K-State Research and Extension

“Partners in Safety”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

Last month we discussed training the newly hired employee, first and foremost, on the Culture of Safety in your workplace. We stressed that unless all employees feel that the employer cares about their safety, safe practices will not become routine. The problem comes for the small business when trying to establish a safety program and standard operating procedures which emphasize safe practices. That is, everyone in the organization already has a great deal of responsibilities and there usually is not a person dedicated to human resources-related issues such the safety program.

As we all know, we can’t manage what we don’t measure. Contact the Kansas Department of Human Resources and the Kansas Department of Labor to find out where you rank in terms of injury accidents compared to other organizations in your industry. Depending on your accident record, you may need to focus on certain areas more than others in your operation.

After determining what safety areas on which to focus, you may ask for input from each of your employees (or those you most trust) on safety tips within each area of the organization. These suggestions can be typed up, compiled into a binder, and updated and expanded regularly.

A possibly unlikely, but potentially, invaluable partner in your safety program should by your workers’ compensation insurance provider. It is in their best interest to help you remain accident-free—they should be eager to help. They know where the pitfalls are and where to focus your energies and efforts. They know where safety problems lie in your industry and related industries, and they have experience in building safety programs and providing safety training.

Above all, get a program in place. Get started, get advice from experts, and keep getting better.

“A Culture of Safety”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

Last month we discussed starting the training process of the new hire. Obviously that process will be dominated by day-to-day duties, responsibilities, specialized practices and the like. But we can’t lose sight of the fact that this is a critical first step in building a corporate culture. I hesitate to use the word “corporate” because of its implications of a disconnected, disembodied, sterile entity, but in reality, the word simply means “pertaining to a body.” You are training on the culture of your workplace community.

There are many facets of the culture which you can impart: integrity, quality, commitment to the customer, just to name a few. But in our agricultural work places, none is more important to the person in the workplace than that of Safety.

Without a pervasive culture of safety, safe practices (safety glasses, hard hats, helmets for ATV use, etc.) are perceived by everyone as simply a way for the “corporation” (in the business sense, not the community sense) to placate their insurance provider. Because these practices are not taken seriously by all parties, accidents continue to occur, and lives and livelihoods continue to be placed in jeopardy.

Conversely, sending the clear message of the Culture of Safety means that you, the employee, matter; your safety matters; your colleague’s safety matters; they matter more than saving a few seconds, minutes, or hours of production time. Safety comes first, before speed or short-term targets of productivity because a safe organization will have greater long-term productivity.

Train on safety first, before training on the proper procedure for expense reimbursement submission or vacation policy, or whatever, and keep on training—never stop training—and the Culture of Safety will become embedded throughout your workplace team.

“Maximizing ROI: The New Hire”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

This has been a long, difficult, sometimes frustrating process: one of your good people left for a new opportunity or you had to let someone go; you struggled over how best to fill the void; written a detailed job description; interviewed some qualified (and not-so-qualified) people; and hired the best person for the job. You don’t want to go through this all again anytime soon. How do you ensure you get the new person started out right for long-term success?

First, make sure that the person to whom the new hire will report is integrally involved in setting job expectations, the interviews, and the hiring process. This will most likely be the person you rely on for feedback on the new hire’s progress: don’t sabotage this all-important feedback process by hiring someone whose eventual supervisor is against from the very beginning.

Communication is obviously important in all working relationships, but it certainly is even more so with new employees, because they come in with few or no preconceptions about the workplace. Whatever you fail to communicate effectively, the employee will have to “make up”. And it will very likely be wrong.   More likely, they will come in with an understanding of how they “did it at my old job”, which may be entirely different from your procedures. Take time and be intentional about communicating EVERYTHING to your new hire. You may think something is obvious; it probably is not to a new employee. As a side note, make sure that everyone involved in providing this communication are those in your organization who you believe are really making every effort to do things properly. The less time the new hire spends with the “corner-cutters”, the better at this stage.

Training will begin on day one, but if your workplace involves dangerous equipment or procedures, or involves working with livestock or horses, safety should be the first place to start the training process. Safety is too important and the risks simply too great to ignore. Again, what may seem obvious to you or your existing employees may not be to the new person. Better to over-communicate from the very beginning than to deal with the consequences of ignorance later.

This is how creating a culture of safety begins.

“Hiring New Employees: The Job Description”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

There are many parts of managing personnel which are difficult, complex, and sometimes unpleasant. But with respect to hiring, there are some steps which can streamline and take some of the pain out of the process.

If you run a small business chances are you are not only CEO, CFO, and COO, but also VP for Human Resources. That is to say you have plenty on your plate hour by hour and day by day. But you also know a good investment when you see one. Having written job descriptions on file for the various positions you employ will save time and confusion during the hiring process and possibly frustration and headache after the new employee is on the job.

