Finding the right people to work with you and for you is difficult in any industry, but the thoroughbred racing and breeding industry has more challenges than most as we have recently learnt following the publication of the Horseracing Industry People Board’s Workforce Strategy.

Apart from the high-level skillsets required that seem to cover three times as much as other jobs, there are the (at times) unsociable hours and responsibilities of horsemanship, not to mention the weather. All fine and dandy on a lovely spring day with paddocks drying out and new grass starting to push through, but only three months earlier soaked to the skin, freezing cold, trying to catch that sharp yearling who you don’t trust an inch, is something most of us and the people who work with us have experienced at some stage.

How do we persuade these skilled individuals that turn up every day to keep doing so? Retention is a much more effective tool than recruitment and ensuring that the conditions an employer provides for their staff are the best achievable is a given. Not only do our teams want the right pay for the right job, but an opportunity for career progression; just because it’s a small stud or business doesn’t mean this can be ignored. Every employer has currency in developing and growing a team, be it for one or 21 people.

In my previous life, ‘growing our own’ was a philosophy that paid dividends time after time. Providing external training opportunities to get people to have another view and see a different landscape inevitably saw them come back to the business feeling energised and valued. This point cannot be underestimated – these people were important to us, and we didn’t ever hide that fact. Yes, we knew that in many cases any development helped prepare them for another role, one not always with us, but we had both the pride of seeing their progress and our gaining a reputation as somewhere positive to work.

Involving and engaging employees in understanding how a business works is invaluable. An old Chairman of mine, and the man who had the most influence upon my early career, took me aside to tell me it “wasn’t sufficient that I had all the answers, it was that those I was leading understood the question” – that was management gold dust. If everyone understands the direction of travel and the obstacles in the way, then the pace and the destination become everyone’s objective and responsibility.

The success of any business begins by getting the right people on the bus (and the wrong ones off) and then figuring out where to drive it. So, engage, involve and include your teams (even if it’s only you and one other), ensure that pay and benefits are both competitive and compelling, and then work on all the other areas that change the philosophy of just a job to a career.

Security of income and employment is an important part of any package, and when there is an injury, it’s a real benefit to any employee to know that they will be looked after.

In this respect, the TBA has recently announced the Stud Employee Accident Benefit Scheme (SEABS), which will be live at the end of March. Developed specifically for stud employees, for a modest annual premium of just £96 per employee, cover will be provided allowing weekly benefits of up to £400 per week for any employee unable to work through a qualifying injury for up to 104 weeks. The payments are made to the employee via the employer less any statutory sick pay already received.

There are also capital payments in respect of permanent disability of up to £154k covering most eventualities from loss of sight through to death.

SEABS is a TBA initiative, underwritten by Howden, the international insurance broker. All employees must be included within the scheme to qualify, and riding is not an insured risk. Otherwise, it’s a Ronseal product: “It does exactly what it says on the tin”.

Full details of SEABS can be found on the TBA website and I would encourage all members who employ staff to sign up via the dedicated portal. Whilst it is an additional expense, this is a very worthwhile spend; it will help make the case for retention, and it also gives you, the employer, peace of mind knowing that you are doing the right thing.

So, you have your employees’ backs and as always, the TBA has yours.