FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The cost of employee turnover to a dairy operation is such that producers should strive to make the experiences of their new hires positive from day one, a farm management expert said last week.

For a dairy operation with 20 employees and a 10 percent annual turnover rate, the cost is $75,000-$90,000 a year, said Melissa O’Rourke, extension farm and agribusiness management specialist with Iowa State University. The calculation assumes workers make $10-$12 an hour.

Factored into those costs are a loss of productivity and investments in recruiting, hiring and employee training, she noted. Safety is also a concern, as turnover may result in the possibility of more accidents around the farm.

“One of the top challenges in farming is the difficulty in hiring and retaining qualified employees,” O’Rourke said.

“The cost of labor is the second greatest expense after feed. The more productive your labor is, the more productive your cows will be.” She spoke April 21 to attendees of the 24th annual Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference in Fort Wayne.

Employers have several responsibilities – both legal and practical – to their workers. Many times, employers have never worked off-farm so they may not be aware of all that is required of them, O’Rourke said. Legally, farm owners have an obligation regarding such items as federal and state withholding taxes, verifying worker eligibility and identification and complying with wage and overtime rules. Practically, producers should be aware of research showing many new employees decide fairly quickly – within the first six months – whether they want to stay in a job, she explained.

“Research from exit interviews shows workers left because of compensation and benefits, working conditions and lack of time off,” O’Rourke said. “Dairy producers should give due attention to those working conditions, communication and employee motivation. They need to look at how they can get started right with new workers. Without a good start on day one, all those (recruiting and hiring) efforts can quickly go down the drain.”

It’s important to make new workers as stress-free as possible, she stated, by having an orientation program that includes providing them with proper equipment and supplies, having their forms processed correctly, assigning a mentor and talking to them about the culture of the job.

A welcome lunch may also help ease tensions on an employee’s first day.

“Employers may wonder what difference an orientation program really makes,” O’Rourke said. “They were hired to do a job, and shouldn’t we get them working and productive as quickly as possible?”

She cited research showing an orientation session focusing on a new employee was more successful than one centered on the farm itself. In the first scenario, the employer talked about ways the worker might express their individuality. The worker’s individual strengths were highlighted and the new employee was given a shirt with his or her name on it.

In the latter situation, the producer stressed the benefits of working for the farm and asked new employees how they heard of the operation. Those workers were given shirts with the company name on them.

“Turnover in the second group was 47.2 percent higher than in the first,” O’Rourke explained. “In the first group, it was all about the worker. In the second, it was more about the company, the dairy farm.”

It might be beneficial to ask current employees about their orientation process to get an idea of how to improve, she noted. There are many things a producer should consider to help make those first few days go smoothly.

“Let them know what will happen on the first day and first week of the job,” she said. “Cover the basics, such as what time they should arrive, what they should wear, what equipment and clothing might be provided. Are they allowed to have their cell phones? Is the operation tobacco-free?

“Help them get their minds ready to learn and take in new information. Anything you can do to help reduce apprehension will really help.”