People. Processes. Potential: A blueprint for great team management on UK dairy farms

UK dairy farms and associated industries currently employ around 50,000 people.  We are seeing significant challenges with labour.  Approximately 12.2% of dairy farms currently have a vacancy to fill.  Huge advances have been made in recent years, to refine working practices and technology to improve dairy cow health, welfare and performance.  Arguably, the same amount of effort hasn’t been put into working out how to better manage, support and retain the people within our industry.  The statistics tell us this needs to change. 

Having well-motivated and well integrated team members are key to great performance and recruitment can be a costly and time- consuming exercise.  The purpose of this study was to find out how different businesses set their teams up for success.

Self-awareness is an essential skill for improved communication and team dynamics.  Larger businesses with corporate structures, such as Aurora Dairies in Australia, are utilising personality profiling to help their employees better understand themselves and the people they work with, creating more harmonious working relationships.

Look to any of the major businesses both inside and outside of dairy farming and you will see a clear vision stated for both employees and onlookers.  A clear vision acts as a “North Star” for team members reminding them why they are there.  Seeing is believing.

Utilising protocols can be useful, however we want to ensure team members become intrinsically motivated, led with heart and a desire to do a good job.  This is critical in the biologically complex system that is a dairy farm.  Understanding the desired outcome of a protocol allows employees to engage in the process and refine it.  Connecting an individual’s daily tasks with the overall success of the business can create a better feeling of autonomy and impact.  This can be done informally with regular check ins or more formally, by sharing performance data.

Resources such as the “Our farm, our plan” toolkit created by Dairy Australia can provide a framework for business owners and managers to work to. Self-assessment in key areas, such as the team, can highlight weaker areas and help create a structured plan for improvement.

Throughout the world labour is a precious resource, the importance of which was stated at almost all the visits entailed in this study.  However, team management solutions cannot be provided by external consultants, or a one size fits all approach.  The solutions lie within the team. Identifying how to utilise team members strengths, develop their weaknesses and engage them in the business goals is essential.  Taking the time to develop and support our people will ensure our dairy businesses reach their full potential.