Michigan State University Extension, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824.
Michigan State University Extension, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824.
J Dairy Sci. 2018 Aug;101(8):7450-7462. doi: 10.3168/jds.2018-14592. Epub 2018 May 24.
Employees, many of whom are not native English speakers, perform the majority of work on large US dairy farms. Although management of employees is a critical role of dairy owners and managers, factors that improve employee engagement and retention are not well known. Objectives were to (1) identify key dairy farm employee management issues based on employee perceptions, (2) evaluate strengths and weaknesses of farms based on employee responses, (3) investigate differences between Latino and English-speaking employees, and (4) investigate differences in perception between employers and employees. Employees from 12 US dairy farms (each with a minimum of 10 employees) were interviewed by phone following a questionnaire provided. Employees provided their responses to 21 Likert scale questions and 8 open-ended questions. There was a wide range in employee turnover among farms (<10 to >100%). Latino employees had much shorter tenure and were more often employed in milking and livestock care than English-speaking employees. Employee perceptions differed among farms regarding whether they would recommend their farm as a place to work, teamwork within the dairy, whether rules were fairly applied, availability of tools and equipment, clear lines of supervision, and recognition for good work in the previous 15 d. Latino employees (n = 91) were more positive in many of these measures than their English-speaking counterparts (n = 77) but less often provided ideas to their employer on how to improve the business. Employers, surveyed on how they thought their employees would answer, underestimated employee responses on several questions, particularly the interest of employees in learning about dairy. When asked to cite 3 goals of the operation, there were differences among owners, managers, and employees. Although employees rated their commitment to the farm and their interest in learning as high, based on turnover, there was an obvious disparity between reality and ideal employee management. Consequently, employers should act on identified management shortfalls to improve employee retention.
员工，其中许多人不是以英语为母语的人，在美国大型奶牛场完成大部分工作。尽管员工管理是奶农和管理人员的关键角色，但提高员工敬业度和保留率的因素并不为人所知。目标是：（1）根据员工的看法确定关键的奶牛场员工管理问题，（2）根据员工的反应评估农场的优势和劣势，（3）调查拉丁裔和英语员工之间的差异，（4）调查雇主和员工之间的看法差异。在提供问卷后，通过电话对来自 12 个美国奶牛场（每个农场至少有 10 名员工）的员工进行了访谈。员工对 21 个李克特量表问题和 8 个开放式问题做出了回应。农场之间的员工离职率差异很大（<10%至>100%）。拉丁裔员工的任期要短得多，而且比英语员工更常从事挤奶和牲畜护理工作。员工对他们的农场是否会被推荐为工作场所、奶牛场内部的团队合作、规则是否公平执行、工具和设备的可用性、明确的监督线以及在过去 15 天内的良好工作表现是否得到认可存在不同看法。与英语员工相比，拉丁裔员工（n=91）在许多这些方面的看法更为积极，但很少向雇主提出如何改善业务的建议。在调查雇主认为员工会如何回答时，他们对员工的许多回答都低估了，尤其是员工对学习奶业的兴趣。当被要求举出 3 个运营目标时，所有者、经理和员工之间存在差异。尽管员工对自己对农场的承诺和学习兴趣评价很高，但根据离职率，现实和理想的员工管理之间存在明显差距。因此，雇主应针对确定的管理缺陷采取行动，以提高员工保留率。
