Attracting employees in agriculture. (contracting)

bigrigg150 said:

Any advice? Alot of guys having sales and giving up the ag contracting game. We don't plan on doing that and have a healthy business doing predominantly grass silage for dairy farms, slurry pumping/spreading and ag construction work.
Happy to pay good wages for good people.
I have friends and family who work for local big cement works, chemical factory's etc that work all sorts of fancy shift patterns.... 4 days on 4 days off etc etc and overtime after so many hours or on weekends etc. i am not against trying any of that but wouldn't know how to do it.
Basically i want to bring being employed by an agri contractor into the modern ways of the world.
Any body doing it already? on farms or contractors?

At the moment......it sounds a bit harsh.....but i feel we just get all the erm.....leftovers of staff.....if you sort of get what i mean.

Any tips for attracting, keeping and encouraging staff appreciated
thankyou

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If you want to attract and keep good staff instead of paying a new team of kids mad for the craic every year, you need enough work to keep them on full time, employed all year. Holidays, sick pay, pensions etc.
I'd go flat rate, but some might prefer basic plus overtime.
If you want them to stay you have to make it a place where they can grow over time, earn enough for a mortgage, start a family, and be financially secure etc. That probably means that you have to be a bit flexible with work hours too, you can't just say, sorry the suns out, I know it's your weekend off, but you have to come in. That's fine for casual staff but not full timers who are busy all year, they have a life outside of work.

Personally I think a cap on the number of hours you work in a day is a good idea, say no more than 15 so if you start at 6am you know you're finished no later than 9pm. Regular time off is important for any family too not just the employee, you have to have a life.
I never minded setting my own limits, knocking off when I thought I'd done enough but being forced to stay on a job all night just because we were behind was a big no in my book.
Others will have a completely different view.

On the other hand, if it's just seasonal flat out today, p*ss off home tomorrow work, advertise in Ireland for a bunch of Grassmen types, self-employed tenner an hour with some basic accommodation in the yard, mad for hours.
Then get a whole new team for next year.

DRC said:

Are there that many farmers/ sons looking for work these days, and if there Are and they have any sense they won’t clock up hours and wear out their own machines for peanuts. A chap has moved in locally and thought he’d easily pick up a farmers son to help him part time , but is still looking .
And I’d be surprised if many would commit to 3-4 years if they get to choose a colour of tractor as the ones I know seem to have bust ups at least once a season

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Surprising how many want to drive tractors on weekends because they love tractors, they earn there main wage doing jobs they dont really like and have worked on farms or for contractors in there younger days. I dont hear of many bust ups tbh , its usually a driver gets to an age where they want more of a family life but ends up doing odd days because they love it. Alot of dealer mechanics love to drive kit on weekends and evenings too.

We worked for a chap and he asked us to start at 7 am and work until 7 pm and even when things got busy he never said a word except goodnight if you went home at 7 but because of this nobody ever really went home at 7 and we all pulled together

So the way I see it from personal experience is your always going to struggle for good staff flow in the future
I'm 29 and over the last few years myself and other (committed full timers) are being driven nuts by workers that drag their arses, show up hungover, don't want to commit when the time calls for it and want to live on their phones.
The younger generation just don't want it, not all of them, there are a very small handful of young men and women that really graft their arses off but they are difficult to find and often get taken for a ride and get underpaid so wont stay long in one place.

I'm self employed and try to spread my work over 3-4 businesses that are all very different in how they work, rates of pay, staff management, machinery run ect...

As I progress with work I do like to ensure I'm valued for the effort I put in, the wide variety of work I will take on and I know from talking to a variety of different individuals working on farms, for contractors ect... they want the same

A good rate of pay these days I know can be difficult for some farming businesses to meet but you must understand that these individuals are sacrificing their time, putting pressure on their bodies, working hard to keep a business running that isn't theirs so a respectable rate of may must be met.

