Effective Management of Farm Employees

Phil DurstStan MooreMSU Extension Sr. Educators

Effective Management of Farm Employees

• Probably the greatest need on growing operations

• Impacts: - Cattle health- Cattle well-being- Feed efficiency- Product quality

And more

Managing Dairy Employees Project:

• Initiated project in 2012• To use the input of a farm’s employees to

improve employee management on that farm

• Developed a survey, employees on project farms receive a copy and call interviewer

• Report and recommendations developed based on the transcripts sent by interviewer

• Sit down with owners & managers to review

Managing Dairy Employees Project:

• Purpose is to help the owners & managers on project farms to improve their people management.

• And to use the knowledge gained to help on other farms

Managing Dairy Employees Project:

• Working with a partner, Felix Soriano of APN Consulting, Inc. on east coast

• To date, 14 farms from 4 states have been enrolled in the project with a total of 230 employees

• Interviews conducted with 174 employees (76%) by the same interviewer

• Each farm is different, but there are common themes that arise

Managing Dairy Employees Project:

Farms vary widely in employee turnover rate and employee engagement

Management makes the difference

Employee Turnover:

• Calculated as the number of hires in a year as a percentage of the number of positions.

• Why that matters:- Develop knowledge and skills- Develop teamwork and consistency- Disruption and costs of turnover- Impact on morale

• Range among farms: single digit to triple digits

Employee Engagement:

• Measured indirectly: “How often do you come up with ideas to improve the operation?”

• We categorized responses as either:- Frequently- Occasionally- I just do what they tell me/ I have ideas, but I don’t share

• Calculated percentage in latter category

Employee Engagement:

• Why that matters:- mind engaged, they think about what they do- seeking the benefit of the business- reveals the attitude of managers toward employees

• Range among farms: 8% to 56% disengaged

Management makes a difference

• Some producers say “If I can just hire the right people . .”

• You need to hire well, but you need to develop those you hire.

Developing employees:

1. Focus employees on achieving performance standards

• Owners/managers often have difficulty in setting goals

• That leaves employees without good direction

• Set and communicate standards (KPI’s)• Each employee should have KPI’s they

work toward

Developing employees:

2. Provide opportunities to learn• Employers underestimate the desire of

employees to learn• Learning needs to be progressive• Learning needs to teach the “why”• Value the portion of the employee above

the shoulders• Thinking employees are better

Developing employees:

3. Provide feedback regularly to employees

• KPI’s provide a basis for feedback• It should be specific and be individual as

well as for the team• Positive, Negative or Re-directive• Can’t neglect the positive• Create opportunities (i.e., every paycheck)

Developing employees:

4. Facilitate and encourage better teamwork

• Employees sometimes leave other employees

• Create reporting/communication opportunities between shifts

• Don’t allow one shift to blame the next• Emphasize the need to support one

another• One team; Team Farm

Developing employees:

5. Give responsibility and authority to employees

• Encourage employee ideas and listen to them

• Allow them to recommend or make decisions

• Allow them to be part of the solution

Language and cultural barriers

• Lack of language skills can isolate employees

• Language matters – even if we can get by with cursory communication is takes deeper communication to develop employees

• Language and culture can be as much a barrier between employees as between management and employees

Language and cultural barriers

Options for overcoming barriers:• Language and/or literacy lessons for both

sides• Outside interpreter scheduled on a regular

basis• Technology (ie: Google Translate)• Facilitate human living

Language and cultural barriers

Just because you speak the same language doesn’t mean that you are communicating

• Literacy training• Tell them, Show them,

Tell me, Show me

Wrap – up

• Employee management matters• It is a skill to be developed• Management can increase engagement

and decrease employee turnover• Those are building blocks of a better

business.

Questions?

Thank you!

Phil DurstMSU Extensiondurstp@msu.edu989-387-5346

Stan MooreMSU Extensionmoorest@msu.edu231-350-0400