Attracting and retaining farm staff continues to be one of the most pressing issues in the swine industry today. As profitability swings and foreign animal disease threatens U.S. borders, having farm employees you can trust and depend on is critically important.
It’s no secret that job satisfaction, working conditions, wages and benefits, career growth opportunities on the farms, and the health status of herds all have an impact on the overall retention of farm employees. In 2022, a survey for farm employees addressed a range of questions regarding job satisfaction. The study provided baseline results that indicated that farm employees have a passion for their jobs, working on a team, and achieving the farm’s goals.
Erin Larsen of Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine decided to continue investigating links between employee perceptions, farm characteristics, recent events, and historic turnover rates in an effort to drive progress in employee satisfaction and retention. She conducted this research study as part of her summer internship with the Swine Veterinary Internship Program through Iowa State University.
She developed a 19-question survey and delivered to 12 farms asking employees a range of questions regarding job satisfaction, growth opportunities, interpersonal relationships, compensation, work-life balance, working conditions and technology use. Employees were instructed to circle one of four responses on a Likert scale. Staff members were asked to answer anonymously and managers were encouraged to leave the room as surveys were being administered.
Three open-ended questions were asked regarding overall satisfaction and suggestions for improvements. Results were analyzed for trends between farms and compared to 2022 survey data. Of the 12 farms in the survey, four utilized an innovative technology platform through a mobile application. These farms were asked five additional Likert scale questions and three additional open-ended questions.
She shared her results at the Allen D. Leman Swine Conference in her presentation titled “Sparking new solutions to long-term problems in the agricultural work force.”
“The most important takeaways we discovered were that employees value accountability and feedback,” Larsen said.
She also said the study discovered a need to place a higher value on communication in native languages in order to better communicate with our staff and improve team morale.
“Through this survey we were able to observe the impacts that management changes, health challenges, and interpersonal relationships with coworkers have on employee retention and job satisfaction,” she said.
At the end of the day, she hopes this research can benefit producers by helping them understand what employees value and how information can be gathered for future improvements on farms.
More from the Leman Swine Conference:
Highlights from the 2023 Allen D. Leman Swine Conference
Assume the Barn Has Disease Even If It Doesn’t
Thoughts Worth Repeating from the 2023 Leman Swine Conference
Developing Replacement Gilts: How to Nourish Your Long-Term Investment
Bates Wins 2023 Morrison Swine Innovator Prize with E. Coli Research
