Tasmanian Dairy Conference

October 2008

The People in Dairy

To be more competitive we need to have:

• Farms attracting & retaining people they need

• Compliance with legal requirements • Increased farm profitability through a more efficient and productive workforce

best practice on people management

What are the symptoms of a farm with people problems:

• tired owners and operators• good staff leaving• no time to pursue interests off farm• inability to do everything on time• lower profitability• disinclination to expand the business• early exit from industry

The three key principles of TPID

• designing the farm around people rather than trying to get people to fit the farm

• finding the right people to put into clearly defined roles and responsibilities

• building effective working relations among the team

To get the best people outcomes – the hierarchy:

Does the farm have a strategic vision which is matched appropriately with the limitations of external environment and stakeholder expectations (milk price, location relative to resources, farm systems model, profitability)?

Does the farm have the resources available to achieve its business goals (adequate equity and funds, business skills, infrastructure, stock, machinery, access to feed and water)?

Has the farm established what is to be done, why it is done and how and when it is done (documented the farm business policies, its operational plan and operating manuals)?

Have the individual titles, position descriptions, amount and time of work required been determined (e.g herd manager, detailed tasks and responsibilities, hours of work)?

Are the right people doing the right jobs (recruitment and assignment to appropriate positions, training, development)

Is there effective teamwork, leadership, communication(planned process to work as a team in the right direction)?

The vision of the farm business

The business resources

Policies, procedures, and protocols

Roles, responsibilities and roster

The people

Working together

How important will people be to the future of the Tasmanian Dairy Industry

• Farms are too big now for only family members to run them. Already 2 out of 3 farms employ non family members

• Businesses will not be able to grow if they do not get the people issues right

What can the Tasmanian Dairy Industry do about this:

• have farm managers/owners competent in human resource management• operate simple farming systems• know the keys to having satisfied staff• build an effective team• reward people for their efforts

What is the TPID approach to people issues?:

• identify where the farm business is• define where it wants to be• plan how to get there• implement the plan

Things we have been doing:

• Information and templates www.thepeopleindairy.org.au

• Skilling-up advisers

• Workforce planning and careers promotion