It took exactly five hours, to generate an inventory of all the stored equipment on the farm. As I mentioned we have 20 employees looking for additional hours, and so Jennifer asked this morning for individuals that were free to work another half shift. She made it abundantly clear that this was a last-minute thing, and that it had zero impact on their future, but we had a job that needed to be done. 20 of the 24 part-timers were available for a few hours to do the inventory.
Aside from finding equipment, we found a great deal of supplies that were forgotten over the years. Posts, wire, fence puller, it adds up quickly. We have already contacted two auctioneers and will begin delivering the surplus equipment in two weeks.
Dedication: one employee, a young divorced mother of two young girls gave up her entire Sunday (the only free day of the week she has) to help on the farm. This means that she worked 14 days without a break, she has two jobs, from 7 till noon with us, and then from 2 to 8 six days a week at a chemist nearby. The father is long gone and provides sporadic child support. How we know this, is simple she told Jennifer that she's looking for more hours to support her daughters. This is important because she wants to work full-time for us and keep her afternoon shifts at the chemist.
How do you deal with an employee who is ready to work all hours to support their children through no real fault of their own? How do you both reward and make sure that she doesn't burn out? You do what Jennifer did today, you find her a new job elsewhere that pays a lot more. The truth is that there will be no high-paying jobs on our farm for the next 18 months. The management jobs are full and those who have these jobs love them and work incredibly hard. That is why we pay them so well. Jennifer found her a great job that will double her take-home pay, and she starts in a week.
Our employee turnover is low, and our minimum wages are higher than the government-mandated minimum. We do target certain types of workers, as I said we like young mothers looking for part-time work, we have a very strong work ethic but are very flexible if they have personal problems. A farm is a balance of obligations and tasks that have to be completed in a specific order. What is wrong about being aware of our employees' needs and wants, rather than using them purely as production tools? Our human resource manager is my wife, she is in charge of all employee issues (I know that she was on the phone last night with Jennifer and others).
We see our employees are an extension of our family, we see their lives and well-being as important we pay them well for the work they do, and we try to help when we can. This young hard-working mother could not be helped to the level she needed within the farm, the job did not exist where she could meet her monetary needs, and she was going to leave (or burn out) eventually.
Jennifer said she had tears when she told her about the new job.
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