“Preventative Maintenance”
by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist
I’ll admit that I’m the last person to lecture on equipment maintenance; I can barely change my own motor oil. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve been berated by every good mechanic I’ve ever known on the value of periodic preventative maintenance.
Checking and changing oil, regular greasing, checking bearings and bushings, checking and changing filters, the list goes on. A small investment of time on a regular, scheduled, basis will, over time, save thousands of dollars and countless hours of lost productivity by preventing major mechanical malfunctions and providing a systematic means of detecting minor ones.
This tested and proven truism of heavy machinery is an excellent analogy for maintaining workplace relationships and morale. Late summer is a time when many agricultural operations have the opportunity to repair and recoup from the hectic spring season and when they must take the opportunity to prepare for the hectic fall work. This is true for both machinery and people.
Like mechanical devices, people need fuel, people need rest, and people sometimes wear out. In order to ensure that people are rested and refueled for the upcoming season, it is critical that managers monitor the well-being of the people in their charge, and perhaps even insist that people take time off. Suppressed tension could surface when the days get longer and the stress load increases causing a potentially volatile situation. This could easily result in friction between team members, increased sick days, or even an increase in accidents due to frustration and fatigue.
Managing people often requires uncanny observation of people’s behavior and the circumstances surrounding it. Heading into a very critical season for your operation, be proactive about investigating people’s attitudes, inter-relationships, stress level, energy level, and their need for some time off.
