The poultry industry values intercultural and workforce competencies in new hires.

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Learn more: PMC Disclaimer | PMC Copyright Notice Poult Sci . 2026 May 2;105(9):107071. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2026.107071 The poultry industry values intercultural and workforce competencies in new hires Morgan A Vincent a , Lacey Roberts-Hill b , Daniel Foster c , Melanie Miller-Foster d , Elizabeth Karcher e, ⁎ Author information Article notes Copyright and License information a Department of Chemistry, Eberly College of Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA b Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, Davis College of Agriculture Sciences, Texas Tech University, Box 42131, Lubbock, Texas 79409-2131, USA c Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, College of Agricultural Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA d AgSciences Global, College of Agricultural Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA e Department of Animal Science, College of Agricultural Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA ⁎ Corresponding author. elw152@psu.edu Received 2026 Apr 22; Accepted 2026 May 1; Collection date 2026 Sep. © 2026 The Authors This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). PMC Copyright notice PMCID: PMC13226896  PMID: 42184645 Abstract The poultry industry relies on a diverse workforce operating within complex production and social environments, requiring employees to demonstrate strong interpersonal and intercultural competencies alongside technical expertise. This study explored how poultry industry leaders describe workforce competencies necessary for success and examined how these expectations are reflected in current hiring practices. An exploratory qualitative design was employed, combining a focus group with poultry industry leaders ( n = 11) and a descriptive content analysis of poultry-related job postings ( n = 46) collected from industry job boards. Focus group participants consistently emphasized communication, relationship building, adaptability, and cultural awareness as essential competencies for navigating multilingual production environments and managing complex workplace interactions. Job postings frequently referenced communication and teamwork but relied primarily on generalized descriptors that did not fully capture the interpersonal and intercultural contexts of poultry operations, suggesting a disconnect between industry discourse and recruitment language. These findings highlight the importance of experiential learning opportunities and mentorship in helping students and future employees develop the interpersonal and intercultural competencies necessary to navigate modern poultry workplaces. The results also suggest that refining hiring language to more clearly articulate relational expectations within diverse environments may improve alignment between educational preparation, workforce recruitment, and industry needs. Keywords: Industry alignment, Intercultural competency, Workforce readiness Introduction The agricultural sector faces increasing pressure to supply food, fiber and fuel to a growing global population while navigating technological change and evolving workforce demands ( Jordan et al., 2020 ). These pressures have intensified attention toward workforce preparedness within agricultural education ( Hendrix and Morrison, 2018 ). In addition to disciplinary knowledge, employers consistently emphasize that college graduates must be prepared with professional capacities necessary to function effectively in work environments. Communication, teamwork, adaptability, ethical judgement, and problem-solving consistently appear in industry reports as foundational competencies of employable graduates across agricultural and natural resource industries ( Paranto and Kelkar, 2000 ; Rateau, Kaufman and Cletzer, 2015 ; Easterly III et al., 2017 ; Giebler, 2022 ). These competencies influence early career performance and future advancement, particularly in industries characterized by operational interdependence and dynamic decision-making. Workforce preparedness in agriculture is commonly understood as the alignment between employer-identified competencies and graduate proficiency at the point of workforce entry ( Barrick et al., 2009 ; Hendrix and Morrison, 2018 ). This construct has expanded in scope as labor markets become more interconnected and socially diverse. Agricultural production now operates within global supply chains that require cultural empathy, cognitive flexibility, social initiative, emotional stability, and tolerance for ambiguity ( Prouska et al., 2025 ). Intercultural competence, defined as “the ability to communication effectively and appropriately in intercultural situations based on one’s intercultural knowledge, skills, and attitudes” ( Deardorff, 2006 , p. 248), has therefore emerged as a core dimension of employability ( Demangeot et al., 2013 ; Matsumoto and Hwang, 2020 ). Despite recognition of these competencies, employers continue to report gaps between graduate preparation and workforce expectations ( Barrick et al., 2009 ; Worley-Davis, 2018 ; Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, 2020 ; Juhász and Horváth-Csikós, 2021 ). Students similarly report lower confidence in communication and professional behaviors than employers deem necessary ( Hendrix and Morrison, 2018 ; Prihatiningsih, 2018 ). These findings suggest misalignment between workforce expectations and perceived graduate readiness. A growing body of literature exists that suggests academic programs often focus on discipline-specific knowledge and technical communication, while employers highlight transferable capacities such as reliability and adaptive problem-solving ( Robinson and Garton, 2008 ; Morgan, 2010 ; Morgan and Rucker, 2013 ; Giebler, 2022 ). At the same time, undergraduate agricultural programs operate within limited credit structures and competing content demands, requiring ongoing discussions about how professional competencies are addressed ( Morgan, 2010 , 2012 ). High-impact practices such as internships, research, leadership in student organizations, and capstone experiences are frequently identified as mechanisms through which professional skills may develop, although access to and structure of these experiences vary ( Kuh, 2008 ; High-Impact Practices, 2026 ; HIP (High Impact Practices), 2026 ). Although competency gaps have been widely documented, less attention has been given to how workforce expectations are articulated within specific industry contexts and how those expectations are