Wednesday, 03 March 2021 09:55

Put people first

Written by  Staff Reporters
DWN chief executive Jules Benton says putting people first drives a healthy business. DWN chief executive Jules Benton says putting people first drives a healthy business.

A series of workshops on putting people first on dairy farms get underway next week.

The ‘Make time for your People’ is being run by Dairy Women’s Network.

DWN chief executive Jules Benton says putting people first drives a healthy business.

She says farmers must attract and retain talent, and continue to grow the people in the industry.

The free workshops are funded by New Zealand dairy farmers through the DairyNZ levy and align with Dairy Tomorrow Strategy commitment on “building great workplaces for New Zealand’s most talented workforce”.

“It does not always require big changes to build a great workplace, but small changes that make a difference,” says Benton.

The workshops will provide an overview of how to be a good employee or employer and the steps each can take. Representatives from No8HR and PaySauce will discuss the legalities of contracts, rosters and farm accommodation, while Rebecca Miller, MilkIQ, will provide insight into the concept of Farmily and what both employers and employees can do in order to achieve increased staff engagement and retention.

“In our own experience we wanted to provide an environment where we were consciously protecting each team member’s physical self, and emotional or psychological self,” says Miller about how the concept was developed. Providing a safe environment for employees and strengthening those relationships has seen multiple benefits for the Millers and their farm outputs. “Farmily is truly life changing as we have a stable environment where we have built trust, low or no turnover of staff, low farm working expenses and highly performing farms.”

A series of webinars will follow each workshop and provide attendees with detailed resources for each topic. Attendees can pick and choose what webinars to watch according to their interest or level of need.

The aim is that the full series will provide employers and employees with the knowledge to achieve their business, team and farm goals.

DWN says connection, communication and engagement of people are three vital aspects for the growth of any business.

“Building trust with your team is important not only for the people but also for the future and longevity of the industry,” says Benton.

“People are at the epicentre of any business, and communication remains an essential tool to develop strong working relations. We would love to see farm managers and owners attending the events with their teams, or utilising the flexibility of the webinars and watching them together.”

The first workshop will be held in Matamata on 8th March followed by events in Ashburton, Winton, Whangarei, Dannevirke and Stratford.

More like this

Featured

Australia develops first local mRNA FMD vaccine

Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.

NZ household food waste falls again

Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.

Editorial: No joking matter

OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.

National

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

Machinery & Products

Leader balers arrive in NZ

Officially launched at the National Fieldays event in June, the Leader in-line conventional PRO 1900 balers are imported and distributed…

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Full cabinet

OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter