Keeping Good Farm Workers Through Incentives
With the introduction of many labor intensive crops to the State's production cycle, finding and keeping good workers has become a chronic problem in Kentucky. But there is hope; there are hard workers out there, but they require various incentives.
Kentucky farmers depend more and more on hired labor to supplement their family labor on the farm. I often hear the complaint "I can't find good labor any more" or "I pay well or offer good benefits and still can't get reliable, motivated labor".
Farm labor has never been cheap, plentiful and high quality. I have a 1913 farm record book and journal and that farmer writes about his problems getting and keeping good labor. In short, I don't think there ever was a golden age when energetic, hard-working souls showed up at your door willing to work for a pittance and a pat on the back.
Acquiring, training, and keeping farm labor is hard work but it is not an impossible task. Keeping and motivating farm workers, or workers in any business for that matter, is the responsibility of the manager. High quality, motivated workers don't just fall out of the sky. Businesses where workers are motivated to do a good job are the result of some planning and conscious efforts on the part of the manager. Businesses have to offer competitive wages and benefits, good working conditions, and decent job security. But these alone are not enough to motivate workers. For sure, the absence of one of these, good pay or good working conditions, will lead to poor motivation; but, don't expect pay or working conditions to motivate workers.
There are some things that labor management analysts have identified as motivation factors. Amoung these are feelings of personal accomplishment, challenging or rewarding work, recognition for achievement or a job well done, a sense of importance to the organization, access to information, and involvement in decision-making. These are all the kind of things that make the employees feel like they are part of the business -- things that will spark that inner motivation.
All of us want to work at a job we enjoy. We're motivated by those same factors. The people we employ are too.