Along with that a positive working environment is essential, keeping staff moral up is a must, even if its just getting the team together for a brew in the morning to have a little banter, talk about topics that don't just revolve around work and that can include all the team members.

Plenty of thanks and acknowledgement to those who are working hard and going out of their way will mean a lot to them,

I'm in no way saying your not doing any of this and don't want you to think I'm coming across that way, these are just things I've picked up from others points of view and things that ive seen that work for the majority

Give everyone a chance but dont keep cowboys as they wont respect you, your business, your equipment or customers and like others have said, idiots and cowboys push good staff away

hope it works out in the long run

Mc115reed said:

Iv worked for plenty of contractors over the last 15 years and I couldn’t think of anything worse than “shift patterns” … the best way too do it is talk too the staff and manage your work too what they want, then you’ll keep them happy… personally I wanted all the hours I could get on a flat rate, over time was a killer because by wednsday evening I was getting “come back too the yard I’ll send someone too take you off I’m not paying you overtime” .. don’t be a massive pr*ck because these lads give there life up for your business .. I’d sooner earn less dosh and work for a sound bloke who will work around me than earn loads of money working for a knobhead

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Post of the thread we do daft hours but if I said to my boss I need to go early or I need a day off short notice he wouldn’t bat an eyelid he would work around it, same with all the boys that we have.
we go the extra mile because of the way we are treated which to me is worth more than going elsewhere for a pound or 2 more and a pr*ck of a boss

I know several contractors who don't seem to ever look back. No doom and gloom as on this thread.

Large fleets, multiple businesses in one. Often haulage or construction or civil engineering or the like with ag contracting mixed in. Seem to employ guys that are literally able to turn their hands to anything and all paid very good money by all accounts and give them enough hours in the winter months even when farming is pretty flat. Not many days you see everything parked up, usually machines going somewhere, diggers, dump trailer or the umbilical is out or tankers instead.

Top notch equipment always used, kit rotated around, I presume rates must be for more pragmatic than what is often quoted on TFF but boy their lads know how to work hard and there sure are some hours put on kit in any given season.

I guess the trick of it is to know what drives guys to come to work and stay there. It's surely as unique as the next man.

kiwi pom said:

If you want to attract and keep good staff instead of paying a new team of kids mad for the craic every year, you need enough work to keep them on full time, employed all year. Holidays, sick pay, pensions etc.
I'd go flat rate, but some might prefer basic plus overtime.
If you want them to stay you have to make it a place where they can grow over time, earn enough for a mortgage, start a family, and be financially secure etc. That probably means that you have to be a bit flexible with work hours too, you can't just say, sorry the suns out, I know it's your weekend off, but you have to come in. That's fine for casual staff but not full timers who are busy all year, they have a life outside of work.

Personally I think a cap on the number of hours you work in a day is a good idea, say no more than 15 so if you start at 6am you know you're finished no later than 9pm. Regular time off is important for any family too not just the employee, you have to have a life.
I never minded setting my own limits, knocking off when I thought I'd done enough but being forced to stay on a job all night just because we were behind was a big no in my book.
Others will have a completely different view.

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Interesting is this, I have to say that I agree with most of it (as an employer, but also as a past employee and as a hard working family man with kids)

In peak times we work on a 14hr maximum day - which in practice is 7-21:00 in summer and 6-20:00 on the spuds. Thats 100hrs a week near enough, which is plenty day in day out. There are odd days when we'll run a bit later, if it means that we'll get a field finished before rain or allow a move in the damp the next morning, but that will only be a day or two a season.

One headache over the years is commumnication. Some staff will moan to their colleagues but seldom say anything to the gaffer - the one that can change things. We're not pyschic!
If someone wants a day off, and gives me a bit of notice, I'll move heaven and earth to make it happen if at all possible. If someone asks one morning if they can finish at lunchtime and we're busy, then I'm sorry, but its a no - I do not have a magic wand.

