The first part of the busy season is (mostly) in the rear-view mirror, so you may be taking stock of how your operation performed and are planning improvements in the next few months.
As you analyze your operation, take time to check in with your team. Long hours in the tractor and late nights calving can affect employees in ways that are not always obvious.
Even if you have a seasoned team that has been through the demands of spring many times before, it’s still worthwhile to find out how they think things are going and get a grasp on potential challenges on the horizon.
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There’s more than one benefit to scheduling regular check-ins after a busy time of year. Effective communication is consistent. If your employees expect regular one-on-one check-ins, any constructive feedback or coaching you need to do will come as less of a shock.
Consistent feedback that addresses concerns can strengthen your relationship with that employee by giving them the confidence to operate day to day while fully knowing expectations.
Another benefit, especially after stressful times of year, is to see if any employees are not coping as well as they appear to be. In my work with farm families, I have had multiple calls this spring about employees struggling with mental health, and employers not sure how to approach the situation.
I am not a mental health professional, but I have learned things through my own experiences as a manager that help me advise these families.
First, whenever an employee states that they are struggling with mental health, approach the situation with empathy. As business owners, it’s common to get defensive or even compare our situation to that of the employee, but we ultimately don’t want to play a part in negatively affecting their mental health.
Remember your role as employer and leader, and only take responsibility for the things you can control.
This starts with finding out what you can do to help. Every employer should familiarize themselves with Duty to Accommodate, preferably before a mental health concern arises. Admittedly, the information on what applies to agricultural business and in which provinces can be a bit confusing to navigate, but a phone call to your provincial human rights council should direct you to the correct resources.
I also encourage employers to take the “more is more” approach when deciding how to handle these situations. Would you rather be the boss who supported their employee as much as they could, or the one who did the bare minimum when an employee needed them most? The long-term implications with regard to employee loyalty in both situations are hopefully obvious.
When deciding how to support your employee, listen and let them take the driver’s seat.
Your employee may have requests that are simple and easy for you to accommodate (time off to rest, the day off to see a mental health professional, etc.).
If you’re able, offering to pay for their time away can remove a financial barrier that may otherwise prevent them from taking the time they need. Make sure to establish a check-in date when your extra financial support will end so you can discuss the path forward.
The next part of the conversation should include encouraging them to consider what support they might need for the long term. This allows you to prepare for any impact to your business, but also lets the person know you take their situation seriously and don’t expect them to “recover” after catching up on sleep. I also recommend establishing a mutually agreed check-in schedule so you are being proactive in your support.
Once you have a plan in place, examine the way you run your business. This is not to place blame on yourself or anyone else, but to see where you might be able to create space during busy times to support a more balanced lifestyle for your team.
We all know farm work comes with stressful times and long hours, but getting to the finish line of the busy season should not come at the expense of our employees. For example, how would hiring another person affect your team’s workload? What about introducing shift work to shorten their working hours? Or implementing mandatory hours of rest in between shifts?
Just because some employment standards that apply to other industries are not required in agriculture businesses does not mean you shouldn’t consider implementing them to benefit your team.
Once you have ideas on improvements, meet with your team to get feedback and encourage them to share any ideas you may not have considered. Be open in stating that you’re trying to create a working environment that supports mental well-being and are willing to do as much as you reasonably can while continuing to operate a profitable business.
The final consideration (which is not to say this list is exhaustive) is how you keep record of these conversations. If you have employees, you should have employee files locked and stored safely in your office. You should keep record of any conversations (including check-ins) that you have with your employees about their mental health, which you both sign.
The contents of these records should focus on your business’s “involvement” in the situation, any accommodations you offer and any timelines that you and the employee agree upon.
Mental illness (along with addiction, which many people are surprised to learn) can be considered a disability, so legal action can be taken against an employer by the human rights commission if a complaint arises. Therefore, it’s important to keep records where you can show you made every effort possible to support your employee without causing undue hardship to your business.
Depending on your personality, the thought of having some of these intensely sensitive conversations can seem extremely daunting. It might seem easier to turn a blind eye and avoid the subject altogether.
However, in the long-run, the efforts you make toward creating a workplace that aims to support a healthy work-life balance and recognizes the impact your business plays on your team’s mental health will not be in vain.
Being a considerate and supportive employer will strengthen the relationship you have with your employees and hopefully mitigate the potential impact to your operation should a similar situation arise in the future.
Sara Chambers is a farm management consultant specializing in human resources with Backswath Management She can be reached at 431-554-5390 or sara.chambers@backswath.com.
