Extend the welcome mat with employee training |
April 10 2018 |
By Aisha Liebenow, Special Publications Manager |
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Hans Bothe discusses how training benefits employee performance and retention on Aurora Organic Dairy.![]() Employee turnover is top of mind for many farmers as labor continues to be a hot topic in the dairy industry. Bonuses, higher wages, and paid time off are some of the strategies that farmers are using to improve employee retention on their farms. For Aurora Organic Dairy, investment in training and educational resources is another. We called on Hans Bothe, director of herd health, to get his take on the impact that training has had on their farms. His insight, specifically surrounding the People and Parlors milk quality training manual, had some unexpected benefits for milkers and managers alike. Q: What is your role at Aurora Organic Dairy? Q: How many parlors do you have? How many cows do you have milking? How many employees? Q: What is your philosophy for employee training? Do you offer different training “courses” depending on position? Q: What caught your eye with the People and Parlors book? Was there a challenge you were hoping it would solve? This year, we decided to give People and Parlors as a reward. The response was overwhelming. Our milkers were very excited to receive the book. Q: How have your farms implemented the People and Parlors manual with your on-the-farm training process? Having this process in place is a really good welcome for everybody. Training everyone for the annual certification at the same time is time consuming. So now, we just take a little bit of time for each new employee versus doing it all at once. Q: Have you had any noticeable improvements in job performance after introducing this process? Bothe acknowledged that providing the “why” behind the “how” is the idea behind each of their modules, but that it’s a learning process for everyone. Not just the employees. People and Parlors helped explain the “why” and “how” behind milk quality in a way that both milkers and managers could understand and put into their daily practice. Along with extending the proverbial “welcome mat” to each new employee, certification brings a sense of accomplishment and being part of a team. While every farm may not have the resources to create their own certification program like Aurora Organic Dairy, it might be worthwhile to look into ways to tweak your training process that will drive employee engagement and long-term success. Interested in learning more about the People and Parlors milk quality training manual? View a preview at hoards.com/bookstore/PEPA. ![]() Aisha Liebenow The author is the special publications manager. Aisha is a graduate of University of Wisconsin – Madison with degrees in Life Sciences Communication and Environmental Science. She is responsible for the Hoard’s Dairyman bookstore and creating educational resources for farmers, students, and dairy industry professionals.. |