K-State Research and Extension

“The Visionary Listener”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

Every team needs a manager, and there’s as many kinds of managers as there are managers. But effective leadership requires a delicate balance between strong, visionary command and flexibility based on open, vertical, two-way communication.

Ideas (fresh, innovative, cost-saving, labor-saving, etc.) can come from anywhere. Managers in agriculture are often over-consumed with the daily emergencies that there is no time to look around at their own operation, peer operations, suppliers, or customers. But one ever-present source of information is the very people with to most to gain from many of these ideas—your production team.

However, if you haven’t intentionally carved out priority time in your calendar for meaningful dialog with team members, this potentially priceless resource could be lost. In addition to the intrinsic value of regularly scheduled one-on-one meetings with team members as a critical time for the manager to fully understand and address any issues present at the production level in real time, this time can also be invaluable as a source of operational improvement. When one team member thinks the process can be improved through a given modification, it’s worth noting. If the entire team has the same suggestion, it definitely warrants further investigation.

All organizations would say they value their people, but do they value their input, their opinions, their expertise, their experience? Again, the modern manager is too busy to go out and constantly canvas the industry for bright ideas, and good consultants are well-paid for their experience and expertise. Why not fully capitalize on the resource you already on hand—your team and their know-how.

If you don’t have people worth listening to, it’s time to upgrade your people. But that’s rarely the case. It’s just a matter of not finding, but MAKING, the time, frequently, to listen. Even the most visionary leaders listen; where do you think they got their vision?

“Training for the Future”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

There’s lots of good reasons to continue training your team: to learn new skills, to get better every day, to maintain safe practices. The list goes on and on. But I heard one today that goes a little deeper into our concept of training, and it goes deeper into our understanding of team psychology.

What do I think, as an employee, when my management team invests resources into making me a more valuable team member? I’m not talking about the (seemingly endless) compliance and “check-the-box” training we’ve all been exposed to, that never really adds anything to the individual, but instead takes care of some “higher-order” function in a clean, fluorescent-lit office somewhere, but doesn’t really give me any tools to do my job. I’m talking about adding to a person’s skills and abilities in order to do their current job better, or maybe even do a job that requires more refinement or carries with it greater responsibility. Maybe it means training in people skills for a person who doesn’t yet have any direct reports. What does this type of “value-added” training say to me?

It says on the part of management, “We value what you do for the team and we value you as a person and a team member, to the extent that we want to invest resources in you to make you even more valuable.” It says, “We also value you for what you mean to this team going forward into the future. You are a valuable team-mate today, but we envision you being a leader and an even greater asset to the team tomorrow.” And finally, it says, “We are going to be here tomorrow, we are investing in our future, we want our team to grow and get better for where we’re going tomorrow, and we want you to be a part of that future.”

This type of continual investment in people, and the messages it sends, both overt and subliminal or even unintentional, is what builds and earns long-term loyalty on the part of the people who do the work and make the whole team successful. The rewards of continual training are evident, no matter where you look for them.

“Motivation”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

How do you motivate your team? What motivates people to work harder or work differently? Can you change people’s behavior long-term? These are all questions which have made motivational speakers and corporate consultants a lot of money over the past few decades. But I’m not sure the answer to any of these questions is beyond dispute.

Do you know anyone who is completely unmotivated to work harder or take ownership in the effort and is seemingly impervious to any form of external motivation? On the contrary, do you know anyone who, without any obvious external stimulation and in the face of a daunting workload, seems to have an internal motor which never runs down?

Both of these people exist in the workplace, and both raise the question, “Can you motivate people?” We’ve all seen examples that demonstrate that we can stimulate short-term activity toward a particular short-term goal. But what can be done to influence people’s attitude and desire to make the whole team better? If the answer is “Nothing” then “Houston, we have a problem.” To paraphrase a very famous and successful author, “Get the right people on the bus, and get the wrong ones off. Then press down hard on the pedal on the right—move forward.”

