Toolbox Talks: Keeping Training Simple

Profile Picture of Post's Author Helen Korzec | Posted June 12, 2023

As a farm owner, it can be challenging to schedule formal sit-down trainings for your employees due to busy schedules and difficulty in finding speakers to come out to the farm. However, simple conversations in passing can be a powerful teaching tool for employees. These quick touch-ins and engagements with employees are known as “toolbox” talks, which are tips, rules and tricks of the trade that can be stored in your employees’ toolbox for their day-to-day work. Toolbox talks are a great opportunity to discuss safety around animals and equipment.

One of the best parts of toolbox talks or trainings is that they can be innovative and allow for a more engaging and memorable teaching moment. Here are a few approaches to toolbox talks that can be effective:

  1. The cow-side talk: These can be done at the feed center, bunk or in the corral with your employees. For example, make a point to go out to the corral while your employees are working with cows and use a real-life cow to demonstrate the point of balance on an animal; have your employee try it too.
  2. The lunch talk: This is an excellent time to present employees with conversation about a protocol or to simply review how production is going. Bring simple materials such as a copy of your “World Class Feed Management Goals”.
  3. The paper method: Weekly, you can provide a sheet with some information about cattle care, handling, or simply progress reports from health data or parlor data from the past month. The paper can be posted in the break-room or a frequently trafficked area so it can be viewed.
  4. The buddy system: Call on a buddy (manager or lead employee) to review a protocol or have a talk on a certain subject with employees, making sure that the subject is something they are comfortable with. Toolbox talks do not need to be only given by upper management.

It is important to keep employees up to date, educated, and engaged in the science behind our operations. Toolbox talks are easy touch-in points to keep employees at the forefront of the operation and safe. Ensure that your talks are simple, to the point, visual or engaging and limited to 30-minute segments if they are face-to-face talks.

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