Finding the right person

[Cows 'n grass]

How do you interview people for livestock jobs? Do you do a practical interview to see if they are any good with stock?

I don't have a great track record on this. I took someone on last year just as a very short term role, I had very low hopes they would be any good and I was 100% wrong, she is now housed and in a salaried role and a key part of the business.

Conversely I took someone on this summer who was perfect on paper and seemed really keen but was 100% useless and quit this morning giving zero notice.

When you are offering housing it's very hard to give people a trial.

Does anyone do a practical interview or involve other staff in the interview process to guage their opinions?

 

[dinderleat]

References are key, but agree it’s bloody difficult. Best bet is just poach a good employee locally.

 

[HarryB97]

Some one fairly local so you can gather all the truth direct from the mouths of friends and past bosses is the only way. As nice as it is to work with great people staff are mainly a huge cost and hassle I would rather avoid.

 

[vantage]

@Grassman247 must have good experience of this as I think he has a few staff.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Some one fairly local so you can gather all the truth direct from the mouths of friends and past bosses is the only way. As nice as it is to work with great people staff are mainly a huge cost and hassle I would rather avoid.

They may well be a huge cost but they're also an absolutely essential part of growing a business and trying to maintain a life and family.

 

[Llmmm]

They may well be a huge cost but they're also an absolutely essential part of growing a business and trying to maintain a life and family.

I allways think that staff should be treated as business partner how many people bring there staff with them to buy a new machine or tractor i was once going holidays and part time milker said he couldnt milk for the week the night before however he got his dad to milk thats what i call good staff.

 

[Grassman247]

@Grassman247 must have good experience of this as I think he has a few staff.

Yes we have 11 people and every single one of them is superb.

Some of my criteria is they need some stability, family, marriage or long term partner

If there going to live in one of your houses non smoking preferably, it’s banned by law in most places on the farm anyway these days

And they need at least 2 references that you can ring and speak too.

We have been slowly trying to setup taking on a young person and providing them with a flat in the local village. I know there will probably be 1 good one to 20 bad ones but people really underestimate what value good quality people add to a business. So if we do find one at least we can mould them into what we want and hopefully give them opportunities.

This is all coming from someone who at one point felt like selling the cows because they were struggling to find good people.

 

[Rossymons]

Paul Harris at Real Success could be worth speaking to. I've spoken to him in the past about recruitment and people management and thought he was excellent.

 

[multi power]

References are key, but agree it’s bloody difficult. Best bet is just poach a good employee locally.

Who do you get references from ?

 

[dinderleat]

Who do you get references from ?

Previous employer is a good start.

 

[Beef farmer]

@Cows 'n grass how does the member in your dg manage with 8 dairys? Where do they find people?

 

[multi power]

Previous employer is a good start.

It isn't legal to say something negative in a proper formal reference, therefore I'd consider it not worth the paper it's written on.
An informal off the record chat however I think would be very useful

 

[puppet]

Perfectly OK to give negative views as long as they are true and balanced. Worse to give a glowing reference which is a lie just to move someone on.
Speak to NFU about some questions and what you would expect as a trial. Or a dairy farmer who seems to keep their staff. Might even be one on TFF.
Future behaviour can usually be anticipated by past history. Don't be scared to ask a straight but polite question - why did you leave your last 2 jobs, were there issues with the house, were you left to work alone. Think of a few areas which have been a problem -how would they react.
A trial of 2 days where they have to work with others will give you some feedback.

 

[buffalo_soldier]

Might need to be a bit cautious on the reference front.

When my wife returned to work all the references she put down rang her up to see if she would be interested in going back to work for to them.

 

[Beef farmer]

It isn't legal to say something negative in a proper formal reference, therefore I'd consider it not worth the paper it's written on.
An informal off the record chat however I think would be very useful

If anyone says "I'd rather not say" you can read into that fairly well

 

[C.J]

The Reverend Gilbert Yarde of Whiteway,Kingsteignton was murdered in 1783 because of the reference he had given.

The lazy gardener he had sacked , asked for a reference , so he might work for another learned gentleman.

Gilbert wrote in latin - Gone from me and fit for no man

 

[jackrussell101]

We've been looking for about 35 years

 

[Princess Pooper]

It isn't legal to say something negative in a proper formal reference, therefore I'd consider it not worth the paper it's written on.
An informal off the record chat however I think would be very useful

we've had several prospective employers phone up about students who have named us as a referee. Always happy to do.

 

[Tim G]

I've had an employer refuse to give me a written reference on the basis that he wasn't allowed to write anything negative and he didn't want to lie. Wasn't overly amused by this as I started working there when I left school, did my time at college, returned to his farm during college breaks and throughout my last year of college, and then full time taking on more and more responsibility and eventually we ended up with a small business together. After fifteen years he couldn't think of anything positive to say about me.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

@Cows 'n grass how does the member in your dg manage with 8 dairys? Where do they find people?

I think he has quite a few through LKL and being a known figure in the industry probably helps him attract more candidates.

He also seems takes on quite a few young people on the home farm then as soon as they're good enough he buys them a farm.