What are “the right people”? They’re the kind who share and embrace the team’s vision, and are ready to do what it takes to achieve it. They are not a dime-a-dozen, but they’re not impossible to find either. The reality is that well-managed organizations that take care of and empower their people attract hard-working, self-motivated people. Who doesn’t want to work for that type of organization?

The flip side is that “the wrong people” are those that embrace their own vision, and feel that their vision supersedes that of the organization. In other words they’re selfish, and that is a cancer to team unity. A selfish teammate is not a teammate at all, because they’re not working toward the same goal as the rest of the team, which means the rest of the team has to work that much harder to move the project forward. You have to get them off the bus—they’re dragging it into the ditch.

“Trust”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

As the employer or team leader, trust of your employees is essential to workplace morale. We can work for someone we don’t trust, and take home our paycheck, but will we really be motivated to go the extra mile, willingly put in overtime, and do the right things when nobody’s watching, if we think “The boss doesn’t, so why should I?”

Everybody wants to think of themselves as trustworthy, but can you honestly put your finger on intentional actions you’ve taken which would garner trust from your employees. Or, is it easier to find the one or many times that you’ve done or said things which have eroded or destroyed someone’s trust, all in the name of “This is business.”? Beyond simply trusting you to pay them for the time they’ve put in, would your employees willingly go beyond their normal duties, without an iron-clad guarantee that there was something in it for them?

In the old days a simple way of stating what you thought of someone’s character was to say, “I’d let him hold my money.” Back before banking became commonplace, if you needed to go on an extended trip you’d either bury your excess cash in a jar under the porch, or you simply gave it to someone you trusted to hold until you returned home. Would any of your employees hand you their entire life savings, in cash, knowing that when they returned in a few weeks or months, it would all be returned safe and sound?

“Everyone has integrity until it costs them something.” Have you sacrificed something for your team lately, maybe something that wasn’t a built in part of the job? Have you taken a hard stand that may have hurt the short-term bottom line, but upheld your team’s reputation? Did you make sure they took time off after their baby was born, or when their grandmother died, or when their daughter made the state finals? Did you take the long shift when they had a cold? We all would line up to work for that leader.

Team building requires sacrifice—on everyone’s part. Great teams aren’t made from a swivel chair. The more your team sees you sacrifice, for their benefit, not your own or the company’s, the stronger the team bond and their trust in you as their leader will grow.

“Do You Interview Well?”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

In any large firm, there are full-time HR people who interview prospective employees for a living, have specialized training, and know which boxes to check. Day in, day out, they deal with personnel issues. But in your organization you are that person. Unfortunately, you don’t get to focus on personnel issues, but have to deal with ALL the issues. Make a good hire and you may never have to think about it again. But a bad hire is the gift that keeps on giving—you’ll need to deal with unintended consequences for months or years, up until the day you are forced to make a change.

So let’s keep this simple: when it comes to hiring a new person, more is better. That is, more individual contact, more information flowing both ways, more reference checks, both parties asking more questions, etc.

The eternal question is this: (A) Do you absolutely need to get a warm body into the vacant position, or (B) could it actually be better to limp by until the right person is available? If the answer to that question is (B), then you need to ask 4 more questions:

1. Does this person have the appropriate, necessary skills?
2. Does this person have glowing support from former employers and co-workers?
3. Where is this person in their career and does your organization fulfill the needs/wants of this person at this career stage and into the future?
4. Will this person fit into your corporate culture and the team they’ll be joining?

The answers to 1) and 2) can be obtained simply enough, by reading through the resume, making phone inquiries, reading reference letters, and from an in-depth, one-on-one conversation with the prospect. The answer to 3) will require a little more digging on your part. Obviously, if I want or need this job, I’ll tell you whatever I think you want to hear. But you’ll need to be probing and insightful enough to know, or at least guess, what the real answer is.

