Supporting People and Culture in Ag with Leslie Nienkark, HR Business Partner at KWS Group (#111)

Leslie Nienkark is an HR Business Partner at KWS Group, one of the world's leading plant breeding companies. KWS specializes in breeding and selling seed for crops like corn, sugar beet, cereals, rapeseed, sunflowers, and vegetables. Although Leslie hasn't spent her entire career in agriculture, her HR experience spans a variety of industries including media, software, architecture, and retail. This gives her a broad and insightful perspective on workplace culture. In this episode of That's a Food Job!, Leslie shares what it's like to work in human resources within the agricultural sector and explains the role HR plays in supporting both people and organizational goals. We talk about how KWS develops seed products, what makes a positive workplace culture, and why communication is key to employee retention. Leslie also offers practical advice for new professionals on what to ask when starting a role and how to navigate today's evolving workplaces. This episode is especially helpful if you're curious about HR as a career path or want to better understand how strong HR practices shape the food and ag industries from behind the scenes **  Shownotes Leslie Nienkark: LinkedIn KWS: Website/LinkedIn/Instagram/ *** #46 – Melissa Norem, Enterprise Director of Origination at Scoular *** SIGN UP FOR WEEKLY FOOD INDUSTRY CAREER TIPS  → Sign up for the newsletter  *** COOL THINGS TO CHECK OUT 📖 Explore FoodGrads Career Guides (Ebooks) 📜 Get Career Advice (Blog) *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 🎵 Connect on TikTok 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify