Running and managing a successful farm goes way beyond worrying just about staff management. There are aspects of the business that need to be prioritised on a daily basis, such as animal health, pasture, milking, mating and calving, even the weather. These are definitely priorities for efficient day-to-day farm management. But, what if staffing becomes an issue?
The scenario post-Covid in New Zealand saw many industries suffering from labour shortages and it hasn’t been any different for dairy farming. The last few years have been challenging for many farmers who couldn’t find workers to complete their team, especially during the very busy calving season. That created a lot of stress for not only farm owners and managers, but also for farm staff, who would in some instances need to work longer hours to cover for those staff shortages.
In order to have a successful and stress-free season this year, farmers need to make sure they will have the right amount of people with the right skills on farm when the new season starts. Here are some tips that may help achieving it:
- Retain your staff. Check out some awesome tips to retain dairy staff here.
- Consider hiring casual or temporary workers. At Trinity, we have a vast database of candidates that prefer working on temporary jobs, so if you have a few uncovered hours on your roster, getting onboard employing temporary staff with us is an easy and stress-free solution for you.
- Employ migrants. There are many migrants already in New Zealand on various visa types, like the Working Holiday Visa, that can fill some shortages for a limited time in your farm. Another option would be to employ migrants on an Accredited Employer Work Visa. Whether they are onshore or offshore, this visa type allows them to do permanent work for up to 3 years, and for some positions, it could also grant them residency in New Zealand. When you have a good staff retention plan, this could mean having a very reliable and experienced candidate for many years on your farm.
A fourth option would be to trust your people management to our team at Trinity. We have specialised Agricultural Recruitment Consultants that will source the perfect fits for you and your farm team, an Immigration team that will deal with any visa-related situations when employing migrant workers, and an HR subscription system that can help you manage staff and stay on top of all compliance documentation necessary at all times.
Give us a call to have a chat about your staffing needs and we’ll be very happy to assist! We hope the new season is a very successful one for you.
- Nicole Ditchburn, Immigration Administrator at Trinity and Contract Milker
