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From Our Side Of The Fence

Dairy Star • Saturday, March 12, 2016 • Page 15

What are the keys to keeping good employees?

Jay Miller and Dean Allen of Gar-Lin Dairy Eyota, Minn.

Olmsted County 1,950 cows

Steve and Kerry Hoffman New Ulm, Minn.

Brown County 135 cows

How many employees do you have?

Gar-Lin Dairy: We have 43 employees.

Hoffman: We currently have nine employees.

That includes one full-time herdsman, our family of four and four part-timers.

Landon: We have 13 employees.

Mulhern: We have 12 full-time employees.

Scheps: We have 13 full-time and four part-time, in addition to my brother, Ken, and myself.

What are their duties?

Gar-Lin Dairy: We have positions focused on herd health, maternity, milking, cow pusher/scraper, baby calf care, feeding cows, agronomy, mechanics and maintenance.

Hoffman: Everyone milks the cows. We are all responsible for learning how to do the outside chores, which includes scraping manure alleys, holding areas and outside lots. If an employee is interested in helping in other areas, all they have to do is inquire.

Landon: Three employees milk two out of the three shifts, while the rest of us do a bit of everything else that needs doing.

Mulhern: Eight of the them are milkers and scrapers while four feed calves, do eld work and feed cows.

Scheps: We have eight milkers/cow movers; one herdsman; one assistant herdsman; one feeder; one maintenance; one milk hauler or truck driver; one part-time milk hauler/truck driver; one part-time maintenance/shop; one equipment operator who is part time in winter and full-time in summer; and one part time employee who helps wherever needed.

How do you nd employees?

Gar-Lin Dairy: Mostly by word of mouth, through newspaper ads and one-on-one recruitment.

Hoffman: Almost all of our employees have been hired by word-of-mouth. If a person comes out to visit and asks about a job we will also consider that person, because he or she put in the effort to come and ask. It’s amazing how many times we do get calls from parents asking if we have openings. Until that child calls us on his or her own, comes out for a visit and takes a tour with us, we will not hire him or her.

Landon: Mostly by ads in the newspapers, and sometimes by word of mouth.

Mulhern: Many of our employees have been here awhile, but when one does leave, they usually nd their own replacement. The last time I had to nd an employee myself was about seven years ago.

Scheps: Through word of mouth, Craigslist or through ads in the paper.

What are the common traits of your good employees?

Gar-Lin Dairy: They are open communicators, have a continual commitment to excellence, conduct themselves in a professional way, are reliable, report to work on time, understand that every job is important and are a team player.

Hoffman: The most common trait of our employees is their commitment to coming to work. It is extremely rare to have someone not show up for

Ted Landon Landon Farms Lancaster, Wis. Grant County 450 cows

Cory Mulhern Fountain, Minn.

Fillmore County 600 cows

a scheduled shift. We appreciate their willingness to learn from us. They are also not afraid to bring suggestions our way once in awhile, too. They are all responsible people. If they cannot work, they nd their own replacements.

Landon: They all have a good understanding of dairying. If a cow is sick or something else is wrong, they know what to do.

Mulhern: Good employees are patient and good at working with animals. They also listen, do their job correctly and get along with others.

Scheps: Common traits we see in our employees are consistency in their work, trustworthiness, reliability and that they treat their work as if it was their own farm.

What training process do they go through after they are hired?

Gar-Lin Dairy: Our employees are trained by shadowing employees in their current position or working directly with their supervisor. We also have established protocols and training videos to help them understand why each piece is important. For advancement, we require employees to pass knowledge tests.

Hoffman: After we hire a new person, preferably someone who did not grow up on a dairy farm, we spend as much time as we think is needed training him or her in the milking parlor. Normally, we schedule two milkers per shift, but we will have a third person in the parlor training the newbie. The trainer is always our son Joe. We expect the new employee to be slow at rst. We never leave a new employee in the milking parlor alone until they feel comfortable. Once the new employee has mastered the milking process, including doing a satisfactory job of pressure washing the parlor, that’s when they have earned the privilege of doing the outside chores. Again, we have an extra employee during the milking time that will spend time working on training our employee for outside chores.

We are fairly demanding when it comes to earning the chance to work outside. If the parlor isn’t clean or the cows continually get out during the employee’s shift, they don’t get to do outside things, which include driving the skid loader, an employee favorite.

Landon: The guys who do the manure scraping and run the cows in, train the new employees for three to four days until they understand the process. After that, the milkers train the new employees another two or three days, until they know what to do in the parlor.

Mulhern: A new employee will work with current employees on a shift for about a week or until they are comfortable doing the work on their own.

Scheps: It depends on positions or responsibilities. Current milkers train the new milkers until the new employee understands the routine. This can be anywhere from ve to 10 days. Ken communicates with the herdsman/assistant herdsman and Dan with the feeder.

What are the keys to keeping good employees around?

Gar-Lin Dairy: Respect each person’s ideas and contributions, and provide opportunity for continual improvement and advancement. We strive to remain

Dan Scheps Almena, Wis. Barron County 1,100 cows

competitive with wages. As required by Minnesota state law, we pay over-time above the 48-hour work week. Unfortunately, paying overtime for agricultural professions is not required in surrounding states, which puts Minnesota producers at a competitive disadvantage.

Hoffman: Steve and I believe one of the keys to keeping employees around is treating them with respect. We allow for very exible scheduling. We don’t expect them to work any holidays except the Fourth of July, which is when we go on vacation. It’s a tradition that Steve, myself, Joe and Russ milk cows on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Sometimes, we allow our employee athletes to take an entire season off or work weekends only. We also accept the fact that sometimes employees are going to break things.

We gently remind them that “every single person on this farm, including ourselves, has broken something.

Just make sure it doesn’t happen too often.” We also require, if possible, that the employee assist with xing the broken item. I think it also helps that I have worked off the farm and can relate to how employees think and what they want.

Landon: Treat them well. If they have a problem, try to x it as soon as you can. If someone does something wrong, don’t yell. Calmly explain the right way.

Also, be exible with scheduling.

Mulhern: It’s important to communicate on a daily basis. I’m usually in and out of the parlor so I see and talk to them whenever I need to. It’s also important to make employees feel like they’re important. In addition to being their boss, I try to talk to them on a friendship level and get to know them. I try to joke around and have a little fun, too. You don’t have to be serious all the time. Also, it’s important to pay a fair wage and listen to employees for ideas.

Scheps: Having time off and providing exible schedules.

What perks/benets do you give your employees?

Gar-Lin Dairy: We provide a 401K, health insurance, accident insurance, milk quality bonus, calf health/growth bonus, feeding bonus based on accuracy and paid vacation on an escalating scale based on years of employment.

Hoffman: We don’t offer a lot of perks to our employees per se. We do not have a quality bonus anymore. I asked the employees if they paid attention to that and they all said, “no.” I also asked if they cared that we took it away, again it didn’t matter. We do have an annual Christmas party, which includes bowling and pizza. During the bowling game we award prizes. We also give them clothing with our farm logo and name on it. We also allow two of our employees to purchase animals and house them here with our cows. If they ever nd a chance to move to their own facilities, they can take their animals with them. We work out any costs with them on an individual basis.

Landon: We provide housing and pay bonuses.

Mulhern: We pay a somatic cell count bonus every month. For every point under 250,000, employees received $1. Employees are also given one week paid Turn to FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE | Page 16