Staff Motivation

[curriej]

I understand motivating staff can be a big thing when you are on 3x milking as you have that many more people how do successful managers milking 3x a day motivate their staff to ensure work is getting done at the highest standard??

 

[RAF]

Big money

 

[farmboy]

I understand motivating staff can be a big thing when you are on 3x milking as you have that many more people how do successful managers milking 3x a day motivate their staff to ensure work is getting done at the highest standard??

I think some herdsman prefer 3x if separate night team in place as usually means an earlier finish than 2x and no night checks

 

[Hotspur]

I think some herdsman prefer 3x if separate night team in place as usually means an earlier finish than 2x and no night checks

Yes they sure do, I'm finished at 5 in afternoon on 3x milking, if we did 2x it would be 8pm at least.

 

[Kiss]

Big money

Not sure money would motivate me to milk 3x

 

[vinnie123]

Have more staff doing less hours is the answer on a large local dairy.

 

[Tonka]

Big money

As Jos Haynes, Economics lecturer at HAAC (pre HAUC) would often say, "money is not a motivator". The more money you pay is no guarantee to a higher standard of work. So true[emoji106]
Some sort of achievable and measurable targets?

 

[glasshouse]

Why would anyone milk 3 times a day?

 

[RAF]

Big money to night milkers

 

[dinderleat]

Good working environment involve them in decisions and ask their opinions. Ask their goals for the future.

 

[s line]

A thank you goes along way in my books.

 

[kiwi pom]

I understand motivating staff can be a big thing when you are on 3x milking as you have that many more people how do successful managers milking 3x a day motivate their staff to ensure work is getting done at the highest standard??

I assume you're the boss?
You set the culture and the standard by your actions, the first thing to do is make sure the things that you are asking them to do are the "highest standard".
Every 'boss' has their own idea on how a job should be done and how long it should take, some don't mind how you get to the end result as long as it's the result they want, some micro manage every step.
So do your staff know what is expected of them and what you are trying to achieve?

 

[serf]

Not sure money would motivate me to milk 3x

Money wouldn't motivate me to milk any time a day

 

[Ukjay]

What we found motivated people was to actually make time to do the job they are doing with them, because as Bosses, we often fall into the trap of not giving time to our teams because we are overloaded quite often. The best time I found to do this was in the unsociable hours periods showing them you are prepared to be with them doing what they are doing at any time of the day or night, talking with them, what they did / like doing etc, plus seeing if they had any ideas on how to improve the current methods.

Oh, and a good one we found was, if you sense someone is a bit low in mood, turn up unexpected on a sh!t shift with a cake / pack of doughnuts and telling the person to go and have a break, cup of coffeee and put their feet up - and you covering them. You'd be suprised how well that goes down for good employees..

 

[Kiss]

Joking aside

when I was at uni a friend did night milking for a very good operation I went a few times over the year saw the farm owner a couple times maybe but the one thing that sticks in my head is when you did see him he always made a brew!

 

[Sandpit Farm]

When I was milking 3x/day, the third milking was priced at £60 (about 3 hours work for one person). It was a standalone cost and all staff had the opportunity to earn that over and above a standard salary. Actually two reliefs generally covered it all as the staff were happier to start at 4.30am and finish at 3pm or start at 3am and finish at 2pm (if early milking).

Night milkers would:
- check calving pens
- set up the parlour
- Get the first group into the yard and clean off the back of beds
- push feed up (tractor on one shed and just a squeegee on the other shed)
- Milk the first group
- Get the second group up and clean beds
- Milk the second group
- Open all gates so cows can refill all cubicles
- clean parlour down and start wash
- Check calving pens again before going home... notes on blackboard for morning milkers

I reckon if you set out protocols for all of this. Any competent person with a brain can learn to do it. They'd get £20ish per hour for doing it. No risk of Antibiotics as red cows would only be milked x2.

 

[deleted user 837354]

When I was milking 3x/day, the third milking was priced at £60 (about 3 hours work for one person). It was a standalone cost and all staff had the opportunity to earn that over and above a standard salary. Actually two reliefs generally covered it all as the staff were happier to start at 4.30am and finish at 3pm or start at 3am and finish at 2pm (if early milking).

Night milkers would:
- check calving pens
- set up the parlour
- Get the first group into the yard and clean off the back of beds
- push feed up (tractor on one shed and just a squeegee on the other shed)
- Milk the first group
- Get the second group up and clean beds
- Milk the second group
- Open all gates so cows can refill all cubicles
- clean parlour down and start wash
- Check calving pens again before going home... notes on blackboard for morning milkers

I reckon if you set out protocols for all of this. Any competent person with a brain can learn to do it. They'd get £20ish per hour for doing it. No risk of Antibiotics as red cows would only be milked x2.

That sounds great but £60 and I would have to drive to and from your farm, maybe some distance so the economics of it won't work for me. I would sooner do two milking's in a day and go home but I'd want more than £60 a throw.

 

[s line]

What we found motivated people was to actually make time to do the job they are doing with them, because as Bosses, we often fall into the trap of not giving time to our teams because we are overloaded quite often. The best time I found to do this was in the unsociable hours periods showing them you are prepared to be with them doing what they are doing at any time of the day or night, talking with them, what they did / like doing etc, plus seeing if they had any ideas on how to improve the current methods.

Oh, and a good one we found was, if you sense someone is a bit low in mood, turn up unexpected on a sh!t shift with a cake / pack of doughnuts and telling the person to go and have a break, cup of coffeee and put their feet up - and you covering them. You'd be suprised how well that goes down for good employees..

Have you got any work going?

You made my day with that. I was having a crap day today.

 

[Jdunn55]

That sounds great but £60 and I would have to drive to and from your farm, maybe some distance so the economics of it won't work for me. I would sooner do two milking's in a day and go home but I'd want more than £60 a throw.

But remember for some young people, they're on £60 for an "entire days" work. An entire day being 9-5 with an hours worth of breaks (so 7 hours total), they dont like getting up early but are usually awake at that time anyway and would probably rather do 3 hours work as opposed to 7

 

[deleted user 837354]

But remember for some young people, they're on £60 for an "entire days" work. An entire day being 9-5 with an hours worth of breaks (so 7 hours total), they dont like getting up early but are usually awake at that time anyway and would probably rather do 3 hours work as opposed to 7

Fudge that. Exploiting young people, either pay them properly or forget it.