Hiring processes that work: A new employee’s perspective

As the newest member of the Vita Plus youngstock nutrition team and the most recent returning member to my family dairy, here are some best practices for hiring and inspiring your calf team from the eyes of a young professional.

1. Define your “why.”

• What are your farm values and goals?
• Why do you do what you do?

The answers to these two questions can help you determine what positions and skill sets are needed. This also promotes workforce engagement and camaraderie as employees want to know how to contribute to a greater mission.

2. Be intentional in your job description.

Ask yourself a series of questions and format your job description to answer them. These questions should help you ruminate on the potential onboarding process for the new employee.

• What are the daily tasks that will be expected for this position?
• How will these tasks be communicated and trained?
• What set of technical and soft skills would best serve the position?
• What level of experience should someone bring into the position?
• What level of support are you expecting this person to need?

Also include the “nuts and bolts” that many potential hires look for in determining work-life balance. Compensation, benefits, potential work schedule, and vehicle or housing programs are a few examples.

The Penn State Extension Job Description Generator for the Dairy Industry can be a helpful tool for this process. If you anticipate having applicants who speak a different language than you, work to eliminate the language barrier in all parts of the hiring process.

3. Interview wisely.

Interviews are essential to team development. Be prepared with a consistent set of situational and ideological questions that will demonstrate the abilities and experiences a potential employee could bring to your team.

• You’re the new calf manager at a dairy. Describe your ideal calf-feeding program.
• Explain a scenario where you noticed signs of illness in calf during feeding. What steps did you take to ensure its care?
• Provide an example of a time when you streamlined tasks in the calf management process.

In addition, ask questions that directly relate to the job description, including experience working with dairy youngstock, details on previous roles and what they are looking to gain in this new position. Consider in advance any “red flags” that signal a candidate is not the right fit. Reflect on your past workforce experiences or farm values as a guide.

4. Identify skills, strengths and styles.

Before hiring and onboarding, take the time to better understand the person behind the resumé.

• You notice your potential hire tends to lean on their feelings when under pressure. How will you offer encouragement during a tough bout of calf illness?
• You interview a candidate whose eyes light up when talking about the numbers and data behind your operation. What tasks might they find most fulfilling and engaging as the manager of your heifer-raising facility?

It’s also important to consider the more technical skills:

• Are they already trained in aspects of calf raising?
• Do they have specialized skills that would benefit your operation?

To discern these skills, reach out to references and ask specific situational questions. Especially in a strong job market, the potential employee is interviewing you as much as you are interviewing them. They can better visualize themselves in the job if you verbally acknowledge their skills, point out how they can contribute to farm goals, and show you care about how they fit your team and culture.

5. Onboard with clarity.

Once a candidate has accepted your offer, your next critical step is onboarding and training. An often-overlooked task, onboarding is essential for employee success and engagement. Here are a few key components I’ve found helpful as a new employee:

• A farm or business orientation: Introduce the farm demographics, key personnel and their roles, farm values and facility layout. Describe the importance of their role in the bigger picture of the operation. Consider safety training and animal-handling clinics for all new employees.
• General calf management: Walk through day-to-day calf tasks, highlighting areas of top priority. These may include colostrum delivery, equipment sanitation, feeding, and detecting and treating sick calves. Verbal and written protocols should be provided in a form that is useful to the employee. Explaining the “why” behind protocols emphasizes their importance. Expect to go through processes multiple times before an employee is self-sufficient.
• Ongoing support and feedback: Set clear expectations and create a safe space for good communication. How often would you like them to communicate with you? Encourage employees to ask questions and seek clarification on protocols. Thoughtfully provide regular feedback on calf management skills and step in to demonstrate if needed.
• Personality assessments: Tools like DiSC, Insights® Discovery or Gallup CliftonStrengths can be helpful in communicating effectively. They can help the employee recognize how they tend to communicate with others, team environments they prefer, and how to adapt to teammates with different styles.

By adopting systematic and thoughtful hiring and onboarding processes, you will attract involved and effective employees, creating a calf team that any new hire would be excited to join.

This article was originally published in the May 24, 2024, issue of Progressive Dairy. Click here to read the original article.