Motivating your farm labour

Evans S Zininga
MOTIVATING farm workers is not an easy task but a huge one for any farmer or farm manager.
It is an area that has not been explored and developed sufficiently over the years. I took time to reflect on the relationship between labour and productivity on farms and this has changed my perspective on farm workers from bad to worse.
I have realised that more often we tend to find fault in the worker instead of the manager or farmer.

Most farmers think their workers are stupidly impudent or rather insolent, yet they have weak systems in place. The perfect farmer is supposed to be hard on standards and soft on people and not the other way round. It is a fundamental aspect that a farmer has to own up to. This means that the farmer has to insist on above average performance from all his workers and should always treat them with respect, never to undermine their being or insult their human dignity.

Most farmers with problems are those soft on standards and hard on the people- it will just not work!
Trying to motivate your workers can be a mammoth tusk if not done in a smart way, because it takes a lot of consideration and calculation to come up with the best plan.

I have identified three main types of rewards that would motivate the general farm labour and these are –psychological, financial, and social rewards. It is very clear though, that the psychological rewards approach is a better function than all the others in many ways.

Psychological rewards
Here workers get complements for their performance from their superiors. It gives room for praise which is accorded accordingly.
You do not have to wait until a worker has surpassed or reached your own level of competence to start complementing him or her on their progress. These complements should represent an achievement reached in specific terms. You should stay clear of flattery and manipulation of your workers. It is very costly to mend disrupted integrity and or collaborations due to the workers realisation that they are being manipulated somehow.

All complements should be sincere and be given freely. Farmers need to show some real appreciation for any extra trouble that their workers got to, to try to come up with better results on a task.

Avoid superficial acts as these can be detected by the workers, which will not be right. It is very important to involve a worker in the decision making process through consultation, and asking them to come up with ideas on a task.

It will result in equally strong motivation for the worker. You should not force your ideas on your workers but rather lead them and also incorporate their ideas. It is all in the mind.

Social rewards
Giving your workers time off when they have gone and extra mile to perform a task is a more noble gesture than just offering them money.
Find a day when there is not much work and offer them time off. It will be the most suitable reward.

In some instances farmers are wary that this will give the wrong impression that every time the worker has done well and extra, they must have time off but it should be clearly stated that the day off is an incentive engineered by the farmer in recognition of good work.

It gives your workers pride to have a form of celebration after a successful task has been completed.
I know of a farmer who organises a braai for his workers after successful harvests. Again let’s say you are fixing a broken tractor out in the open sun with your workers, when you finish, instead of you going up to your house or office and having a cold drink- why not share that cold drink with your workers?

It will go a long way in showing them that you appreciate and it will motivate them big time. Farm workers who are based I remote areas yearn for entertainment of some sort, once in a while.

When a mobile amusement theme park is in town, you can arrange for your workers to attend even for an hour. They will be very glad. You could also share a hotel or restaurant meal with your employee when you drive to town to sell your tobacco, cattle or when you have free time- it will boost their morale.

Always remember that your rewards should be purely linked to achievement and performance or else it will be considered as a right and that breeds a new type of problem at your farm.

Financial rewards
It is so difficult, but so important, to differentiate between remuneration and reward. All workers expect to be paid at fixed times.
Over and above this fixed payment or salary, you can also offer then a special extra “reward” in cash in of recognition of their hard work. Salaries and commissions are not treated as rewards because they are due to the workers so please do not try to use them as motivators- your workers go the extra mile to earn them so when they are due please let them have them!

Certain guidelines or principles have to be followed and these are very sensitive as they affect your whole system functions.
It is not undesirable for subordinates to know that superior performance is rewarded. These rewards have to be tied to the performance level of the worker.
Performers will definitely get higher rewards than others and in the face of cost of living rise; they should be protected because if they are not, you may lose them.

It is important to keep all your workers in their respective wage brackets and use bonus structures to reward them. The farmer or manager should be professional by not being intuitive as he needs to allow his workers to take decisions on their own as opposed to always telling them what to do and how to do it.

Many farmers who have given it a try in their management systems have accepted that it is not the workers who are a problem, but rather themselves.
I am very positive that these principles, among other things, can bring a turnabout in your labour problems and can improve your workers’ performance and ultimately, your farm production and profitability. Motivating your workers keeps them happy and focused.

Evans Zininga is the Managing Director of the Zanu-PF Youth League and Lasch Enterprises P/L Joint Venture. The Joint Venture Management can be contacted on 04-668773 or [email protected]. Website: www.laschjv.co.zw