| In
order to use external web links and database resources of this site, you must
become a member. Membership is free, please use the registration form on
the top menu. If you are already a member please
login below:
|
Motivation:
What is the through put of staff on your farm? Have you got a stable team operating your farm? If your staff is continuously changing then it is impossible for your staff to operate as a team. It
takes time for new members of staff to settle in, learn the system, and operate well. The introduction of a new staff member has an initial negative affect on performance and therefore profitability.
Every effort should be made to encourage existing staff to improve and develop and a training programme should be part of every operation. More Info.
The modern hog farm requires highly skilled stockmen in order to achieve top class performance. It offers a very challenging environment to staff and great satisfaction in seeing a job well done.
Stockmen should have pride in the work and their ability to do it, but unfortunately there seems to be within the public perception a stigma attached to working on a hog farm. The public only
associate hog farms with smell, they do not know or appreciate the level of skill and competence required within the team to keep a farm operating well. This is seldom accepted or understood by staff
operating the farms either. More Info.
Generate pride within your staff, let them know the overall performance and point out improvements that have been made and what currently needs attention. Listen to staff suggestions, respect them
and implement the good ones. Set goals for your staff and reward them when they are achieved. More Info. Get a spirit of teamwork developed for the overall good of the farm. Good staff getting good performance
should be well reimbursed financially. Staff should be capable of advancement within the farm management structure.
Top of Page
Improved skills
How do you go about improving staff skills? Yes! Training.
Both on farm and off-farm facilities should be used to further staff skills. In general do not send staff back to the school environment to enhance their skills unless they show a interest in
doing so themselves. More Info.
On farm training should utilise all assets available:
Manager: the manager has a high level of knowledge of the pig and the farm and he should be willing to impart knowledge and discuss issues with his staff. Explain decisions especially when
they are different to the ideas of the stockman.
Veterinarian: If he makes regular health check visits to the farm, ask him to spend an hour longer to talk and discuss the problems of the different areas with the staff. This will keep
them interested in their work, give them pride in the fact that the veterinarian took the time to talk and listen to them.
Nutritionist: why not use his services as an educational tool to help promote the concept of freshness, feeder management, hygiene etc. and their affect on intake. Let him explain simply
the reasons why specific regimes are followed. If staff understand why changes are made then there is greater likelihood that they will not be overlooked.
Management Consultant: an independent assessment of your system can yield fruit in the most unlikely areas. When you work too close to a system or a problem the obvious can become obscured.
If a consultant visits the unit he should not be shielded from staff but be accessible for questions and discuss the routines in operation.
Training Consultant: set up a programme of education by bringing in an expert to teach and train your staff at your own facilities.
Top of Page
Investment:
To train staff costs money but the return from a good training programme in improved performance, staff motivation and pride will more than offset the expenditure. It will not prevent staff
leaving to go to other farms or greener pastures but the replacement rate will reduce. All training programmes are investments in the industry, which will always require a pool of trained, good
stockmen. More Info.
The Leonardo Da Vinci Project undertaken by Dr Peter R. English and Mr Owen McPherson, University of Aberdeen, Department of
Agriculture, gives a useful insight into staff response to training.
As demands for improved performance and reduced costs increase, the fine-tuning of each farm system becomes more important and the quality and expertise of the stockmen available is critical. With
improvements in modern technology the actual control and refinement of environments, feeding etc. can be adjusted accurately to the requirements of your hogs provided you know what they are. Spend
time observing and learning from the animal.
Check out the Recruitment Page.
Top of Page
Training Consultants:
National Centre for Pig Industry Training (UK).
Bishop Burton Agricultural College
E-mail: johnsons@bishopb-college.ac.uk
Top of Page
Useful links:
Research Articles on Staff/Training:
Staff/Training Index
Research Articles on Behaviour:
Behaviour Index
General Research Articles:
Pork Handling Tutorials and Semen Marketing Services:
Sunlink
Ear Notching Tutorial:
Sunlink
Ear Notching
University of Nebraska
4H Pig Production:
University of California, Irvine
Swine-Groups Study Notes
NetVet - pig notes
Improved Training and Staff:
Ontario Agriculture
Top of Page
|
