Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops
Team
Greg Coffta
For the most part, area dairy farms have chopped all their corn and packed all of their feed bunks. The field work is almost finished, and hopefully so are some of the tasks on the to-do list. The winter season offers dairy managers extra time to devote to other tasks such as herd health, calf care and reproduction performance. There is one task that should be on that list: employee management, especially with Hispanic employees. This task doesn’t usually rate very high on the list, if it makes the list at all, but can make a great difference in employee morale, employee retention, farm efficiency and profitability. Two effective methods of employee management are to hold regular staff meetings and to offer individual employee evaluations.
Staff Meetings
A regular staff meeting is a great way to have a general, open forum to
discuss farm issues such as overall employee performance, jobs to be done,
upcoming events, scheduling, etc. It’s also a great way to bring
together the entire team of employees that make the farm work. Different
shifts of employees may rarely get the chance to meet each other, so the
staff meeting can help get everyone on the same page and build a sense
of teamwork- which is crucial to implementing a consistent milking routine.
Furthermore, discussions are likely to occur in these staff meetings and
questions are likely to be asked. Listen to what comes out of the discussion
and be receptive to feedback from the employees. This can easily be done
with the help of a bilingual person that can facilitate the meeting, even
a bilingual employee of the farm could help. The farm manager should create
the agenda which should be organized and planned. The meeting can be integrated
with English-speaking employees, or separate meetings can be held. Remember:
staff meetings should address general farm issues. Refrain from reprimanding
or praising an individual in front of the group.
Employee Evaluations
In my experience, this is the most beneficial, yet commonly ignored human
resource practice on dairy farms. Individualized evaluations may seem
like a lot of work, but they really don’t have to be. The first
step is to create a checklist, rubric or other type of form that contains
the criteria on which you would like to evaluate your employees. Some
of these include: punctuality, cow treatment, milking routine performance,
teamwork/gets along with coworkers, etc. Don’t forget to leave a
section for notes, as they are very helpful for the interpreter. Evaluate
your employees, one by one or shift by shift and schedule meetings that
fit your time schedule. 20 minutes should be enough for each employee,
so schedule about 3 per hour. They don’t all have to be done on
the same day; it’s easier if the meetings are held periodically,
rotating the employees. As mentioned earlier, it is okay to use a bilingual
employee to translate staff meetings. For employee evaluations, however,
a third-party translator is a must. In the meetings, use direct communication
and listen to the employee (not the translator.) Try to be as fair and
judicious in your remarks as possible and always offer an opportunity
for the employee to respond.
Staff meetings and employee evaluations, when used properly,
can have enormous impact on your operation. They do require some groundwork
to be done by the farm manager, but the end result is improved communication,
employee productivity and teamwork. On farms where I have helped with
these meetings I have seen a stark improvement in employee attitude and
morale - which may be the most valuable result. Please consider these
two tools for managing employees on your farm and if you need a translator
or meeting facilitator.
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