communicated to prospective employees. Job postings function as signals of employer demand and provide insight into how organizations explain their expectations in hiring language ( Hirudayaraj and Baker, 2018 ). Unlike survey-based assessments that rely on retrospective employer perceptions, hiring materials reflect how organizations formally describe roles at the point of recruitment. As such, job postings offer a distinct lens through which to examine how workforce readiness is defined in practice. Research examining job postings further demonstrates that these postings contain both explicit requirements and implicit expectations that shape how roles are interpreted by applicants ( Zhu et al., 2021 ). The implicit expectations influence how prospective employees interpret workplace norms and performance standards, although whether these formal materials accurately reflect the lived realities described by industry professionals remains insufficiently examined. Within poultry production, these questions carry particular significance. Poultry operations are highly interdependent, labor-intensive, and often multilingual environments in which daily performance depends on effective interpersonal interaction. Employer-based assessments within poultry science have identified discrepancies between the importance assigned to employability competencies and the competence levels demonstrated by recent graduates ( Worley-Davis, 2018 ). At the same time, recruitment and workforce development efforts highlight the need for clearer alignment between industry expectations and graduate preparation ( Wickenhauser et al., 2021 ; Wells, Tejeda and Hainline, 2023 ). Understanding how poultry industry stakeholders define workforce expectations and how those expectations are represented in hiring language provides insight into how readiness is constructed and communicated within the sector. Herein we examined how poultry industry stakeholders describe workforce expectations and to analyze how these expectations are represented within job postings, with particular attention to workforce skills and intercultural competencies. This study addresses the question of how workforce readiness is communicated in the poultry industry. Materials and methods This exploratory study employed a qualitative focus group design complemented by a descriptive content analysis of poultry-related job postings. The purpose was to characterize industry perspectives on intercultural competencies and workforce skills valued in the poultry sector, and to contextualize these perspectives within current hiring practices. The Human Research Protection Program at The Pennsylvania State University determined the study did not require formal IRB review because it met the criteria for exempt research under applicable federal regulations (Penn State IRB STUDY00026235). All participants provided written, informed consent prior to participation. Focus group data were de-identified prior to analysis. Industry focus group data collection and analysis Participants were recruited using purposive expert sampling ( Merriam and Tisdell, 2015 ) to capture perspectives from poultry industry leaders with direct experience in workforce supervision, hiring, and organizational leadership. Inclusion criteria targeted individuals serving as poultry complex managers, production or quality vice presidents, chief executive officers, and business owners. A total of 11 participants engaged in the focus group, representing a range of organizational roles including president/chief executive officer, chief operating officer, broiler manager, director of nutrition, director of production, director of finance, biosecurity and safety leadership, and university relations management. This group size is consistent with established recommendations for focus group research and is sufficient to support the identification of recurring themes within the discussion ( Krueger and Casey, 2014 ). Participants represented companies ranging from small, family-owned operations (i.e., tens of workers) to large, vertically integrated organizations employing upwards of 26,000 individuals. This diversity was intentionally sought to capture a breadth of perspectives across the poultry industry rather than to achieve thematic saturation ( Krueger and Casey, 2014 ; Moser and Korstjens, 2018 ). The focus group was conducted during the 2025 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE), held January 28–30, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia. The session lasted approximately 60 minutes and was facilitated by two members of the study team. The focus group followed a semi-structured protocol ( Merriam and Tisdell, 2015 ) guided by Deardorff’s Intercultural Competence Model, which emphasizes attitudes, knowledge, skills, internal outcomes, and external outcomes related to intercultural competence ( Deardorff, 2006 ). Questions were competency-based and prompted participants to describe real-world workplace experiences, including communication across diverse audiences, conflict resolution, and expectations for workforce readiness. The protocol was designed to encourage participation across roles and organizational contexts, and facilitators used probing questions to elicit multiple viewpoints and mitigate dominance by any single participant. The session was audio recorded and transcribed; transcripts were reviewed for accuracy by another member of the study team prior to analysis. Participants were provided with a gift card following completion of the focus group as a research incentive. Focus group transcripts were initially transcribed with the built-in voice-to-text feature in Apple’s Voice Memos application. A member of the research team reviewed the transcript alongside the original recording to correct transcription errors and attribute statements to appropriate speakers. Transcripts were then analyzed using an inductive qualitative approach (i.e., no codebook) ( Merriam and Tisdell, 2015 ). One member of the study team conducted initial open coding to identify emergent concepts, followed by axial coding to relate codes to one another, and finally thematic coding to generate higher-order themes ( Saldaña, 2025 ). Coding was iterative, with codes from the initial round refined as analysis progressed. This member of the study team completed three total rounds of coding. A second member of the study team reviewed the transcript alongside the original coder’s notes and code assignments to assess coherence, clarity, and interpretive consistency. No substantive discrepancies in code assignment or interpretation were identified during this review. In instances where minor points or uncertainty arose, these were discussed collaboratively until consensus was reached to ensure alignment in interpretation across the research team. Given the exploratory scope of this study, thematic adequacy was evaluated based on the recurrence and coherence of concepts within the dataset, rather than a formal saturation threshold. The authors acknowledge that saturation was not the primary aim of this initial data collection. Interpretation was therefore grounded in the strength and consistency of patterns observed within the dataset. Job postings sampling and content analysis Content analysis is a widely used method for systematically examining textual data to identify patterns and trends in communication and workforce expectations ( Krippendorff, 2018 ). To contextualize focus group findings within current workforce demands, poultry-related job postings were collected from the Poultry Science Association job board and the Careers in Food platform. A total of 63 job postings published between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, were identified and archived via direct links. Job postings were not restricted by role type and reflect the scope of positions advertised on these platforms during the specified time frame, which are primarily oriented toward industry and applied workforce roles. Similarly, the postings were not limited by geographic location, but the source platforms predominantly feature positions based in the United States, and the dataset reflects this context. At the time of analysis, 46 postings (73%) remained publicly accessible, as some positions had been filled and removed from their respective platforms. These 46 postings were included in the analysis and are treated as a snapshot of poultry workforce expectations during the specified time frame rather than an exhaustive labor market assessment. Job types spanned production, food safety and quality assurance, operations management, sales, and corporate support functions (e.g., human resources, finance, logistics), with no postings reflecting academic or faculty roles. A codebook was developed prior to data analysis by a member of the study team to guide systematic analysis of job postings. Variables coded included job title, location, level of degree required, years of experience required, certification requirements, and skills required. In addition, postings were coded for the presence (1) or absence (0) of intercultural competencies (respect [“valuing others”]; self-awareness/identity [“understanding the lens through which we each view the world”]; seeing from other perspectives/world views [“both how these perspectives are similar and different”]; listening [“engaging in authentic intercultural dialogue”]; adaptation [“being able to shift temporarily into another perspective”]; relationship building [“forging lasting cross-cultural personal bonds”]; cultural humility [“combines respect with self-awareness”]) as defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) ( Leeds-Hurwitz, 2013 ) and for the presence of the 11 workforce “gap skills” (recognize and deal constructively with conflict; build professional relationships; accept critique and direction in the workplace; understand role, realistic career expectations; deal effectively with ambiguity and navigate change; identify and analyze problems; realize the effect of decisions; transfer knowledge across situations; listen effectively; communicate accurately and concisely; ask good questions) identified by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) ( Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, 2020 ). Explicit references to competencies or skills were consistently coded as present. Frequencies, found in Table 1 , Table 2 , reflect the number of job postings in which each competency or skill was identified, respectively. When competencies or skills were implied, the coder used interpretive judgment ( Wiesner, 2022 ) and recorded the relevant excerpts from the job posting. These excerpts supported further analysis and provided an audit trail for coding decisions. Ambiguous cases were discussed during coder review, and these cases were revisited as needed to ensure consistency in how similar competencies and skills were identified across postings. Any disagreements or ambiguities were discussed until consensus was achieved. Table 1. Frequency (count) of intercultural competencies defined by UNESCO and identified in poultry job postings ( Leeds-Hurwitz, 2013 ). There was a total of 46 postings analyzed; percentages represent the proportion of postings in which each competency was identified. Intercultural Competency Frequency Percentage (%) Example Respect 45 97.8 “Provide a safe and healthful work environment for all personnel through consistent support of the company’s safety process.” Relationship building 44 95.6 “Build a strong, committed, and collaborative team.” Listening 41 89.1 “Excellent team building, oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills.” Adaptation 39 84.8 “Participate in the development and validation of new methods or technologies that are introduced by industry, public health partners, or other government agencies.” Seeing from other perspectives/ world views 26 56.5 “Demonstrated success managing and/or supervising multi-disciplinary teams and programs.” Self-awareness/ Identity 6 13.0 “Is a self-starter able to conceptualize and drive initiatives forward.” Cultural humility 6 13.0 “Knowledge of cultural issues.” Open in a new tab Table 2. Frequency (count) of APLU gap skills identified in poultry job postings ( Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, 2020 ). There was a total of 46 postings analyzed; percentages represent the proportion of postings in which each skill was identified. APLU Gap Skill Frequency Percentage (%) Example Communicate accurately and concisely 45 97.8 “Have clear communications and willingness to present insights to customers and executive teams.” Build professional relationships 45 97.8 “Able to develop strong relationships with internal or external stakeholders.” Realize the effect of decisions 41 89.1 “Interprets company policies to workers and enforces policies and safety regulations.” Listen effectively 39 84.8 “Outstanding communication.” Deal effectively with ambiguity and navigate change 38 82.6 “Able to adapt to changing environments and manage multiple projects.” Identify and analyze problems 34 73.9 “Identify, define, and solve quality issues in association with plant operations, quality, and reliability excellence teams.” Transfer knowledge across situations 24 52.2 “Collaborate with operations, maintenance, and cross-functional