Finally, the answer to 4) is perhaps the hardest and riskiest part of any hire, and maybe the most important for long-term hiring success. But it also directly relates to the original question: Do we just need any warm body or do we need the RIGHT warm body? The only way to get to a good answer is through multiple interviews: on the phone, in person, by you, by the team manager, by potential future co-workers, one-on-one, in a group setting, even with the prospect’s spouse. With more chances for interaction, it becomes more likely that potentially beneficial or synergistic traits will become apparent. This dramatically increases your confidence in making the right hire. Increased interaction also gives more opportunity to uncover any potentially negative issues that could submarine team productivity. Everyone can pretend to be someone else for a short time, and some longer than others. But increasing the number of interactions over the course of time and with various members of your organization, who each bring a different agenda to the conversation, you can increase the likelihood that you really know who you’re hiring.

Hiring the right person takes time and a great deal of energy on your part. But by committing, early on and throughout the hiring process, to making every effort to getting the right person that will not only fill a vacancy but actually make the team better, you are much more likely to be satisfied, long-term, with the outcome.

“Human Potential”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

High productivity and efficiency are goals for which all organizations strive. Maybe they could be lumped together into the collective term, “Performance”. But how many times have managers asked, “How can we improve our Performance?”—possibly DAILY!

We have built our organizations to achieve a certain outcome, production, and efficiency, and may have needed to change our infrastructure periodically to achieve either a different outcome or higher Performance. A larger planter, a larger, newer, milking parlor, a larger or additional feed truck, more feeding pens—all intended to get more Performance. And doubtless this change in infrastructure accomplished its intended purpose of increased Performance.

But have you ever questioned whether the people or the systems you have in place are capable of higher Performance? It’s probably true each individual has an upper limit to their Performance. But have we given them the most freedom, the best training, or put them in the best workplace situation to ensure that they will be able to achieve their best?

For better or worse, this is where quality, intentional management is required. Frequent analysis of each individual employee’s Performance and their situation requires time and energy. But it also separates the accidental manager from the purposeful. If you are not carving out time on a monthly or quarterly basis to discuss personnel issues with employees, you will never be qualified to ferret out hidden workplace issues and will never be able to maximize individual Human Performance.

Take time, or make time, in your schedule to put people first and it will yield fruit. Skip this critical, continual, process, and you’ll continue to miss all that you never knew what you were missing.

“Tis the season: New Year’s Resolutions”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

It’s the New Year and the popular thing to do is to “resolve to do something better” this year than last year, and in years past—not a bad idea. The problem with New Year’s Resolutions isn’t the Resolutions themselves, but maybe the motivation, or the lack thereof, behind them.

I have a friend who used to drink too much, and then drive too much. He knew on all levels this was a bad thing, but he continued anyway. But he finally quit drinking because he was diagnosed with diabetes. He made a good resolution, with effective follow-through, not just because it was a good idea—it had always been a good idea—but because of a really good motivation. He had plenty of good, intellectual, reasons to quit this destructive behavior years ago, but it took a hard, in-your-face, reality check to make it happen.

Is that a model that we should follow? Definitely not. But it is a good metaphor for our business relationships and hard decisions that we put off until cold, hard, reality force our hand. Do we wait to do the right things only after our business is ‘diagnosed’ with serious problems, or are we proactive at seeking out discord and dysfunction in our work teams?

Only intentionality can overcome inertia. The workplace will continue to grind forward unless we invest something to intercept and alter its direction. The investment in prevention is much less than the cost of a cure down the road.

“Winter Blues – and Opportunities”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

Cold. Snow. Wind chill factor. Depending on where you are, Old Man Winter is currently either right in your lap or just around the corner. With all the difficulties and inconveniences that a good old fashioned winter throws at us, it may also provide a break from the normal hectic pace of production agriculture.

