Why do we train employees? Employers train for various reasons including:

• Improving business performance
• Onboarding new hires
• Meeting (and exceeding!) industry standards
• Enhancing employee safety and health, and
• Increasing employee engagement, retention, and growth.

However, sometimes the training sessions on farms may disappoint both the trainer and the employee.  Farm training may miss their mark because employers or supervisors may view the training as a cost to productivity or a one-time event. When the employer views the training as a cost to lost productivity, the employees sense this. Training may be speaker-dominated, where the employee may not be engaged in the training, or there is a lack of employee interest.

In this recorded Badger Dairy Insight webinar, UW-Madison Division of Extension Farm Management Outreach Specialist Jim Versweyveld discusses onboarding and training for dairy employees and discusses how interactive learning experiences can help build confidence by allowing dairy workers to actively participate in their own training. Jim will share research on how much information is retained based on how individuals learn; what adult learners need to learn as compared to youth learners;  how adults learn; and how to rethink employee training.

For more information on employee training and onboarding, please visit:

https://farms.extension.wisc.edu/article-topic/human-resources/