teams to deliver measurable improvements.” Recognize and deal constructively with conflict 22 47.8 “Work with a variety of individuals to resolve problems, clarify differences of interpretations concerning HACCP and other food safety or consumer protection requirements.” Accept critique and direction in the workplace 9 19.6 “Ability to respond to common inquires or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, or members of the business community.” Ask good questions 7 15.2 “Ability to work independently and to know when to ask questions.” Understand role, realistic career expectations 6 13.0 “This job is perfect for an individual who has a track record of improving and expanding the scope of their responsibilities and wants to continue to grow and be challenged.” Open in a new tab Results and discussion Common process skill expectations for poultry graduates Industry participants described a shared set of workforce expectations that they considered foundational for graduates entering the poultry sector. Across focus group discussions, they devoted little attention to disciplinary content knowledge and more on process skills (i.e., communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, etc.) and interpersonal competencies that shape how employees interact with others and respond to day-to-day operational challenges ( American Chemical Society Committee on Professional Training, 2015 ; Reynders et al., 2020 ). These expectations were expressed consistently by participants representing a range of organizational roles and company sizes. Analysis of job postings reflected a similar emphasis on process skills and intercultural competencies. While technical requirements were actively embedded in the hiring language and typically listed in position-specific industry requirements, such as computer-aided design (CAD) for engineering positions, systems, application and products (SAP) for finance-related roles, inspection certifications (e.g., Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), good manufacturing practices (GMPs), and hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP), etc.) for quality assurance and plant supervisors. Strong character as a foundation for workplace success Participants frequently began their descriptions of successful employees by discussion of personal character as the foundation for workplace effectiveness. They highlighted humility, openness to learning, and self-awareness as traits that allow individuals to engage productively with coworkers, respond to feedback, and navigate the challenges of poultry operations. Participant 1 summarized this expectation directly: “I would much rather you tell me I don’t know this yet, and can you help me, than me losing money because you pretended you knew what you were doing.” Job postings, however, rarely referenced these traits. Only 13.0% ( n = 6) of postings included language reflecting self-awareness, through statements such as “desire to become a future leader,” “self-starter able to conceptualize and drive initiatives forward,” or as individuals who wish to “continue to grow and be challenged.” Similarly, expectations related to personal motivation were mentioned in 6 out of 46 postings (13.0%) and used phrases such as “self-motivated,” “visionary,” “proactive,” or are individuals who “seek opportunities.” Participants also acknowledged that the poultry industry requires a willingness to step outside familiar environments, particularly as the industry is tied to many global connections. Participant 2 felt that students should be “willing to travel, be willing to relocate, and willing to get outside of their comfort zones” so that they would “feel comfortable going abroad to work.” This was heavily reflected in the job postings as 41.3% ( n = 19) called for employees that are “willing to travel” anywhere from 10 to 90% of the time or “relocate” completely. Participant 3 went on to be more explicit saying “You’ve got to teach them that you can’t have chicken tenders and fries at every meal … when you travel overseas … you need to be willing to flex on those routines a little bit.” This idea of traveling also requires that employees adapt to unfamiliar cultural norms, and they must see through other lenses. Participant 4 said “this world’s not small-town America, all white or whatever. The world’s different where you come from and where you’re going to go. … Working with other cultures is inevitable.” Participant 3′s experience illustrated that the employee’s interactions are not always straightforward: “you’re trying to get through the cultural significance of how [the other person] feels about that moment … so finally, I made the adjustment.” Job postings pointed to the importance of seeing from other perspectives or world views whereby 26 of 46 postings (56.5%) stated employees should have “knowledge of cultural issues” and they should “foster a collaborative, inclusive and engaged team culture aligning with company values.” Many of these postings were, however, for senior-level roles. Participant 5 reflected on this, noting that companies have become more intentional about developing cultural humility, explaining that “we had to reinvent part of our supervisor training to include cultural awareness training.” By the end of the focus group, participants had framed these character qualities as inseparable aspects of who a person is and felt confident when they hired a good person. Participant 6 said: “something as simple as hiring for someone’s character or personality type goes the whole way.” Participants also felt that these character qualities are shaped long before students enter the workforce, especially through family expectations and community norms. Participant 3 explained “those people skills … start at home … you can draw attention to the importance of it, but it means being comfortable in your skin and able to stand up and voice an opinion but listen at the same time and understand that you’re not always right.” Participants also suggested that these personal dispositions ultimately shape how employees approach feedback, communication, and collaboration with coworkers and how they respond to unfamiliar situations. Communication in people-centered poultry operations Between both focus group discussions and job postings, communication emerged as the most frequently emphasized expectation and was described as essential for day-to-day workplace functioning. Poultry participants described communication (i.e., listening and asking clarifying questions) as foundational to safety, efficiency, and workplace relationships in production settings. This finding aligns with broader