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Meeting in the middle for employees DAIRY BUSINESS CENTRE (NZ) LIMITED There are always two sides to every story, with the truth usually lying somewhere in between. All too often in the dairy industry we hear of the most disastrous scenarios, coming from both the employees and employers, of how terrible the work situation is, with both sides spouting that the blame lies firmly on the other party’s shoulders. Although the blame game can be very satisfying, it inevitably results in there being no resolution of the original problem(s), and almost always impacts negatively on farm performance and long term personal satisfaction for all involved. The agriculture sector, particularly dairying, has the second highest staff turnover in New Zealand, second only to those that flip burgers and wait tables. Hospitality is an industry long considered by many employees as an intermediary job until they finish their study, or until something better comes along. The intermediary and seasonal nature of the fast food/hospitality industry inflates this turnover, making agriculture the leader. Approximately 25 per cent of all staff are consistently turned over
annually, and nearly 50 per cent of new employees only last the first year of employment. Throughout all industries, retaining staff year-in yearout is proven to be the key to stability and profitability. Yet the dairy industry insists on one year contracts and seems to be in the habit of “cleaning house” annually. The cost of “cleaning house” seems to be overlooked and underestimated. The employer has the cost and time
Increase Production & Profitability…
…Through Improved Knowledge and Education
Ruminant Nutrition Training Course A 2-day course focused on up-skilling farmers and dairy staff on: ● Cow nutrition ● Ration balancing ● Animal health ● Pasture management ● Milk production management
Next Ashburton course dates: Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th February 2015 Visit www.dairymasters.co.nz to register your interest
Developing future dairy leaders 03 308 0094 03 308 0089
dairymasters@dairybusiness.co.nz www.dairymasters.co.nz
A division of Dairy Business Centre (NZ) Ltd
lost during interviewing and training, not to mention new staff to a business, irrespective of experience, always undergo a learning phase that usually lasts the entire first year. It is not until the second and subsequent years that training and the cost of employment actually begins to pay dividends for the employer. Continual changing of staff is at the expense of the business. Likewise, employees are willing to change jobs for a few thousand dollars, or the chance that the next job maybe better, only to realise too late, that they are in no better a situation. The cost of moving has soaked up most of their salary increase and often overlooked is the impact on their family, friends and themselves, particularly those with children. Moving house and schools can be very traumatising and have negative long-lasting effects on the level of education achieved and attitude to life, creating a culture with the absence of stability, security, loyalty, resilience and accomplishment, leaving a generation of people that just give up if the going gets tough. If we continue on this path, the turnover rate is only set to increase at the expense of all people involved in the agricultural industry. Perhaps we should be looking at three to five year contracts? Or maybe contracts with a clear progression plan throughout the business, realistic and personalised standards and KPIs to be met annually for advancement? Having staff that clearly know and understand their roles, the farm, the systems and the routines, will result in improved performance and satisfaction. This is much easier to achieve through the regular training of staff, and then retaining these staff on farm for the subsequent seasons, thus spreading the training costs over three to five years rather than a single year. Staff, including owners and managers, are an integral part of the farming business, and should be seen and treated like the biggest asset of farm. Failure to do so can result in poor farm performance, or in extreme cases, accidents and a court case. Dairy workers are people who, in most cases, come to be on a dairy farm because they enjoy the lifestyle.
People want to be there and are willing to learn, however like in any business, they need the incentive to grow, develop their skills and improve themselves. They look to their experienced peers for guidance and as role models. That means that the development of staff is directly related to how the staff relate to each other and management. DairyNZ has an excellent range of free online resources that can help management define roles, recruit the right people, create rosters and much more. The training of staff needs to be done in general through institutions like PrimaryITO and farm-specific training through the onfarm management. Courses like Rural Staff Management and the Diploma in Farm Management can help increase the knowledge base of staff, assisted by practical examples through their experiences on the farm. Arising from the need to educate owners, farmers, managers and staff about the importance of nutrition, feed efficiency and profitability, Dairy Business Centre (NZ) Limited has developed the dairymastersTM training programme, a range of courses, workshops and field days specifically tailored to educate all levels of staff involved in the dairy industry. The dairymastersTM Nutrition Training Course combines the areas of profit-planning, cow nutrition, ration balancing, animal health, pasture management and milk production management, with training in effective dairy feeding strategies. These courses progress from understanding basic animal nutrition through to balancing your own rations and learning the other processes necessary to develop a customised, profit-based feeding strategy built to ruling milk prices with the aim of improving overall farm performance and achieving sustainable, long-term business goals. Suitable for all types of farm situations, whether grass only or supplementary feeding, farmers throughout New Zealand are finding these training courses to be an essential tool in assisting with the planning of their dairy farming futures over the long-haul with more confidence and peace of mind. A changing in the tides is hopefully on the horizon if both employees and employers can enter into the employment process with the right attitudes. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence, and maybe the grass at home could thrive with just a little bit of encouragement. Remember, education is one of the keys to creating mutually beneficial and sustainable employment situations, resulting in long term tenure and profitability for all involved. For more information on dairymastersTM training programmes, contact the team at Dairy Business Centre (NZ) Limited on 03 308 0094 or email dairymasters@dairybusiness. co.nz. Advertising feature