With labor challenges impacting agriculture, the saying half of success is showing up certainly holds true, especially for labor-dependent dairy farms. Although Brett Barlass, dairy manager of Yosemite Jerseys in Hilmar, Calif., says he went nine years without a no-call or a no-show employee.
Yosemite’s dairy team includes 26 employees and Barlass says at one point in time his eight milkers have been employed with them for 11.5 years and the average outside guy for 10.5 years.
“One thing that I’m super proud of is over nine years, I never had a guy not call or not show,” he says.
Yosemite Jerseys exchanged ownership in December of 2021. This is causing Barlass to try to once again to replicate the same culture that was originally in place - now across six dairy sites with 19,000 cows and 200 employees.
“The family that I work for now has grown real fast,” he explains. “It’s tough to fill all the right people in the right places so quick.”
Barlass shares multiple things that helped contribute to the success Yosemite Jerseys saw with their dairy’s employee retention. He contributes the following to help with employee retention.
- Feedback and annual reviews
- Informative monthly meetings that included safety reviews, an overview of any dairy construction projects, etc. and enjoyable time (good food, upbeat music and offer nice door prizes) that allowed employees a chance to talk.
- Being honest, fair and sincere to help build trust and respect.
- Collaborate and follow through with employees.
- Show appreciation and highlight accomplishments.
“We started doing the meetings in the mornings at 5 a.m., so we’d play music in the backgrounds to get people jazzed up,” he says, explaining that was the best time to conduct meetings for their dairy, during shift changes.
Barlass says showing appreciation and recognizing accomplishments is a must. He shares that he would send texts when he would see milkers post-dip with a blue dip.
“I see cows that have that blue cream on their on their teats and I’ll snap a picture and send it to the whole milking team,” he explained, sharing that he would use the praying hand’s emoji and specifically call at the employee for a job well done.
To listen to the entire podcast with Brett Barlass talk about employee retention and leadership skills, go to: Episodes — UPLEVEL DAIRY PODCAST
Read more stories from UpLevel Dairy:
- 5 Elements of Effective Team Meetings at McFarlandale Dairy
- Leadership Habits that Lead to Success for Three Dairy Managers
- Could Your Next Manager be in Your Milking Parlor Right Now?