agricultural workforce literature identifying communication as a high-priority employability competency across industry contexts ( Easterly III et al., 2017 ; Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, 2020 ). Participants also distinguished between two interrelated dimensions of communication: (1) the challenge of language differences within multilingual production environments and (2) the ability to communicate effectively. Participants were quick to describe working across the lines of language, nationality, and lived experience. Participant 2 described working alongside crew members from different regions of Mexico and Guatemala whose dialects varied, despite all being categorized broadly as “Spanish-speaking.” Her prior language training did not fully prepare her for these distinctions, yet she chose to persist in her attempts to communicate, recognizing that effort itself conveyed respect from her coworker, and allowed them to build a working relationship. In another facility, Participant 5 described supervising a workforce in which 23 languages were spoken, requiring them to “rely on interpreters and translation services” while navigating the risk of misunderstanding across cultural and linguistic lines. Even with all the emphasis in the focus group about the language barriers, very few job postings explicitly requested bilingual or multilingual abilities ( n = 5, 10.9%). Participants made clear, however, that once the language barrier was crossed, the real work of communication began. Participant 3 described the industry as “the people business,” and Participant 7 similarly emphasized that those who can “function with all” people are the ones who succeed, regardless of academic metrics. In practice, this meant knowing when to speak, how to introduce an idea, and how to respond when others pushed back. Participants described adjusting this approach based on the person across from them. Participant 5 added: “there’s a fine line when you’re trying to explain something without taking the hammer out … it becomes almost a sales job of a technique or concept. … [If] you’re dealing with a third-generation poultry farmer who learned from his dad and his dad before him, and here I am two years out of college with a poultry science degree, it takes a lot to have that conversation and not leave with a bad taste between the two parties.” The emphasis of effective communication was strongly reflected in hiring language on job postings. Communication related expectations appeared broadly in every one of the job postings analyzed, with common phrasing included requirements such as “excellent,” “effective,” or “strong written and verbal communication skills,” “ability to communicate across departments,” and more generally as “excellent communication skills” or “outstanding communication” ( n = 46, 100.0%). Relationship building & cross-functional collaboration As the discussion around communication continued, participants shifted their focus toward the role of respect in shaping those interactions. In poultry operations where employees interact with supervisors, coworkers, growers, governing agencies, customers, etc., participants suggested they must build trust while maintaining a productive working environment. In several cases, respectful engagement was framed as essential for maintaining productive relationships, especially in situations of disagreement or misunderstanding. Participant 8 described receiving a hostile phone call from a member of the public criticizing poultry practices and explained that he allowed the individual to speak uninterrupted before responding, noting that “I gave you the courtesy of listening to you for an hour and 15 minutes. Will you listen to me now?” After allowing the individual to fully explain their concerns, Participant 8 then used the opportunity to address each point and explain the practices used within the industry. In reflecting on the interaction, Participant 8 noted that situations like this often stem from misunderstanding and said that the best way to address the issue is “to educate them.” Similarly, Participant 9 described tensions that arose in local communities when demographics shifted due to poultry operations in the area explaining that “locals are not too keen on the fact that their next door neighbors are from Guatemala or Mexico … we were able to put a [company] logo on all of our doors, so if the cops get called, we built a good relationship with them, and the first thing they do is call us so we can come help defuse any situation.” Rather than ignoring these tensions, Participant 9 described taking proactive steps to build relationships with local law enforcement and community members so that misunderstandings could be addressed before they escalated. Participant 4 described working with a new employee who chose to leave after a difficult first day working alongside coworkers from different cultural backgrounds. Rather than treating the departure as a failure, Participant 4 emphasized the importance of respecting the individual’s challenges and supporting their growth, explaining that “I didn’t want to make her feel like a failure … we have to help them grow.” Together, these examples illustrate how respect functions as a critical interpersonal skill in poultry workplaces, helping employees navigate disagreement while maintaining dignity and building the trust necessary for productive working relationships. Nearly every job posting included language that reflected expectations of respectful workplace interactions ( n = 45, 97.8%). In many cases, this expectation appeared indirectly through statements emphasizing employee well-being. Examples included responsibilities such as helping “accomplish positive employee morale and retention of employees,” providing “a safe and healthful work environment for all personnel,” managing “performance plans/reviews, work schedules, and assignments,” and fostering “a collaborative, inclusive, and engaged team culture aligning with company values.” In a smaller number of cases, postings articulated this expectation more explicitly, such as requesting individuals who are “willing to address difficult situations head on with patience and respect.” Poultry participants described teamwork as the mechanism through which these relationships formed through consistent, respectful communication. They felt production environments are highly interdependent, where individual performance is inseparable from the ability to work effectively with others across roles and responsibilities. Many commented that teamwork separates successful hires from unsuccessful ones, which was stated bluntly from Participant 3: “if you’re not a team player, it really won’t work.” Participant 4 described the challenge of overcoming divisions between departments, explaining that “between your departments, there’s an invisible wall … they don’t want to talk … but they’ve got to work together.” This emphasis again aligns with APLU employability expectations related to building professional relationships and working effectively with others. Job postings reinforced this expectation, with teamwork related language appearing in the majority of postings analyzed. Common phrasing included requirements such as “ability to work in a team environment,” “collaborate across departments,” and “work with cross functional teams” ( n = 45, 97.8%). This repeated use of the term “cross functional” was notable, as it reflects an industry-specific way of describing collaboration across roles and areas of expertise that may be useful for faculty to name more explicitly within poultry coursework. Participants then described leadership as an expected progression within poultry operations, particularly as employees move into roles with responsibility for people, processes, or production outcomes within their teams. They noted that leadership often becomes visible when individuals are required to guide others through complex or uncertain situations. In many cases, these moments reveal interpersonal abilities that may not have been immediately apparent during hiring or early employment. Participant 3 noted, individuals who are successful in poultry workplaces are those who can “work as a team member and add value, not take away,” suggesting that leadership begins with the ability to contribute constructively within a group before directing others. Job postings reflected this expectation more explicitly, with 8 of the 46 postings (17.4%) specifically referencing leadership responsibilities through phrases such as “lead a team” or “demonstrate leadership.” Participants further described leadership as closely tied to the ability to navigate interpersonal challenges within diverse workplaces. Participant 7 emphasized that managing conflict is an unavoidable component of leading teams, explaining that “when you're working with people, conflict management… is so important,” particularly because employees will eventually be responsible for supervising others and guiding new workers entering the organization.” In this way, leadership is the ability to support and develop others within the workplace, especially as employees are learning how to function within poultry operations. Participant 10 noted that onboarding often relies on pairing newer employees with peers who can guide them through unfamiliar situations, explaining that individuals tend to “catch on so much easier” when learning from coworkers with similar backgrounds or experiences. Finally, participants suggested that effective leadership requires sustained investment in people. As Participant 5 explained, organizations must continue to build employees’ interpersonal and leadership capacities over time, noting that “you put money back into people… continue to build those skills. They'll pay at hand.” Responding to uncertainty The trust built through relationship-building and teamwork also shaped how challenges were managed in production environments. Problem-solving and adaptability were also discussed as baseline expectations in poultry operations, where employees frequently encounter situations that required decisions to be made quickly and with incomplete information. Participants illustrated this reality using examples from daily work, highlighting the need to adjust approaches when initial strategies do not work. Participant 2 described an experience in attempting to communicate with a Spanish-speaking poultry crew: “I remember trying to speak Spanish so I could communicate with the crew … I thought I said it correctly and they just stared at me. We were both frustrated. … I had to rethink my response and realize it wasn’t a mistake, it was effort. If I was going to work with them effectively, I needed to keep trying and adjust my approach.” Participant 8 expanded on this idea, emphasizing that adaptation occurs not only at the employee level but also within the company itself: “You think something’s simple and it just creates problems and challenges … a lot of our employees come from very remote areas of Mexico and Guatemala and had never been exposed to things like plumbing. We take that for granted. … Taking the time to explain how things work here made us think differently as a company and not assume people know the basic things we deal with every day.” Job postings reflected these expectations through more explicit and standardized hiring language. Problem solving was often framed through phrases such as “strong ability to analyze and solve problems” or “demonstrated problem solving skills” ( n = 41, 89.1%), whereas adaptability was typically expressed through statements such as “ability to adapt in a fast-paced environment” or “capacity to handle changing priorities” ( n = 39, 84.8%). Some postings further included disclaimers stating that listed responsibilities were not comprehensive (i.e., perform “other duties” or “other projects may be assigned”) and could change at any time without notice, reinforcing expectations of flexibility while simultaneously expanding role ambiguity ( n = 17, 37.0%). The poultry industry’s call for education Throughout the discussion, participants reflected on the role that education and training can play in preparing graduates for the interpersonal and intercultural realities of poultry workplaces. While many participants acknowledged that traits such as humility, openness to learning, and self-awareness are often shaped through family and community experiences before students enter the workforce, they also emphasized that educational environments could help undergraduates and future employees recognize and practice these competencies in professional contexts. Participants’ reflections collectively point to the need for educational programs to intentionally incorporate opportunities that allow students to develop these interpersonal competencies. Several participants specifically recommended structured experiential learning opportunities that expose students to the kinds of interpersonal challenges they will encounter in industry settings. For example, Participant 2 proposed that universities could simulate workplace scenarios requiring students to collaborate across cultural differences, explaining that “if you had some of your employees working in a group from different cultural backgrounds … and one person purposefully planted there to