“Preferred Employer”
By: Justin Waggoner, Ph.D., Beef Systems Specialist
If only 70% of our cows settle in a given breeding season, and we need to cull the other 30% for infertility, how much selection pressure can we implement based on other production traits such as weaning weight, marbling, calf feedlot performance, or any number of other valuable traits? Zero. But if you have a 90 or 95% weaned calf crop, you can cull cows based on production traits of interest and make substantial improvements in your genetics.
The same is true for your workplace. If you have the kind of workplace people are looking to leave when the next opportunity arises, good employees with ability, intelligence, and ambition are going to grab the next bus out of town for better pay, better working conditions, or simply a better growth and career opportunity. What you are stuck with are the people who cannot leave because no one will have them.
The goal of any progressive organization should be to be the preferred employer in the region or in the industry. That employer will attract the best and brightest people around who want opportunity and want to work in a positive environment. Word will travel through your satisfied team members who will want to bring in more likeminded individuals to be on their team.
Assess your workplace and your people. Are you consistently attracting high-quality personnel or are you chronically trying to fill empty positions vacated by young, talented people with potential? Do your people give 110% because they love what they do and whom they work with, or is there a mad rush for the door at 5? Self-assessment plus vulnerability creates opportunities for growth. But without one or the other, you will be stuck in a quagmire of your own making.
For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu
