It's always beneficial to know if other dairies face the same labor challenges you do. While we strive to do our best for our employees, there are always opportunities for improvement. To help you do this, you need to listen to them. Collecting anonymous feedback is the most effective way to get the truth from the field.
One of my company’s most popular services is the ability to automatically collect anonymous employee feedback. Across all our farms, employees submitted thousands of comments voicing their opinions about their jobs. I've analyzed and condensed that feedback data to uncover the three most common complaints.
Look at your operation for these issues, and address them before they end up costing productivity, compliance fines or lawsuits.
1. Equipment and facilities
Workers frequently talk about whether the workplace actually functions as intended. This is a major recurring issue; not only can it affect safety, but it can also impact productivity. Here is a comment from a dairy worker:
“ … lack of maintenance on tractors and equipment.”
And there are many more like it. Damaged or old equipment is mentioned frequently, specifically on vehicles and implements – things like brake failures, lubrication issues, hitch problems, lighting, etc. Workers mentioned how there have been near misses where implements failed in a way that could have caused injury. Workers also frequently mentioned attempting to solve the issue themselves but needing more time or tools to do it properly.
Vehicles weren't the only equipment that concerned farm employees. They also mentioned that working surfaces like floors, stairs and ladders weren’t being maintained or cleaned. Slippery floors, spills, etc., in places like alleyways are natural, but those weren’t the places where complaints arose. Workers know those places are going to be slick; it’s safety issues in surprising places that need to be addressed.
Because facilities and equipment are tangible, workers are quick to recognize issues with them (especially ones that are impacting their efficiency). Those are often best solved not by policies but by capital improvements, and once fixed, they tend to stay fixed. Installing better lighting makes every worker more productive, and installing nonslip flooring is almost always cheaper than injury management (claims cost, administrative cost and workers' comp premium increase).
2. Co-worker behavior and safety culture
Employees repeatedly complained about how others are behaving in the workplace. They called out specific behaviors such as running, playing, mistreating animals or not taking rules seriously. For example:
“ … that co-workers don’t run or play around at work.”
This is less about policy and more about daily norms. I once heard that a company’s culture is what employees do when their boss isn’t looking. The handbook you have employees sign when they get hired isn’t remembered in the day-to-day work. It is critical to keep communicating expectations, especially around high-importance subjects like animal care and safety. We’ve seen this successfully executed by dairies through safety meetings, company-wide text messages and consistent discipline. Which brings us to the final category of complaints: leadership.
3. Supervision, being heard and fairness
Supervisors are critical to operations, but that positioning makes them a double-edged sword. Supervisors are also a major source of liability. Some complaints target supervisors directly, claiming that they do not listen to their employees' needs and do not proactively help employees who are having difficulty completing tasks. There are also, of course, allegations of favoritism. However, many complaints are indirectly talking about management; many workers want someone to notice problems and fix them. One worker said:
“We report issues, but nothing changes.”
From our data, farmworkers are looking for leaders in the field and in the parlor, and some managers are not fulfilling that role. That problem is further compounded when leaders are inconsistent. A commonly raised complaint is the perception of things being "unfair," that while they (the employee complaining) followed the rules, other employees were not disciplined for violating them. This tracks with what I've heard about discipline reporting: it is not used enough. This is a risk to the business because a well-documented history of coaching and discipline can help defend the company if things worsen. As hinted by the feedback, consistently applying discipline in the field will improve employee morale and engagement because everyone feels they are being treated fairly.
If you recognize some of these employee complaints, you are not alone. If some of these complaints are new to you, ask your workers if they consider them an issue but haven't said anything. This will demonstrate your proactive approach to listening to them and acting to improve their work lives. The result: better productivity, safety, employee retention and smoother operations.
