Farm workplace performance: beyond simplistic measures of efficiency and productivity to a balanced scorecard approach in the dairy sector

Context A renewed focus on productivity of farming workplaces has occurred because of the increasing challenge of attracting people to work on farms. Current data suggest that productivity of New Zealand (NZ) dairy farm workplaces has not increased in the past decade; however, current efficiency and productivity measures are narrow in scope and may not provide a full picture. Aims The aims of this study were to identify workplace performance measures that could be used in the dairy farming sector to improve productivity and improve workplace attractiveness. Method The first phase involved a focus group with dairy farmers to explore drivers of workplace productivity, output indicators of workplace productivity and to create a shortlist of measures. Insights from this phase, and feedback from farmer participants highlighted the need for a broader review to include workplace performance measures. Therefore, phase two involved a structured literature review of peer-reviewed literature related to dairy workplace measures. Key results Existing dairy workplace measures focus on milking efficiency, cost of labour, hours worked and milk production. Focus group participants recommended a broader suite of measures that included operating profit, unsociable hours worked, staff retention, and job satisfaction aspects. The literature review mostly aligned with farmer perspectives but highlighted that researchers were also considering work design and organisational measures, along with wellbeing, health and safety, resilience and social sustainability factors as key contributors to workplace performance. Conclusions This review highlighted that beyond the commonly used dairy workplace efficiency and productivity measures, there are important aspects that affect workplace performance that need to be further developed into measures that are viable for use at the farm and sector scale. Implications There are opportunities to adapt dairy farm workplace practices to reduce total hours worked, hours worked per week, and ‘unsociable’ hours. A balanced workplace performance scorecard would help researchers and farmers assess how workplace changes could make dairy jobs more enjoyable and attractive to a wider talent pool.