cause a problem … what sort of skills or leadership qualities are going to shine from someone that you may not have seen before?” Participants also highlighted the value of immersive experiences that expose students to unfamiliar cultural environments. Several noted that intercultural awareness often develops most effectively through firsthand experience, particularly when individuals find themselves navigating language barriers. As Participant 6 explained, “there’s no replacement for actually experiencing it … traveling internationally … being in a place where people don’t speak your language,” noting that these experiences help individuals better understand the challenges faced by coworkers from different cultural backgrounds. These perspectives emphasize experiential and immersive learning as key approaches for developing intercultural competence. Our observations reflect broader findings within workforce preparedness literature suggesting that employers consistently prioritize transferable professional skills such as communication, collaboration, and adaptability alongside disciplinary expertise ( Barrick et al., 2009 ; Easterly III et al., 2017 ; Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, 2020 ). Participants further emphasized that universities could support the development of these competencies by incorporating learning environments that mirror the collaborative and interpersonal nature of poultry operations. Activities such as team-based projects, experiential learning opportunities, and industry-engaged coursework may provide students with opportunities to practice communication, navigate disagreement, and develop leadership skills in settings that resemble professional workplaces. These suggestions reflect a broader call for educational programs to intentionally align learning environments with the social and organizational realities of agricultural workplaces, where technical knowledge must also be applied ( Robinson and Garton, 2008 ; Morgan and Rucker, 2013 ). At the same time, participants emphasized that the development of these competencies does not end once employees enter the workforce. Mentorship was also identified as an important component of workplace learning where new employees are paired with coworkers who can guide them through the social and operational aspects of the job. Participant 10 explained, individuals often “catch on so much easier” when they spend time working alongside someone with a similar background who can model effective workplace interactions. Similarly, Participant 4 explained that new employees are sometimes asked to work across departments so they can “see the other side” of the operation and develop empathy for colleagues working in different areas. These experiences help employees learn how to navigate difficult conversations more effectively across functional boundaries. Some of the companies also invested in more formal, continuing education and professional development to help employees strengthen interpersonal, leadership, communication, and technical skills throughout their careers. Participant 5 explained that their company provides both internal training programs and external coaching to support employee development, noting that “we have internal annual training programs … but we also bring in coaches … somebody to come in once a quarter and give a refresher on how to hone those skills and improve communication ability.” Participant 4 described beginning “a LinkedIn Learning for senior management that covers all the topics you can think of” and the company requires “senior managers to complete it.” Companies are increasingly investing in platforms like LinkedIn Learning which reflect a broader shift toward digital and video-based training. These platforms have grown in popularity as a flexible approach to professional skill development and allow for scalable, self-paced learning across diverse workforce needs ( Healy et al., 2023 ). As a result, employee development is personal and treated as an ongoing process rather than a one-time onboarding activity. Taken together, the perspectives shared by poultry industry participants suggest that education serves an important role providing structured opportunities to practice interpersonal and intercultural competencies prior to workforce entry. Consequently, these findings highlight the importance of continued collaboration between educational institutions and industry partners to ensure that learning experiences evolve alongside the changing social and operational demands of the poultry sector. By intentionally incorporating opportunities for teamwork, cross-cultural interaction, and experiential learning into poultry and agricultural curricula, universities and companies may help students better prepare for the expectations they will encounter within modern poultry workplaces. Implications for poultry workforce development The contrast between focus group discourse and job posting language highlights differences in how intercultural competence is articulated within poultry workforce expectations. Industry participants readily described intercultural skills through lived operational experience, often linking them directly to workforce stability and production outcomes. In contrast, hiring materials tended to rely on generalized descriptors that embed these expectations within broader professional skill categories, with limited specificity regarding the multilingual and multicultural contexts in which these competencies are enacted. This contrast is further illustrated in Fig. 1 , where conflict management, cultural respect, leadership, and character representation in job postings fall below an 80% alignment threshold with the focus group data. Only communication, teamwork, and adaptability were able to meet this threshold, a level commonly used to indicate strong consistency across data sources ( Krippendorff, 2018 ). Fig. 1. Open in a new tab A radial plot that shows alignment between focus group themes and job posting language across poultry workforce competencies and gap skills. Categories represent themes identified from focus group data, and radial values indicate the percentage of job postings in which each competency was referenced. The dashed line marks the 80% alignment threshold used to indicate strong consistency across data sources ( Krippendorff, 2018 ). When job postings rely on generalized descriptors such as “excellent communication skills” or “ability to work in a team environment,” without specifying the multilingual or culturally diverse contexts in which those skills will be enacted, students may underestimate the relational demands of poultry operations. This