griffith. Contributing to their success and longevity is the agency's exceptional perspective on recruitment. CozWine sees a job vacancy holistically - looking beyond the basic position description to personal characteristics and the intangible 'X' factor.

"For us, assessing an employer's work environment is a big consideration.  We want to be sure that this will be the right fit for both the employer and jobseeker," says CozWine's national manager, Steve Oliver.

"Take for example a senior winemaker. To produce fantastic wine, he or she must be technically skilled and experienced in grape quality and managing staff, but these days they are also expected to be the face of a wine brand.

"As professional recruiters specialising in the wine industry, it is imperative we get to know the winemaker and their working culture. This means we must tap into their reputation and personality."

It's a sign of the times where recruitment firms such as CozWine are much more than employment agencies.

"In the current climate skilled workers are in high demand and recruitment firms play a vital role in matching the right person to the right job," Steve said. "We are becoming much more of a key management function, supporting CEOs and HR managers, and our knowledge of the industry is vital.

"Wine is a highly specialised area and you need to understand the trends and economic position of the industry as well as the intricacies of labour needs and skills.

"We need to be aware of competitive pressures international, new markets that are opening up, new wine styles and new skill demands before they happen.  I suppose what makes us special is that our recruitment consultants have wine industry experience. This gives us the ability to relate and communicate with our clients and candidates."

So for future school leavers or Barossa immigrants, which jobs are in highest demand?

Oliver says winemakers are still highly sought after in Australia despite the annual crop of graduates from the University of Adelaide and Charles Sturt University.

"It's a very mobile profession and in their early years winemakers travel overseas a lot and work in other countries to gain experience. So we see plenty of opportunities at every level of the profession.

"We also see an increasing need for laboratory technicians. The industry is much more scientific and there are always vacancies in that area.

"Having said that, there are no limits to what kind of roles we can fill.  At the moment we have multiple executive opportunities all over Australia, so the cross-section is quite broad and diverse.

"We are also seeing a lot of cross-pollination in the workforce as the face of the wine industry is evolving. For instance, over the past 10 years we have witnessed the integration of new and old winemaking styles that have been influenced by the influx of overseas workers."

As one of the world's greatest wine producing countries, CozWine believes international talent can invigorate Australia's wine production.

"To fulfil the demand in the wine industry we have had to look overseas to access enough qualified staff. Generally we look to employ people who have experienced a vintage and we find there is a greater talent pool in other wine producing countries such as New Zealand and France, who both have a similar style to Australia winemaking.

"The feedback from winery management about employing international workers is always positive and the regular staff enjoy working with different people and learning more about other cultures' methods and techniques."

How will CozWine continue to build on its first decade of success?

"The wine industry is a community of its own where everyone knows each other. Our reputation is our most important asset and we have worked very hard at delivering a reliable and professional service," Steve said.

"We are committed to the wine industry and the Barossa community. We live and work in an agricultural environment which can change quickly. Like everyone else we have to ride out the bumps including droughts, floods, heatwaves and other external influences, such as the price of the Australian dollar, which all affect the employment landscape.

"But you can rest assured that we're here for the long haul."

This article appeared in Barossa Living Magazine - Spring 2008 edition.

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