Does Your Dairy Have a Culture of Care?

Do your dairy workers have a caregiving mindset, dedicated to providing animals with the best care possible? Or are they just there to do a job and collect a paycheck?

In these times of labor shortages, it’s more important than ever to establish a culture of care on the dairy. When a dairy has a culture of care, everyone from calf raiser to CEO understands what It takes to provide exceptional animal care, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Fostering a culture of care among your workers can pay dividends in greater job satisfaction, reduced worker stress, less absenteeism, less employee turnover and fewer accidents. That translates to better and more consistent animal care. Handling animals safely and efficiently saves time and leads to greater productivity for your operation. But most importantly, putting animal care first is the right thing to do.

How can you make a culture of care part of everyday life on your dairy?

A dairy’s culture of care starts at the top. Dairy owners and managers set the tone for the entire organization. But it’s not just the tone. The leaders of the dairy must also provide the resources to make a culture of care come to life.

A culture of care is based on respect for both humans and animals. Emphasizing respect for workers is the first step toward establishing a culture of respect for animals as well.

What does a culture of care look like for workers?

Every employee should have the opportunity to feel valued, respected and heard. Although every dairy’s specific situation is different, operations with a culture of care have many of these attributes in common:

• Clear vision. Leaders have an overall vision for the operation and communicate the important role that each individual plays in achieving that vision. Even better, that vision is documented on signage or in other ways that reinforce to workers how that vision impacts how they go about their daily tasks.
• Hiring based on values. During the hiring process, job candidates bring values that align with the culture of the dairy. It’s easier to educate workers on specific livestock care skills if they already share the important values of respect, courtesy and dignity. It’s more difficult – but not impossible – to instill those core values if a worker doesn’t have them already.
• Onboarding that emphasizes care. From the first day on the job, workers understand the importance of the dairy’s culture of care. Some dairies ask new employees to sign a care commitment, with a pledge to respect calves, cows and co-workers.
• SOPs for all tasks. Written standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all aspects of the dairy help ensure that employees know how to complete animal care tasks safely and efficiently.
• Training programs. Under a culture of care, workers know what it takes to be successful. This goes beyond new hire onboarding to include ongoing training and retraining in animal care practices.
• Actionable feedback. On a daily basis, employees receive immediate and actionable feedback on job performance. They know and understand what they are doing well and where they need to improve.
• Two-way communication. Managers listen to workers’ suggestions on how to improve processes and procedures on the dairy and implement those suggestions whenever possible.
• Growth and recognition. Workers have opportunities for continual growth and advancement and receive recognition for a job well done.

What does a culture of care look like for animals?

When workers are treated respectfully, understand their roles, and have opportunities to learn and grow, this positive environment transfers naturally to animal care practices. Following are the positive outcomes for animals when a dairy has a culture of care:

• Safe and comfortable environment. Since cows are “prey” animals in the food chain, they naturally are on high alert to protect themselves from predators – even in a modern dairy environment. When a dairy has a culture of care, animals remain calm and can focus on the important tasks of eating, drinking, and producing milk.
• Stress-free handling. Cows benefit from calm, quiet movements. Workers understand the significance of the cow’s “flight zone” and how to utilize it when moving animals to the milking parlor, between pens or into headlocks.
• Easier milking. Cows that are excited or nervous release stress hormones that interfere with milk let-down. Moving cows carefully from pens into the holding area and milking parlor leads to faster milk let-down. Calm cows kick less and are easier to prep for milking. They also tend to defecate less, keeping the parlor and udders cleaner. After milking, cows return to their pens in a relaxed state to resume eating and drinking.
• Fewer injuries. When calves and cows are handled with care, they are less likely to slip and injure themselves.

By establishing a culture of care, you create a strong connection between the humans and animals on the dairy. In many dairies, a culture of care is already in place and simply requires formalizing processes and practices for everyone on the dairy to understand and internalize.

Realize that the benefits of a culture of care go well beyond the dairy’s front gate. Consumers expect that dairy products are not only high quality, but also are produced responsibly with exceptional animal care. A culture of care helps meet those expectations.

For more information on how to foster a culture of care on your dairy, visit DairyCare365.com.