If you are in the process of filling a vacant position take the time to write out as detailed and thorough of job description as possible. This includes not only specific tasks to be performed by the employee but also qualifications needed. Most importantly: put your expectations in writing. This gives any prospective new hire a clear indication of what will be expected, and they will be able to evaluate whether they are qualified. During the interview process you have the opportunity to ask about qualifications for each individual job duty for which you’ve advertised. If the applicant is unqualified for certain, perhaps minor duties of the job, you can make the assessment whether or not to hire them regardless. Note: if you do hire them in spite of a lack of ability to perform a given task, either eliminate this task from the job description on file or make specific training for this task a priority for the new hire and document the lack of qualification and training in the person’s records.

One advantage of the hiring process is that you have the opportunity to start with a clean slate. If the organization has changing needs compared with the duties performed by the previous employee, you have an opportunity to find a person with a different skill set to perform those duties better aligned with your vision of the organization’s future success.

Be specific with respect to duties or qualifications. For example, instead of “Must be good with computers” write “Must have documented experience with PeachTree”. Also, as a job description is considered a legal document, never make any reference to preferences of gender, age, race, nationality, etc. as this is strictly illegal.

Finally, communication is always at the heart of success or failure when managing people and the job description is just another form of clear communication. If the employee and supervisor understand clearly the fully documented expectations of qualifications, duties, normal work hours, reporting structure, performance goals, and any collaborative expectations BEFORE, DURING, and LONG AFTER the hiring process, the risk of confusion and conflict over job expectations will certainly be greatly reduced.

“Employee Training – Upgrading Your Assets”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

“People are our best and most valuable assets.” How many times have you heard and/or said that? It is most likely true; however, we are often too busy just putting out fires to truly invest in that precious resource.

It has been said that organizations invest in what they value, and organizations ultimately only have two resources to invest: time and money. If you truly value your good people, you will invest in them. That will take time, and that may cost money. But that is the price of not only keeping good people around, but in fact making them even MORE valuable.

The selfish motivation for providing ongoing training and career development on the part of management is that you will have more productive employees. This is definitely true, but in addition they will be of greater value to your competitors too, and it may cost you to keep them due to their elevated market value. The good news is, as discussed in a previous Management Minute, organizations who demonstrate their commitment to their employees will most certainly have loyal employees who are very difficult to hire away.

But in addition to getting more productive, loyal employees, you get a higher output, higher efficiency, and higher profile organization. Teams with highly productive people get noticed—both your customers and your competitors will be paying attention.

“Conflict Resolution: Somebody’s Got To Do It”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

Next to terminating employees, facilitating conflict resolution is perhaps the most difficult part of every manager’s job. But it is also absolutely essential to maintaining the team chemistry and ensuring a positive workplace environment.

Allowing conflict to simmer or assuming it will ‘work itself out’ is certain to erode job satisfaction in all parties directly involved in the conflict, but also in those on the sidelines who are affected by it. It is obvious that the conflicting parties will harbor bitterness toward one another resulting in poor cooperation. But what about their co-workers who get dragged in (and dragged down) by being exposed to negative comments from both sides and by potentially being forced to take sides. This is a classic ‘tip of the iceberg’ situation. Productive time is lost every time the offended parties take co-workers away from their duties to complain about the offending party, and often the manager for actions or inactions contributing to the conflict. The offended party is operating below their full potential and dragging down anyone who will listen.

The manager needs to step in as soon as they are aware of the conflict. Organizations invest resources (and there are really only 2 resources: time, and money) in what they value. If you value productivity, team work, and cooperation, you will invest time in investigating and resolving the conflict. A counselor was brought in to investigate a fist fight in the maintenance shop at a feedyard. After a few hours of discussion with all parties involved it was learned that the conflict was rooted in a teenage love-triangle during high school nearly twenty years before. That being said, there are rarely any easy answers where humans are involved. But resolution cannot be attained without intentionality on the part of management. “Inertia (the desire either to stay where we are or to keep moving in the same direction) is overcome with intentionality.”

Suggested steps to resolution include: (1) getting the conflicting individuals to sit down together with you and discuss their issues, (2) have antagonists suggest what they feel the other party needs to do to amend the situation, (3) you as manager make a commitment to follow up and hold parties accountable for making the needed changes, and (4) disciplinary action for non-compliance in the resolution process. All parties need to understand that they are adults and that responsibility for resolution ultimately resides with them, but if they do not take the needed steps, you as manager will be forced to intervene, possibly leading to termination.

This is not fun and is rarely simple, but early intervention will prevent the conflict from festering, chronically hurting team productivity, and potentially erupting later and creating greater wounds in the organization.

“Another Form of Compensation: Job Satisfaction”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

As we discussed last month, when an employee repeatedly feels underpaid, it may actually mean that they feel undervalued. In response to the true, underlying emotion, there are many ways the effective manager can address this real concern, other than any additional pay increase.