If you're hungry, eat. If you're tired, rest. If you have an issue, tell me, then I can sort it.

Food is an interesting one. If I'm hard out on a machine with the team, I can't go running round with grub for everyone. If part of the team is in the yard, part in the field and part on the road, then its difficult getting hot food round everyone while its still hot - that and some people have different tastes. That said though, on a hot day I might call for some ice lollies, or if we're in the yard servicing on a wet Saturday morning, I might nip and get some bacon & sausage sarnies or something.

If someone needs something though, they need to say, and I'll do my best to make it happen.

J.T.Agri said:

So the way I see it from personal experience is your always going to struggle for good staff flow in the future
I'm 29 and over the last few years myself and other (committed full timers) are being driven nuts by workers that drag their arses, show up hungover, don't want to commit when the time calls for it and want to live on their phones.
The younger generation just don't want it, not all of them, there are a very small handful of young men and women that really graft their arses off but they are difficult to find and often get taken for a ride and get underpaid so wont stay long in one place.

I'm self employed and try to spread my work over 3-4 businesses that are all very different in how they work, rates of pay, staff management, machinery run ect...

As I progress with work I do like to ensure I'm valued for the effort I put in, the wide variety of work I will take on and I know from talking to a variety of different individuals working on farms, for contractors ect... they want the same

A good rate of pay these days I know can be difficult for some farming businesses to meet but you must understand that these individuals are sacrificing their time, putting pressure on their bodies, working hard to keep a business running that isn't theirs so a respectable rate of may must be met.

Along with that a positive working environment is essential, keeping staff moral up is a must, even if its just getting the team together for a brew in the morning to have a little banter, talk about topics that don't just revolve around work and that can include all the team members.

Plenty of thanks and acknowledgement to those who are working hard and going out of their way will mean a lot to them,

I'm in no way saying your not doing any of this and don't want you to think I'm coming across that way, these are just things I've picked up from others points of view and things that ive seen that work for the majority

Give everyone a chance but dont keep cowboys as they wont respect you, your business, your equipment or customers and like others have said, idiots and cowboys push good staff away

hope it works out in the long run

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Bob on

Some self employed people set their rate at a level that restricts their hours somewhat, due to the value offered. By that I mean that a restricted set of skills doesn't justify a strong rate, but they don't realise that if they were a bit more negotiable, then they'd get more opportunities to learn new skills that would subsequently justify better money. Some folk deliver value much greater than their wage, and unfortunately some are the opposite.

Question. As a contractor, what qualifies you to be a competent and skilled people manager?

Many of us are accidental managers, and we get the outcomes you would expect from someone who doesn’t really understand what they are trying to achieve

Ive often thought that the most important thing we should have been taught at college (but weren’t) was how to manage / motivate and deal with employees. It’s the most difficult part of the job whatever industry you are in

Difficult to motivate myself, never mind others!

There doesn't really seem to be a desire to work anymore, this applies to all industries not just agriculture.

Don't know if it's because it's cheap to borrow money or the government pays the unemployed well.

Read a statistic recently that 20% of those out of work aren't actively seeking employment.

I posted elsewhere about my accountant struggling for staff,he said they come do a three day week but want paying for five..

Spud said:

Bob on

Some self employed people set their rate at a level that restricts their hours somewhat, due to the value offered. By that I mean that a restricted set of skills doesn't justify a strong rate, but they don't realise that if they were a bit more negotiable, then they'd get more opportunities to learn new skills that would subsequently justify better money. Some folk deliver value much greater than their wage, and unfortunately some are the opposite.

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So you’re saying you won’t give someone a chance to try something new because they charge £1 or £2 a hour more than someone else? Surly you can tell which individual would benefit your business better learning the new skill not just the individual who is £10 a day less to pay?

benny6910 said:

So you’re saying you won’t give someone a chance to try something new because they charge £1 or £2 a hour more than someone else? Surly you can tell which individual would benefit your business better learning the new skill not just the individual who is £10 a day less to pay?

