In a tight labor market with plenty of competition for qualified, well-trained dairy workers, it takes the extra touches that keep employees satisfied and desiring to stay with a dairy employer.
At the 2024 Dairy Calf and Heifer Association Annual Conference, managers from dairy, heifer, and calf-rearing operations held a sharing session on a wide range of topics specific to their businesses.
On the topic of worker loyalty, they exchanged the following ideas:
- Providing housing, either on the farm or off-site.
- Serving a hot noon meal to all workers, Monday through Friday.
- Offering a ride service to transport workers to and from the farm.
- Celebrating birthdays, work anniversaries, and cultural holidays.
- Offering English lessons via a third-party instructor.
- Paying bonuses quarterly or twice a year, instead of just once.
- Offering no-interest micro-loans with short-term, required payback.
- Building recreation areas on the farm for bonding and stress relief – basketball courts, soccer fields, pickleball courts, etc.
- Paying referral bonuses to workers who recruit other employees. Example: if the new employee stays 6 months, $500 bonus paid to the recruiter. Additional $1,000 bonus paid to the recruiter on the new employee’s one-year anniversary.
- Investing in training services that include personality profiles, which help workers understand one another’s strengths and work styles.
- Hosting large-scale family events like a barbecue on the farm or renting out the local bowling alley with food, prizes, and fun activities for kids.
The managers agreed that training workers for on-farm tasks and responsibilities is important, but that training also makes them attractive prospects for other dairies and related agricultural businesses. Keeping those employees long-term and reaping the benefits of theirs skills and experience requires going the extra mile to make your farm a place where workers want to remain.
“Virtually every conversation I have with a fellow dairy manager is about labor,” stated one participant. “Our employees aren’t just important to our business -- they are our business.”
