Worker training, retraining & retention

Recruiting and hiring are the first steps to adding the right employees to a dairy farm, but training and retraining are essential to keeping them. However, Penn State Extension veterinarian Dr. Adrian Barragan said a significant percentage of dairy farms still don’t offer a solid training program. On-farm training programs are less common in eastern states, perhaps because family members typically operate most aspects of smaller farms.

“That might be related to a lower percentage of hired employees,” Barragan said, “but a person still needs the same formal training whether they are family or hired from outside the family.”

Several challenges with workforce training include employees who don’t speak fluent English or aren’t fully competent readers. Simple tools such as a white board or posters in the conference or lunchroom can help bridge the language gap. Interpreters or translation technology can also help. Encouraging Spanish-speaking employees to learn English and English-speaking employees to learn Spanish can help build cooperation and teamwork.

Training begins with employees understanding standard operating procedures (SOP) or protocols, which are the standard decisions and steps needed to accomplish a task and ensure uniform procedures and outcomes. Developing protocols involves defining who will do it, how they will do it and why.

“It’s important to explain ‘why’ for the person to understand there are consequences, and what the consequences are if the task isn’t done correctly,” Barragan said. “It also helps troubleshoot if needed.”

A solid training program should include an oral presentation on how to do the job and the consequences of not doing the job correctly, with ample opportunities for personnel to ask questions. Visuals such as flow charts help people understand tasks and appropriate responses. This learning segment is followed by hands-on training where the person performs the tasks they just learned.

“They do it while you are watching,” Barragan said. “They can ask questions, and you can correct and show them the right way if needed. It’s a great opportunity for them to do the task in a safe environment.”

Training is followed by performance monitoring. Barragan noted a study showing that after calving management training, farms reported a 30% decrease in stillbirths, 100% decrease in retained placentas and 14% decrease in metritis.

Performance assessment is based on expected outcomes. This might mean clean teat ends, proper cow handling or calves with ample clean bedding. Cameras mounted over feed bunks can show when animals have been fed or the time between cleaning bunks and feeding. This information can be shared with employees who may not know when cows approach and leave the bunk.

“One thing we don’t do much, but it’s important, is train soft skills,” Barragan said. “No one teaches how to be a team player. You learn that as you go. Some of the workforce is young and have never been on a team or in a working situation like a dairy farm. We need to offer good training opportunities for that.”

Employers should look for potential leadership skills in employees and further their training. A worker might have an opportunity to be a leader simply because they are a good worker and performing well, but without proper training, they may not become a competent leader.

“People like to have promotion and growth opportunity, always related to performance,” Barragan said. “The more we train employees, the more value they feel as part of a team. Everyone has to be on the same page and do the job in the proper way.”

A welcoming, friendly and culturally stimulating workplace stimulates pride. Be careful to not limit training to when things go poorly. Barragan sees this occur when there is, for example, a high incidence of mastitis or metritis.

“That puts a negative connotation to the training,” said Barragan. “That’s the last thing we want to do. Training should be an opportunity for refreshed, solidified concepts and an opportunity to engage with other workers.”

It’s important to have a monitoring process in place to make sure people are doing what they are supposed to do. Monitoring also indicates whether retraining is necessary. In general, three to six months after initial training is appropriate for retraining.

One of the key components to retaining employees is communication, which must go two ways and not always related to negative metrics. Remain engaged and involved with new employees to ensure and promote a positive work environment. Monitoring performance and offering growth opportunity has a huge impact on retention.

Barragan relayed information from a study in which 150 workers from 15 dairies were asked “What is the most important things the boss could do to improve your work experience?” Communication, training and personal performance were the top answers. A high percentage of English speakers said that improving communication was the best thing a boss could do to improve their work experience, which proved communication is not always related to a language gap.

Retaining trained workers is critical and begins with addressing workforce needs such as housing, help with personal issues and willingness to assist with challenges.

“Social events are a huge component [of retention] and have great impact on the workforce, the working environment and retention,” Barragan said. “It’s a time for people to engage, get together and connect and solidify relationships. Sometimes it’s good just to have a meal and say, ‘Hey, you’re doing a great job – thank you so much.’ This has a huge impact in the long run.”

A poor work environment results in lack of compliance with protocols, attitude issues and high turnover. These factors can negatively affect animal welfare and the performance and profitability of the farm.

The most common reasons for employees leaving a job include lack of compensation benefits or personal incentive programs, personal or family reasons, a poor relationship with management and lack of communication. Employees leaving the dairy results in two problems: lost productivity from not having that person and the time invested to find and hire another person.

One of the most important workplace concepts for all workers is teamwork.

“We want to remove ‘It isn’t my job,’” Barragan said. “We need to foster and work on a teamwork approach where we are all helping each other. We need to work on a well-developed workforce program where we recruit the right person, train and develop them and retain them. The key is not losing them once we find the right people.”

by Sally Colby