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Where exactly did I say that?

You've got very much the wrong end of the stick there Benny lad

Its about value not cost.

Some people need constant supervision and have a very limited skillset but charge a high rate = lower value than someone who charges the same but retains information and has a wide capability and low supervison requirement.

If both were paid £x/hr, the first one would deliver y benefit, the second probably 3 times y benefit. Therefore, anyone running a business would prioritise the first one, and the second would get less work. If the second dropped their rate a bit while they learned a few more skills, they'd get more opportunity and more work - essentially becoming more employable in the process. If they choose not to do this, then they'd tend to get the simple basic tasks, and then only at very peak times.

COVID has a lot to answer for. Broke the work cycle for many. Getting paid to stay at home. Wife says same with school children. Don't think it's essential to go now.

When I were a lad if you wanted something you worked for It! See 17 year olds with brand new cars! Worlds changed.

Chae1 said:

Difficult to motivate myself, never mind others!

There doesn't really seem to be a desire to work anymore, this applies to all industries not just agriculture.

Don't know if it's because it's cheap to borrow money or the government pays the unemployed well.

Read a statistic recently that 20% of those out of work aren't actively seeking employment.

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I'm not sure that everyone in that 20% would benefit from working or companies would benefit from them either. Some people have long term health conditions and just can't do it.

Chae1 said:

COVID has a lot to answer for. Broke the work cycle for many. Getting paid to stay at home. Wife says same with school children. Don't think it's essential to go now.

When I were a lad if you wanted something you worked for It! See 17 year olds with brand new cars! Worlds changed.

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Boils my p1ss now to see so many doing absolutely nothing and getting everything handed on a plate paid for by those knocking their pan in.

hoff135 said:

Boils my p1ss now to see so many doing absolutely nothing and getting everything handed on a plate paid for by those knocking their pan in.

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3 local hotels been bought by Indian chap.

Closing them down and filling them with asylum seekers.

Glad our taxes are spent so wisely.

Got to ask ourselves, who are the daft ones. Easier keeping them than livestock I'm sure.

bigrigg150 said:

Any advice? Alot of guys having sales and giving up the ag contracting game. We don't plan on doing that and have a healthy business doing predominantly grass silage for dairy farms, slurry pumping/spreading and ag construction work.
Happy to pay good wages for good people.
I have friends and family who work for local big cement works, chemical factory's etc that work all sorts of fancy shift patterns.... 4 days on 4 days off etc etc and overtime after so many hours or on weekends etc. i am not against trying any of that but wouldn't know how to do it.
Basically i want to bring being employed by an agri contractor into the modern ways of the world.
Any body doing it already? on farms or contractors?

At the moment......it sounds a bit harsh.....but i feel we just get all the erm.....leftovers of staff.....if you sort of get what i mean.

Any tips for attracting, keeping and encouraging staff appreciated
thankyou

Click to expand...

All about work life balance now, Flexi-time, job share, 9-day fortnights, 4-day weeks, 4&2, 6&3, - none of it any use for the farming calendar.

To get & keep good people you need to identify the correct people initially, create an equally valued team orientated environment with a structured hierarchy to aid progression & to train the individuals correctly, (only need 1x knob in a team for it to fail) incentivise the work, i.e small bonuses to encourage top workmanship, no damage incurred over a set time period, work completed incident free on time or before scheduled, labour, time or money saving ideas etc (Might be monetary, a meal out or just a Friday teatime beer session when the weather allows), make them think, ensure they have achievable goals, empower/give people as much responsibility as they want as they progress, this will make them feel worthy. over all make them want to come to work not dread it
Most of the modern day young team are subsidised by their parents.
This has bred a generation of largely disinterested people.
Every industry has the same issues attracting staff, no-one wants to work, never mind perform physical work - you need only look at the obesity statistics.