Category: Business Growth Strategy

Published 3/1/21 at dairyherd.com  -  Training Tips for the Long Haul | Dairy Herd On-going emplyee training is essential to success...both theirs and yours Pablo enjoyed his first day at ABC Dairy. He felt welcomed and wanted. Although he had little experience, the training offered the first week was top-notch. That was then and Pablo has now been at the dairy for more than a year. He is still in the same position, following the same protocols. He is stuck and feels like he is just a number. In chatting with Pablo, it became evident he was unhappy with his...

Back in March we visited with Ben Potter, of Farm Futures, about the best practices in hiring temporary help.  Ben then captured the ideas in an article on Farm Futures website here.    You can download and print it here. 2021 03 How to hire the best temp help-BenPotter .  Or continue reading.... Strategies for securing good seasonal workers. by Ben Potter, Farm Futures Mar 10, 2021 Is good help really that hard to find? It can be - especially when you're in a pinch to tap quality workers for seasonal help. But there are some best practices to consider when...

Why you need different strokes for different folks. "Plug and play" is what we all want with employees. Just hire them, put them in a cab, and don't worry about them. They'll do an expert job. Plug them in and turn them loose. In reality, this management philosophy doesn't work. Plug and play is a mythical management style that doesn't exist. People aren't machines, and employees require management for you to be satisfied. Assuming you hire well, each employee needs a different management style. It may sound overwhelming but how you manage depends on the type of work and their...

As business owners we are good at adding. Adding more acres, more sales, more landlords, and more employees. More is a sign of success; at a certain point, more can limit new opportunities. Some opportunities may be growing the farm, succession planning, or building your employee team. There comes a time when you have to let go to get more of what you want. Work - Your time is valuable and there isn't enough time to get all the work done. Every year your time is squeezed even more. Has your role changed but your tasks haven't? Are you doing...

Is there a Third Question to Ask? You have probably heard the phrases, "we need the right people on the bus," and "we need the employees in the right seats" on that bus. These phrases imply we need to find the right people to join our businesses and then make sure they are in the right spot. This sounds reasonable. But is there another question you need to be asking? It's not a secret that farms have a competitive advantage when they consistently find good employees and keep them. Part of keeping an employee is placing them in a role...

As business owners, you want content and engaged employees who stay for the long haul. That requires open lines of communication and an effort on your part to seek feedback to improve employee morale and culture. However, sometimes it is hard to handle the truth, and some business owners don’t believe their team’s suggestions have value. Asking for input and then not initiating a plan to repair the problem is like adding more fuel to the fire. It is one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a leader. When you ask but do nothing in return, employee engagement decreases...