pattern indicates that hiring materials do not fully reflect the interpersonal complexity described by industry participants. As a result, graduates may enter poultry workplaces with strong technical preparation but limited awareness of the interpersonal dynamics that shape daily operations. This implicit framing may reflect conventions in human resources language or assumptions about baseline workforce readiness. Similar tensions between employer expectations and the language used in recruitment materials have been noted in broader workforce preparedness research, where employers frequently report valuing interpersonal and professional competencies more strongly than these skills are explicitly communicated in hiring materials ( Barrick et al., 2009 ; Easterly III et al., 2017 ). These findings support refining hiring language to more explicitly articulate relational expectations. Clarifying how communication, teamwork, and adaptability function within multilingual and culturally diverse environments may improve alignment between employer expectations and candidate preparation. For example, job descriptions could provide clearer context regarding the collaborative and multicultural nature of poultry operations, including expectations related to working across language barriers and coordinating with a multitude of teams and personalities. More explicit descriptions of these contexts may improve alignment between recruitment practices and workforce realities. Study limitations Several limitations should be considered when interpreting the findings of this study. First, the focus group component involved a relatively small number of participants ( n = 11) recruited through purposive expert sampling. Although participants represented a range of leadership roles and organizational sizes across the poultry industry, the perspectives captured reflect the experiences of those who chose to participate and may not represent the full diversity of viewpoints across the sector. As with many qualitative studies, the goal of this research was not statistical generalization but rather to provide an in-depth exploration of industry perspectives related to workforce competencies ( Merriam and Tisdell, 2015 ). Additionally, data were collected through a single focus group conducted during the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE). While this setting provided access to experienced industry professionals, time constraints associated with a conference environment may have limited the depth of discussion that could occur during the session. Group dynamics within focus groups can influence how participants express their perspectives, and it is possible that certain viewpoints were emphasized more strongly than others during the discussion ( Krueger and Casey, 2014 ). The analysis of job postings represents a snapshot of poultry workforce expectations during the study period. Of the 63 postings initially identified, only 46 remained publicly accessible at the time of analysis due to the dynamic nature of online job boards. As a result, the sample may not fully capture the breadth of hiring practices across the poultry industry or reflect changes in workforce expectations over time. Despite these limitations, the combined use of focus group data and job posting analysis provides a valuable perspective on how intercultural and interpersonal competencies are understood and communicated within the poultry industry. By integrating insights from industry leaders with analysis of hiring materials, this study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of workforce expectations and highlights opportunities for improved alignment between educational preparation and industry needs. Conclusions This study examined how poultry industry leaders describe intercultural competencies and professional skills necessary for workforce success and compared these perspectives with how such expectations are communicated in job postings. Across the focus group discussions, participants consistently emphasized interpersonal competencies such as communication, relationship building, adaptability, and cultural awareness as essential for navigating the complex social environments that characterize modern poultry operations. While job postings frequently referenced communication and teamwork, they tended to frame these expectations using generalized language that did not fully capture the multilingual and culturally diverse contexts in which these skills are enacted. As a result, the relational dimensions of poultry work described by industry leaders were not always clearly visible within formal hiring materials. The findings also highlight the role that educational institutions can play in helping prepare students for these workplace realities. Industry participants emphasized the importance of experiential learning opportunities that allow students to engage with diverse perspectives and develop the interpersonal awareness necessary to work effectively in production environments. These perspectives align with broader workforce development research suggesting that employability skills are most effectively cultivated through collaborative and experiential learning environments that complement technical training. At the same time, participants noted that professional learning does not end upon entering the workforce, as mentorship, cross-functional workplace experiences, and ongoing professional development initiatives continue to shape employees’ interpersonal and leadership capacities. Together, these findings suggest that preparing graduates for the poultry industry requires continued collaboration between educational institutions and industry partners to align workforce preparation with the evolving realities of agricultural workplaces. By more explicitly articulating relational expectations in hiring materials and intentionally integrating experiential and intercultural learning opportunities into agricultural education, stakeholders may better support the development of professionals who are equipped to navigate the interpersonal complexities of modern poultry operations. Strengthening this alignment between education, recruitment practices, and workplace training may ultimately contribute to a more adaptable and resilient poultry workforce. Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Funding This work was funded through a National Institute of Food and Agriculture Higher Ed Challenge grant awarded to E. Karcher (GRANT14090790). CRediT authorship contribution statement Morgan A. Vincent: Writing – original draft, Methodology, Formal analysis. 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