It’s the middle of winter. Your farm is understaffed. Onboarding costs time and money that you don’t have right now. How big of a risk is it to throw new employees into the mix and let them learn by example?
Matthew Rooda, chief executive officer of SwineTech, says it’s a dangerous move.
“The first few weeks on the farm are so impactful,” Rooda says. “It sets the tone for what new employees should emulate.”
Onboarding, the strategic process of introducing a new employee to your farm’s culture, tools and expectations, results in skill growth, improved problem-solving ability, higher confidence and engagement and decreased risk of errors among your employees.
Kevin Stuckey, sow division manager for Cooper Farms, says getting to know your employees and what makes them tick (or snap) is key to making their performance in the barn as productive and positive as possible.
“Without ongoing learning, an individual may rely on outdated approaches to solving problems, leading to inefficiency or poor results,” he says. “Feeling underqualified can lead to disengagement, which further reduces productivity.”
What is Pre-Boarding?
Melanie Langley, people care director at Fine Swine, LLC, knows that for a new hire, a pig barn can be an overwhelming sensory experience. To combat the shock of strong smells and new sights, she advocates for pre-boarding.
Pre-boarding gives employees connection with someone and encourages them to show up, she explains. It allows important concepts like biosecurity to be explained well before people step on the farm.
“We are dealing with an employee that has options,” Stuckey points out. “Any type of contact you can make in advance, even meeting them in the parking lot, is good.”
Langley says pre-boarding has become a crucial part of the process for their company.
“If we lose people shortly after they start, I challenge my team that we didn’t do pre-boarding right,” she says.
Consistent Training
Onboarding training should be the same whether you are dealing with experienced employees or not, Stuckey says. While this may affect how fast employees get through training, it’s important that everyone is trained individually.
“Make sure expectations are clear,” Langley adds. “Previous experience is great, but we may do things differently here and we will try to explain the why behind our processes.”
Mentorship and job shadowing can play a powerful role in the process.
“Working with people is always one of the hardest parts of any job,” Stuckey says. “Some bosses are approachable, some are not. I think it’s important to have a buddy on every farm that new employees can go to with questions, problems, etc.”
Onboarding is not a short process, it takes time – especially in pig production. Make the trainings practical, interactive and hands-on, Langley advises. Limit “talking” to 20 to 30 minutes. For people who are highly physical, making them sit for too long can be painful. Actively engage them in the learning process.
Also, make sure there is access to knowledge and ongoing communication with relevant and applicable training. Rooda recommends giving your team the ability to choose some options for themselves of what they want to spend time learning or discovering.
“Turnover happens all over the farm,” Stuckey says. “Open up opportunities for people to grow within and move around the company. That helps the whole company in the end.”
Good Culture Retains Good Employees
The most important thing you can do to retain employees is focus on the culture of your farm, Langley says.
“If your culture is welcoming, has good leadership and management, you’ll have a vibe that’s enticing and have someone that wants to be there,” Langley says. “Finding that mix and discovering the right leadership of people who keep everyone engaged and happy is important.”
In Stuckey’s mind retention requires clear expectations and organization. Teach people how to ask good questions – not just do things.
“People don’t want to work in chaos,” he says. “If you go to work every day and know what the expectations are and what your job will be that day, it’s easier to feel good about it when you go home that night.”
Sometimes the simplest gestures can make the biggest impact in creating a positive culture. For Langley, food often does the trick.
“Don’t just bring food in but take your employes out when they do something well,” she says. “We’ve tried to adjust our days more so we can do this over the lunch hour.”
She also has incorporated a Top 20 list of shout-outs. When someone does something good for the farm or others, people can share it and then it goes out in the company newsletter.
“One of the best things we can give people is the gift of time,” Langley adds. “Work-life balance is so important.”
