How to attract and retain quality staff

In the spirit of National Agricultural Day (18 November), we chat with key players in the red meat industry about their top tips for attracting and retaining quality staff, cementing your agribusiness as an ‘employer of choice’.    

Danielle Lannin England

Consultant at AgInnovate

South Australian producer and workplace consultant, Danielle Lannin England, sees the red meat industry as an ideal place for career development.

“It’s an innovative, exciting industry – animal health, welfare, production, genetics, technology and pastures are just some of the pathways on offer,” Danielle said.

Despite this, she has firsthand experience of the challenges around attracting and retaining staff, particularly post-COVID, where staff shortages have added to the pressure. Speaking at the recent MLA-sponsored Thriving Women Conference in SA, she emphasised the importance of creating workplaces where people are valued and given a clear career path.

“We’re recognising the importance of retention – keep in touch with people on the books and help them plan a career trajectory,” Danielle said.

The industry’s reliance on a migrant and backpacker workforce has left a marked hole in supply since COVID closed the borders.

“Migration is only sitting at 10–15% of normal levels and we have suddenly hit the stress of not having enough labour,” Danielle said.

However, as international workers and backpackers start to trickle back in this summer, she believes the industry is in a much better position than last year.

On top of supply issues, a lack of skilled workers means employers need to invest in staff training, particularly for those without a farming background.

“While the Pacific Island scheme can plug the gap in places like meat works where staff can be quickly trained to perform a set number of tasks, farm workers require a much wider range of skills including livestock handling, animal husbandry, tractor driving, motorbike riding and so on,” Danielle said.

Retaining the right staff

As Danielle argues, retaining staff is cheaper than rehiring.

“The more energy we put into retaining staff, the better off we’ll be. It comes down to the culture you have on-farm.

“We know that, globally, farming employees like variety in their job and their day. They like independence and being given a job and seeing it through,” Danielle said.

Research from New Zealand, Ireland and America has shown that key requirements to ensure staff retention are:

• variety
• independence
• fun
• feeling they’ve done a good job.

“We know that if we have someone who takes pride in their work and is intrinsically motivated, they are the types we want to keep,” Danielle said.

She recommends creating a business culture that reflects these requirements.  

“Give staff the option to help structure their week. Thank them and tell them when they’ve done well. Say to them, ‘Those lambs or steers have put on weight, you’ve done a great job’.

“Notice the little things – it’s what people take pride in,” Danielle said.

Most of all, Danielle says employers should be professional and model the behaviour and work ethic they expect of their staff.

“Say good morning with a smile. If you wear grotty old clothes and grump at them about what has to be done, the sheds are a pigsty and the utes don’t start, people will look elsewhere,” Danielle said.

Shane Dunn

Director of AgPathAus and CEO at Kimberley Agriculture and Pastoral Company

As a WA station manager and a member of committees for various industry bodies such as the Kimberley & Pilbara Cattleman’s Association, Shane is keenly aware of the challenges of staff retention – particularly within remote northern beef operations.

Challenges he sights include retaining young people and a lack of investment in infrastructure such as housing to enable good people to make a life within the industry.

“We promote a fun gap year or two and then we lose them. We need to rethink what we’re doing and provide a clear career path.

“As a jackeroo in 1980 at Brunette, I recall a leading hand could set up a life for his family and be given a house, but these days, even a head stockman finds it hard to get those privileges,” Shane said.

Despite the steady influx of seasonal workers post-COVID, Shane says skills shortages remain an issue.

“Backpackers and unskilled migrants may fill a certain gap but it’s not helping us much – most of our roles require training and experience,” Shane said.

Identifying skills gaps

Shane says the ability to map skill sets at an individual and team level can help employers identify areas needing development.

AgPathAus offers a skills-based assessment tool that helps identify the competency level of the employee against the role. This allows employers and staff to identify where training budgets can be utilised to the best effect, improving both the business team and the employee.

“Self-assessments and a Supervisor assessment against a role are used to create a graph, showing where your team sits – they might have impressive livestock skills but need some training with machinery or some work in the Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) space,” Shane said.

The platform also allows employees to store their CV, training records, licences and so on, in a secure, cloud-based system. Career path development is documented and is available to the employee for life.

Daily check-ins

On-farm, one of Shane’s improvements to the station’s WHS is the daily toolbox sheet.

It’s a simple one-page document that is used by the lead for the day with the team.

“All names are written in, jobs explained, risks and PPE verified, any broken or damaged items reported and then signed off. It takes literally 10 minutes, provides clarity for the crew and gives us an auditable paper trail,” Shane said.