Paying a good wage and rewarding staff for a job well done would always benefit the farm business, so don’t skimp on wages because every dollar mattered to people, she said.
“Don’t be the person looking for every opportunity to under-pay. You’re cutting your own throat in the process.”
People needed to make a decent living and if a family income was under $100,000 a year, every dollar counted when negotiating salaries.
“As farmowner you might think $100,000 is a lot of money and you might live more frugally, but you’re living off the farm and you’re accumulating wealth.”
Most staff working on dairy farms in New Zealand weren’t going to own a dairy farm in future. They wouldn’t progress through the sharemilking pathway or inherit a family farm. What they had now was it, Baker said.
That meant farm owners had to stop expecting people to work long hours for minimal wages with little time off, because the end goal of farm ownership wouldn’t be the same.
Employers had to look at salary and work conditions from the employees’ point of view, she said.
Employees wanted a work-life balance now because they would continue to work for many years to come.
“Set up a roster so people can have a life. This is their life after all and they’re not going to retire with millions of dollars of net worth. This is it.”
A single person would want to go out on the weekend, while people with young families might want to watch their kids’ events.
The most attractive remuneration package didn’t all come down to take-home pay, she said.
Flexible rosters, excellent working conditions, career development, good housing and regular time off were all part of what made a person happy in their work, over and above their wage.
Making sure people were happy and contented in their jobs would ensure they were more productive in their work and more likely to stay, Baker said.
Employers had to address a huge problem in the dairy industry with a turnover of more than 40% of farm assistants within one year.
“I don’t believe you can have a world-class industry with labour statistics that look like that.”
The good news was that it didn’t cost money to engage staff and keep them happy and in their job, it just cost an employer’s time, Baker said.
Good leadership and people management skills were the key to engaging and retaining staff. Staff needed to know their boss cared about them, respected them and included them, and there was an opportunity to progress and improve themselves.
Involving staff in the farm business and in the decisions would make them more productive.
If all bosses did was give instructions or hand out criticism, staff wouldn’t feel important or valued, she said.
Asking people for their input, involving them in team meetings and making them feel part of the operation were important, as was taking the time to have one-on-one meetings with staff and helping them with their career development.
“The message that conveys to staff members is they are really important and you care about them.”
Staff would become more aligned with the farm business and that would make lots of other problems disappear, she said.
Staff would work more productively and care more about animals, machinery and the business.
They would want to be at work. They would be more motivated, be co-operative and go above and beyond to do a good job.
“A huge amount of what you want out of people has to be volunteered. There is only a certain amount you can make a person do for the amount you pay them and the hours they work.
“Engaged people want to work for you, they’re not there out of duress.”
Hiring the right staff from the outset was critical, however, Baker said.
“It’s a really important decision in terms of your prosperity and happiness. It’s as important as deciding who to marry because it’s really expensive to get out of.”
Recruitment was vital to getting the right employee and advertising the position honestly was the best place to start.
Don’t tell lies or say you will do something and then not do it, because automatically the trust will go, she said.
