The main purposes of the article were, on the one hand, to determine the degree of difference between farm workers' job experiences and job expectations in respect of leadership, motivation, communication, human relations, control and job performance in a farm firm, and on the other hand to determine the effect of the post level and type of work, ethnicity, age, period of service and degree of westernisation on the staff's job experiences and expectations. The case study method was used to collect the staff management audit data from a farmer and 47 farm workers. The staff management audit form contains 19 questions which measure the staff's experiences and expectations in respect of staff management. The staffs job experiences differ to a considerable extent from their job preferences in respect of the leadership, motivation, communication, human relations and performance system in the firm, and consequently their productivity and job satisfaction could improve appreciably. Factors such as the hierarchical post level of the worker or type of work, age, ethnicity, period of service and degree of westernisation as measured by years of experience on farms in the Republic of South Africa, can explain the differences between the staffs job experiences and expectations to a limited extent only.