Working alongside their sons Daniel and Steven, the Kydd’s business has a philosophy of employing on attitude rather than just experience. That approach has worked out well for them over the years, especially considering a large part of their external workforce is now made up of people from overseas.
“It is important we have people working on our farm who fit into our (business) culture, and we always try our best to accommodate our individual workers’ needs and ambition,” Ruth explains.
“If someone wants to work 38 hours or only 10 hours a week, we work around that – and if someone wants to upskill, we make that happen as well.”
With three dairies, milking is one skill that is simply not negotiable, and the family has found buddying up new employees with experienced staff members really helps with building skills and competency.
As English is often a second language for many of their employees, Ruth says she is conscious not to bombard team members with a lot of verbal instruction.
Proper and adequate training is essential for upskilling people, and the Kydds’ team members are regular attendees at Dairy Australia courses, including Milking and Mastitis Management, chemical handling and first aid.
The Kydd’s found however that some of their people aren’t comfortable learning in a classroom environment.
“We have found the Dairy Australia online education platform called Enlight, where they can watch videos online over and over again, has worked really well and takes some of the pressure off,” Ruth explains.
Ruth says when it comes to a dairy farm business, it is very hard to find an employment approach that will work for everyone.
“I only know what works well for us and our staff,” she says.
The Kydd family always remain conscious of the individual roles they play in the training of their team.
“I always try to turn things around and look at it from the employees’ point of view,” says Ruth.
“If they make a mistake, I ask myself: ‘have we done something wrong? Has that person been trained well enough, or do we need to revisit their instruction?’”
Luckily staff turnover isn’t a major issue for the Kydds, with most permanent staff well into their second or third year of employment.
“What we do here seems to work,” Ruth reflects.
Supporting people training and development has also helped the Kydd’s farm build a strong reputation as an excellent place to work.
“Often we have friends of our current staff come looking for a job, which is where employing on attitude rather than skill helps our business – we will give anyone a go if they have the right attitude.”
To find out more about how Dairy Australia provides support with employing and managing people, and building skills for successful careers in dairy farming, contact your regional team today or visit People | Dairy Australia.