Does this break in the action provide you as manager a chance to dig into evaluating your team’s productivity and your employees’ attitudes, performance, and growth? If you’ve been putting off individual employee interviews and a more formal job review, now is the time. Here is a metaphor: If an individual decides independently to take a slightly divergent path along the same general direction as the team, the turn may be sufficiently subtle so as to not even be noticed by the team or the manager. But after an extended time the slight deviation from true North will lead them to a completely different destination—probably not a good thing.

Regular, one-on-one, two-way dialog with each employee on the direction of the organization and the individual’s role in the team will likely bring to light any underlying issues. This can prevent or at least minimize potentially catastrophic workplace misunderstandings. Managing human resources isn’t easy, it’s rarely fun, and it may not even be what you signed up for. In reality, you don’t need to actively, intentionally, manage your workplace; you can choose to let it manage itself. The problem is that I guarantee you won’t like the outcome.

Now is the time to take some time—or, if necessary, MAKE some time—to get inside your employees’ heads, let them know what they’re doing right, what could use some attention, listen to their concerns, and make clear for them what their role is in the future success of the organization.

“Employee of the Month”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

Next time you go to check into a hotel or order at a restaurant look at the wall. Chances are there will be a plaque there with someone’s face and name on it being recognized as “Employee of the Month”. That someone most likely changed your sheets, or cleaned your toilet, or changed out the busted tile or shower spigot, or took your order and smiled.

I’ve seen the plaques and asked myself, “For what special traits is this person being rewarded?” Did they change the most sheets in October? Did they clean toilets the fastest? Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s ever that simple. Is that the only trait you value in your workplace culture: time efficiency? I doubt it.

We know how grinding the ag workplace can be, especially during certain seasons: calving, spring planting, branding, fall harvest, weaning, repeat. If all that mattered to us or our employees was the ability to do a single task, do it well, and do it expediently, they would have left a long time ago. Certainly, we value time management and efficiency, but what about loyalty, work ethic, and team work? Most likely your personal employee of this month is the person who will stay a few minutes longer to make sure the widget is welded securely to the whatever; greases the zerks one more time; volunteers to walk the weaned calves for sicks so somebody can go to Junior’s ball game this weekend. I’m getting misty just thinking about it.

Each one of us has a different “appetite” or “tolerance” for personal or public recognition. But I’d have to guess that everybody likes to know that they are truly appreciated, in some way or other—maybe publicly like the “Employee of the Month” plaque, or just one-on-one, when nobody’s around for either of you to blush in front of.

All your people have something special to offer (I hope); your job as a manager is to determine the best way to regularly acknowledge their contributions. If not, your silence may speak volumes to the contrary.

“Who Are You? – Part II”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

So now that you’ve sat down, contemplated your views of life, your workplace, and your co-workers, and you’ve asked for and received 360-degree feedback from those who know you and who you trust for candid, realistic input, you’re ready to respond.

First, are you defensive? Remember, the only way this process works and is worthwhile is if the one receiving feedback is willing to accept the input as the truth. Others’ views of you will most likely differ from your own in some way, to some degree. Your willingness to embrace this “new reality” is the first limitation on your ability to improve as a manager.

Second, can you change? This depends on 2 factors: your willingness and what changes are needed. Example: the predominant feedback is that you are too quick to criticize. Do you defend this trait as “essential to my management style” or is there room for compromise? Another example: the predominant feedback is that you have a quick and volatile temper. I’m not sure people can change this trait, but you definitely can change how you choose—that’s right, CHOOSE—to respond when stressful situations arise. A quick temper often goes along with the ambitious, energetic, goal-oriented, leader. The difference between the effective and marginal leader is how they channel their response during times of crisis.

Finally, can you take something away from this process that you can implement with those who report to you? Some of them may embrace this process, others may not. But if you see traits in others that could be addressed to the betterment of the employee, as well as the workplace, it is conceivable that the person may respond favorably to input from peers, in addition to that of the manager.

If you have not already alienated all those around you, people will most likely be supportive of you as they sense your efforts to improve yourself with the ultimate goal of improving the productivity and the environment of the workplace.