HR Management Yields Results

Welcome to the Talking Total Farmer Health podcast from AgriSafe Network. At AgriSafe, we work to protect the people that feed the world by supporting the health and safety professionals, ensuring access to preventative services for farm families and the agriculture community.

Hey listeners! Now, I know I’m not just speaking for myself and my family, when I say that when it comes to day-to-day farm or ranch management, we just don’t normally think about employee-employer relationships. But these relationships can greatly impact the bottom line of your operation – your finances – and this impact can be for better or for worse. Whether you are a small family farm, or a large production, you know that ag employees are crucial to the day-to-day operations. But this US labor shortage seems to be growing wider, and it’s increasingly difficult to fill open farmworkers positions. So today we are going to talk about how you can build good human resource practices, that not only increase worker retention, but also boost productivity, morale, and worker well-being. So stick around, because you really don’t want to miss this episode!

So, my role with Michigan State University extension, I just retired actually, recently, and my role with the university has been in farm business management. Most recently, I served 24 counties in northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan and Eastern up with a statewide responsibility in human resource management on farms. So in my farm business management role, I do a lot with farm financial analysis and with farm succession.

Thank you Stan. And now, Dr. Rice, please tell us about you and your work.

I am Dr. Ricengton Rice. I am a fifth-generation cattle farmer from northern Michigan, and I also have a PhD in health psychology. I lead the MSU Extension Farm Stress program.

Great, thank you Dr. Rice. And thank you both for your work in ag extension, as educators and as county agents. You truly cover the gamut of topics, from economics all the way to family dynamics – there’s a little bit of everything there. That is just wonderful.

So, let's talk about the Managing Farm Stress project. Tell us a little bit about it and why should ag producers check it out?

Well, they should check it out because farming is a stressful occupation, as as you know. And many of the listeners know, farmers, of course, know that best. They can see it in themselves and in their spouses and in other farmers. So this program gives farmers the tools to recognize the signs of stress in themselves and others, how to mitigate that stress, and also how and where to reach out for help.

We have a couple different offerings and resources available for farmers, farm families and ag professionals.

In Michigan, we have farm business management educators like myself working alongside of stress specialists. And so when we're working with farms, we're, you know, we're sitting down with them. We bring, you know, a couple of different expertise to the table myself with a financial to say, okay, let's let's get a clear picture of what's going on financially, because oftentimes in in times of stress, we don't see things clearly. And then the farm stress specialists being there to talk through, you know, how can we mitigate some of that stress that we're feeling or maybe that we see in others? How can we be more supportive of them? So it's really a pretty cool approach coming together like that.

And we have a wonderful teletherapy program. And so all of our offerings are free to farm farmers, farm families, including the teletherapy. And so we've partnered with a behavioral health services in Michigan and we have hand-selected therapists and counselors that have an ag background. So they either grew up in farming, married into farming, but they can really understand what that rural life is like. And so it's all through the comfort of your own home, you know, through through the phone. And we've had a lot of great success with that.

I appreciate that. Taking care of your producers and that mental wellness part of it. We often say at AgriSafe, that a healthy farmer is a safe farmer. And so really taking a look at the total farmer's health right there, mental health, spiritual health, physical health, emotional health, all of that matters so much in their day-to-day work.

Now, Dr. Rice needs to head out, but we will hear from him on another episode about farm stress! Thank you for joining us today, Dr. Rice!

Thank you, Linda, for having me on today.

Alright, now before we dig into the meat of this discussion on HR practices, or human resource practices on the farm, I have some exciting news for our listeners… AgriSafe will be hosting 10 free webinars for National Farm Safety and Health Week, and this years theme is “No One Can Take Your Place.” Perfectly themed considering the any hazards farmers and ranchers deal with on the daily. There will be two webinars each day from Monday September 18th through Friday September 22nd! For more information on the daily topics and webinars, or to register, visit, check us out, at AgriSafe dot org slash N F S H W. Again, that is AgriSafe dot org slash N F S H W. Or you can find the link in our show notes. Many thanks to our sponsors and partners who make these webinars possible – we just couldn’t do it without you: The Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury Prevention and Education; The Southeast Center for Agricultural Health & Injury Prevention; The Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety; The Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health; the Agri-Services Agency; Pork Checkoff; CHS; and Scoular. Okay - let’s dive back into the episode!

Okay. So, let's talk about the Human Resource Management project that you shared with us here in Nebraska with your dairy farm employees. So, give us a quick overview of your research with that specific project?

Yeah. A number of years ago, Phil Durst, who's in Michigan at MSU with me, and I worked with area farms actually in Michigan, in Northeast Michigan, to really look at how employee management or leadership, as I like to call it, happens on farms, good or bad, what the employees perceptions of that are, and then how, what kind of an effect does that have on those employees interest in staying with the farm interest in recommending the farm to others, their engagement, their satisfaction. the employees called in to a bilingual interviewer with answers to questions that she then translated for us and we could give that feedback to farms. So we had 13 farms that enrolled in the program, 12 of those we reported out in our research with 168 responses from those 12 farms.

Very cool. Fascinating. I did read through the research a little bit myself and it was quite comprehensive… Okay. So when we talk about the human resources, strengths and weaknesses, tell us how you what you found in your project that influenced how that employee works. What was their engagement, their retention and maybe even a little bit of their satisfaction?

Well, their relationships with their direct supervisor and coworkers was was the one that really jumped out as as very related to their responses in all three areas of retention, satisfaction, and willingness to recommend the farm to other employees or potential employees. Most often they leave because of their direct supervisor. And so what is that relationship like? And our research definitely supported that claim. Relationships with the employer, with their direct supervisor, with other employees was huge and in their impact. You know employees also want to know how they and their work fit into the farm goals. So first, do they understand the farm goals and then, you know, how does what I do fit into that? Do I make a difference?

We want to find meaning in our work. You know, we don't want to just be spinning wheels, you know, we want to make sure that it's having some effect positively. And that certainly, we found that in our our employees that we surveyed as well. And then finally, the whole area of competence, you know, knowing your job. They also would like to have some more feeling of autonomy. And I'd like to tell farmers autonomy is not doing what they want to do. That's not the point. But if they know the goals and they know, you know what what they're trying to accomplish… when they have that good training and that competence, they can make adjustments that make sense and they can make choices that make sense to for positive outcomes, so.

If an employee had responded that they had low independence to do their job, they were three times less likely to want to stay on the farm. So it's a it's a big deal to feel like you have competence to do your job, that you don't have your employer feeling like they have to look over your shoulder all the time.

And I can see that, you know, relating to other industries as well. But we don't always think about that in agriculture, to pull in those components of of feeling satisfied, feeling confident and competent in your work, taking away that role ambiguity feeling. That, that alone, ambiguity, leads to stress.

And so it leads to the need to provide meaningful progressive training, you know, and then backing up that training with recognizing employees when they do a good job.

Exactly. Okay. So what factors should employers be aware of that affect an employee's willingness to share ideas and then engage with management? What are some of those other things, maybe we didn't we don't think about?

Yeah, well, I think one of them starts with your attitude towards those suggestions, if you will, their willingness to share. So I think from an employer standpoint or a supervisor standpoint, you know, do you see that as an employee offering you a gift? You may think it's the worst gift in the world and that maybe it doesn't make sense for your farm. But from the employees perspective, they're coming to you with a gift. They're coming to you with an idea. So recognize that. You know, recognize that. And if it doesn't, if you don't think it works, you know, or even if you do, are you spending the time actually talking with them about that? Well, why do you think that would work here and how do you see that?

The response that we often see or hear from employees of, “Well, they really just don't want to hear what we have to say or suggest.” You're not going to get input if that's what your employees are thinking, if that's the message that you've relayed to them, intentionally or unintentionally. So, you know, are we encouraging thinking on the part of employees? So, you know, are you are you sending them to trainings? Are you, you know, saying, hey, let's read let's read this article and talk about, you know, the impacts for our farm. Could we do some of this on our farm? Or have you fallen into the trap of always needing to provide the next instruction to get the job done?

I was on a farm one time with some coworkers where we were talking to the producer and he clearly was not able to fully engage with us and have a conversation with us because out of the corner of his eye, he's watching a group of employees. And looking because from more conversation with him, we came to this assessment. He's looking for them to do the next wrong thing, you know, and what he needs to be looking out for, you know, So obviously, we don't want to fall into that trap. We want employees to be able to do their jobs. We want to feel comfortable that they are competent in their jobs. So encouraging employees to be thinking, I think is critical if we want them to be engaged. And then and then finally, you know, think of think of ways that you can, again, have that discussion with employees, new practices, new ideas, the training that they've been to, you know, just encouraging them, you know, to be always learning. And then, you know, would that work on our farm or the four most powerful words that I think you can say to an employee is, what do you think? And actually try to get some input back from them.

Oh, absolutely. We all want to feel like we have value and bringing some of our skills and experience forward to share with others is fulfilling. So, it's really creating a healthy work environment. And a big part of that, of course, like you said, are those relationships that people find that engage them to want to be motivated to get up every day and come ready to work. So as we think about farm culture, how can farm employers build that culture that encourages engagement and commitment to the farm success and completion of goals?

Sure. I think one of the things is making sure goals are clear and, you know, we can't just put them up on a board. We went to one farm that had a beautiful chart at the front end of the parlor where everybody could see how we were doing on milk quality. And in talking to the employees that are right there in the parlor, they didn't know what was on that board. So, we can't just throw it on a board. You know, we need to be talking about the goals on a regular basis. And then really important, we need to give our feedback to employees based on those goals. If we're not giving them feedback on the goals and how they're how they're doing, especially positive feedback in achieving those goals, then the goals really aren't that important. You've just put them on a board. That doesn't mean they're important unless you're talking about them. So and then again, you know, engage in their minds, asking, you know, actively encouraging learning and seeking input. As I said, I think those are two key areas that we can kind of build that culture of engagement.

Exactly.

It’s moments, It's catching them do something right. I say I say to employees, employers, because, you know, more and more we're putting cameras up around the farms for various security reasons and to see what animals are doing. And, you know, don't don't just use them to catch things that are going wrong, you know, catch things that are going right and give some positive feedback based on that.

Oh, yeah. Setting a positive tone to the day. So what can farmers and ranchers take from this study that may be helpful for successfully managing farm employees and developing that those healthy human resource management?

Well, one of the things that we saw as we looked at the data and worked with the farms is that, you know, not one farm was strong in every area. You know, there's always room for improvement. There are certain areas that everybody was weaker on and certain areas that we tend to be stronger on in agriculture. But, you know, I would say, you know, start with one thing. You know, employee leadership is not like other areas of management on the farm that we can get better if we, you know, strive to do so. And I think just those, you know, those initial steps will make a positive difference with your employees. So, you know, start by trying to improve one area and maybe it's providing more meaningful positive feedback to employees, especially those good employees that you may not give any feedback to because they're doing everything right. They need to hear from you, too. Of course, you might have to explain yourself a little bit because who is this guy or gal that I'm talking to now that's that's saying positive things. But, you know, tell them you're trying to, you know, change, become better at this. Maybe it's another area is getting to know your employees a little better. You know, you should know them by name. You should know something of their families. Um, and maybe again, it's asking that employee, you know, what do you think? Again, I think small progressive steps are going to yield results. And I think no matter where you're starting from, it's an area that you can improve at and grow as a leader on your farm.

Right? Personal growth, whether you're an employee or an employer, we all have room for personal growth. And I think that's so important to be honest with your employees that, you know, I'm not perfect either. And so this is a space where we can all feel comfortable in sharing and offering ideas as well as maybe some constructive remarks. Yeah. Such an interesting project, Stan. It certainly caught my eye as the somewhat female mediator on our farm, talk about a stress specialist. I can definitely see the benefits of this. Anything else you would like to add to the conversation?

No. I mean, we want to continue to help producers in this area. You know, we want to make sure that we're equipping them for for very productive farming life, but also for very, very sound mental health and being able to enjoy what we all enjoy about being on farms and and working in agriculture. So getting through those stressful times in a positive, in a positive way, making sure that we're building in some long term structures that are supportive. I think our goals of our program and we're looking forward to continuing that.

Oh, wonderful. Well, you definitely have earned your retirement. And what a nice piece of legacy you've left behind for those of us that are will work in farming and ranching until we can't anymore. But definitely you have made a wonderful impact for so many folks. And so thank you for all of your work the 30 some years and as an extension educator. And certainly I hope that retirement is treating you well and and you're off to another great adventure.

Thank you, Linda.

You're welcome.

Okay folks, that’s it for today. Thank you again for tuning in to another episode. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast to hear more from AgriSafe on the health and safety issues impacting agricultural workers. If you’d like to suggest topics, or have a story you’d like to share, contact us by email at INFO AT AGRISAFE DOT ORG, and title your email “T T F H Podcast.” You can also get our attention by using the hashtag "T T F H pod" on Twitter! To see more from AgriSafe, including webinars and our newsletter, visit w w w dot agrisafe dot org.

This episode was created by AgriSafe Network, directed by Laura Siegel, hosted Linda Emanuel, edited by Matt McKenney for ProPodcastingServices.com, with special guests Stan Moore and Dr. Remmington Rice!