To address job satisfaction you should first explore job duties, qualifications, outside interests, and relationships with co-workers. Questions to ask both yourself and the employee include: Do the person’s job duties match the skills and interests of the employee? Do they have the potential to make a greater contribution by either (a) taking on more responsibilities or (b) by relinquishing some duties to better focus on fewer responsibilities? Does this person have good ideas that the company is not listening to or making any effort to incorporate? Do they get along well with their co-workers or is their unresolved conflict? And if they do get along well, are they a team leader or simply a good team mate?

If one or more of the above questions gives you less than satisfactory answers and this is truly an employee worth fighting for, you need to be willing to uncover what it will take to make this person feel more at home and valued in the organization. If employees feel fulfilled in their job; if they feel they are ‘doing what they were designed to do’ during the work day; if they feel their company values what they do and who they are; if they do not feel limited in their potential; if they feel they are part of a productive, responsive, inclusive, and dynamic team; they will have little reason to ever look elsewhere for ‘greener pastures’, and it will be very difficult for another employer to steal—or even buy—them away from you.

“It’s Not About The Money”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

If you have an employee who seems to continually be bothering you about not being paid enough, there are usually 2 possibilities. 1) You’re a tightwad and you’re not paying them enough; or 2) the person is disgruntled about their role in the organization. To find out if the answer is #1, make a few phone calls to managers you trust in your general geography and find out what your neighbors are paying for similar jobs in your industry. If you’re within 50¢ or so per hour, then move on to answer #2. Some people are just better employees than others. If this person is worth more than the ‘scale’, you’d better pay more to keep them.

But “pay” can come in many forms. You can “buy” an employee’s loyalty and general job satisfaction with many perks other than another few cents or bucks per hour. Make sure your insurance, savings investment, and/or profit sharing plans are at least in line with the industry. This is especially important if this person has a family to look after. Non-monetary benefits include things like flexible time off. Those early mornings and long days are a lot easier to take if a person knows they can take Thursday afternoons off for a child’s ball game or whatever.

What about goals? Have you asked your employee what they want out of this position? They may want to move up in the organization or have opportunities for a management role elsewhere. You can be selfish about this or you can take on the role of mentor and teacher. By taking care of your employee and training them for a leadership role they will most certainly be a better employee, and will have a harder time leaving for a different job. And even if they do leave for a different opportunity, they will give such a glowing report on your leadership and team approach, you can be certain to find a good, young person to replace them.

The question you need to ask yourself is “Do you really want this person around for the long haul?” If you DO, take some time to privately evaluate your plans, then take some more time one-on-one with this employee to find out their long-term needs and goals. If you DON’T want this person to remain in the organization, you still need to get your plans in order because after you inform this person they are not what your organization needs, you’d better have a pretty good plan set up to attract a quality person to replace them.

“Partnership and Marriage”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

For those who are married, you may have heard someone say, “Marriage is hard. A good marriage takes work.” Although that sentiment is true at some level, understanding the foundation for a strong and happy marriage requires looking at marriage at a deeper level.

A successful marriage takes commitment and sacrifice. To people who have not built a long, successful marriage (or who have not raised children), those are just two words. In the context of marriage, “commitment” and “sacrifice” by necessity go together. People who want a successful marriage are both committed TO sacrifice.

Partnership, like a successful marriage, requires compromise. We can look at compromise as two people meeting each other half-way across a bridge over a river or chasm. People whose partnerships are doomed to fail are those who, at the opening of the partnership, say that the other partner must “meet me half-way”. The question then becomes, “Who determines where the half-way line is?” and the answer, is secretly, “I do.” The reason this mentality dooms the partnership to failure is that what I may have defined as the half-way point, the other party may define as barely having started across the bridge or is nearly all the way to the other side. If both parties think that the other party has barely started across the bridge from their respective sides, and feels that they alone are being asked to sacrifice and come the furthest across the bridge, there is no room for compromise. This partnership will fail.

Imagine a marriage in which both spouses only consider their own best interest or convenience or pleasure during decision conversations: every decision becomes an argument and a stalemate, and the relationship becomes strained and rife with distrust. Now imagine a marriage in which both spouses enter into each situation with only the best interest and happiness of their spouse at the root of their choices and decisions. Compromise becomes easy and uncomplicated, and the relationship thrives and leaps forward; the spouses grow in respect and trust for the other; opportunities abound.

For strong, lasting partnerships, each partner must make decisions that will not only benefit themselves if they do not benefit their partner. Each partner must be committed to sacrifice freedom in the short run in exchange for success, growth, and opportunity in the long run. Willingly (not strategically or grudgingly) giving up something for the benefit of the partner will build trust and strengthen the alliance.

Like a marriage, if partners go into the partnership with the illusion that the partnership will not involve sacrifice, then the partnership will crumble.

“Preferred Employer”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot 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 like-minded 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 who they work with or is there a mad rush for the door at 5:00?

Self-assessment plus vulnerability create opportunities for growth. But without one or the other, you will be stuck in a quagmire of your own making.