K-State Research and Extension

“Talent Management”

By: Justin Waggoner, Ph.D., Beef Systems Specialist

The concept of “Talent Management” came up in a recent conversation. This is the strategy which an organization or business uses to hire, manage, retain, and develop employees for leadership roles. Many businesses lose exceptionally talented employees because their strengths and talents were not recognized. Additionally, an effective talent management strategy is a mechanism to groom and develop future leaders and managers. Managers play a key role in an organization’s talent management strategy, as they must identify talented, exceptional employees. Managers also serve as mentors, providing coaching and feedback to develop employees. Research conducted by the American Society for Training and Development documented that those organizations with the most successful talent management systems also asked managers to discuss the talents and skills of their most talented employees with other managers and leaders. Discussing the organizations most talented employees creates an internal talent pool that various departments can draw from to fill current positions. Do you have exceptional employees in your organization? What is your talent management strategy?

Are you at risk of losing your best employees? For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu.

“Customer Service….More Important Than Ever”

By: Justin Waggoner, Ph.D., Beef Systems Specialist

Good customer service is essential to any business or organization. It does not matter if it is a restaurant or a tow truck service, having staff members who leave customers or anyone who encounters your business with that “wow, that was great” feeling directly influences the bottom line. Customer service has become more important than ever as more consumers are purchasing goods and services without ever crossing the threshold of a traditional storefront. So how do we generate those feelings with someone on the phone or in a chat box? Let us start with the basics. What is customer service? Customer service is simply defined as the assistance provided by a company to those who purchase the goods or services it provides. Now on to the tough part, how do we as business or organization provide that assistance? Susan Ward (www.thebalancesmb.com) offers a few simple things that businesses can do to improve their customer service experiences. First, answer the phone. Potential customers want to talk to a person and don’t want to leave a message. Second, don’t make promises you can’t keep. As the old saying goes, “say what you are going to do, and do what you said you were going to.” Third, listen. Simply listening to what a potential customer’s need is important, there is nothing worse than listening to a sales pitch for something you don’t want. Fourth, be helpful even if you don’t make the sale, today. The service provided today has the potential to turn into something much larger in the future. Fifth, train your staff to go the extra mile by providing additional information about the product or other items commonly purchased with said goods. Lastly, empower your staff to offer something extra without asking permission, especially in those circumstances when the “customer is always right.”

For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu.

“Change”

By: Justin Waggoner, Ph.D., Beef Systems Specialist

“Change is inevitable” and often creates a sense of unease for many individuals. However, we have faced an unprecedented amount of change in the past few months. We have changed how we work, how we live, how we buy groceries, and many other things. Some of these changes have been small and some have been large. Why do we fear change? Change is not always bad, but experts agree that most employees within an organization express some degree of fear and resistance to change. The reality is that the fear of change within an organization is created because employees simply do not understand why the change is happening. A 2018 article in the Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2018/10/dont-just-tell-employees-organizational-changes-are-coming-explain-why offers suggestions on communicating change in the workplace.

 Keep employees informed with regular communications. Communication is essential to successfully navigating change. Communication should be clear and consistent and focus on the purpose of the change (the why).

 Empower leaders and managers to lead and model the change. Leaders and managers often face more pressure/resistance from employees than administration. Providing managers with additional training or resources equips them to drive and model the change.

 Involve employees in the change. Employees must take ownership of the change for it to be successful. Creating ways for employees to provide feedback and engage them in the process makes employees more likely to support the change.

For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu.

“Return to Normal”

By: Justin Waggoner, Ph.D., Beef Systems Specialist

The outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States has affected the workplace in many different ways over the past few weeks. As many states and counties begin to ease restrictions, many employers in KS are now beginning to consider the necessary steps to “return to normal”. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has several resources for businesses posted on its website (https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/). The resources on this page range from details on the current plan to re-open the state to how to properly clean and disinfect your business. As we transition back into the workplace, our “return to normal” will likely not be the normal we once knew and will likely create anxiety for both employers and employees. Experts suggest that one of the most important things employers can do to ease the transition is communication. Employers must communicate social distancing and cleaning protocols, as well as expectations regarding working remotely. Some employees may have safety concerns, especially if they or a family member falls within a high-risk category. Employers will likely have to make reasonable accommodations on an individual basis, which is challenging. However, there have been many challenges associated with this situation and most organizations/employers have demonstrated that they are more resilient than they ever imagined and that we will “return to normal” even if normal looks a little different.

For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu.

“It’s not Always about the Money”

By: Justin Waggoner, Ph.D., Beef Systems Specialist

If you have an employee who seems to continually be bothering you about not being paid enough, there are usually two possibilities: 1) You are 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 No. 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 No. 2. Some people are just better employees than others. If this person is worth more than the ‘scale’, you had 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, and 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 had better have a pretty good plan set up to attract a quality person to replace them.

For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu.

“Failure”

By:Justin Waggoner, Ph.D., Beef Systems Specialist

Leadership and management are evaluated by an organization or operation’s successes. However, the path to success often involves failure. Everyone hates to fail. However, failure is an excellent teacher and the simple truth is that we learn more from our failures than we do our successes. One of the traits many successful people possess is that they did not let fear of failure exceed their desire to succeed. History is full of leaders who were quite familiar with failure. However, when they made a mistake, they learned from it, moved on and didn’t let it happen again. Additionally, great leaders in the business world recognize that department or unit managers don’t always succeed and that failure is an unfortunate, but necessary component of empowering and cultivating good managers within the organization.

“Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.” – Robert Kiyosaki, author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”- Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb

For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu.

“How to Find More Time in the New Year”

By: Justin Waggoner, Ph.D., Beef Systems Specialist

One of the more common New Year’s resolutions is to find more time for family, friends, exercise or some new activity. However, the question becomes, how can we find more time within the day or week for the aforementioned activity of choice. One of the ways that many people try to find more time (including myself) is the “do I really need that much sleep” method of finding more time. Although, this method does work; it may also result in some undesirable outcomes, especially if the activity involves interacting with others. Time management experts suggest that the best way to make more time for any new activity is to become more efficient within our day. Efficiency is essentially organizing and prioritizing the daily “to do list” but it also includes looking for places in our day where we simply waste time. The most common “time waster” for many people involves a computer or a phone in today’s world. Procrastination is also another common “time waster” that reduces our ability to get things done. Many strategies have been developed to combat procrastination. One simple strategy that I recently came across is the two-minute rule and it essentially targets all those little things that we encounter during the day that eventually add up. This informal rule essentially says that when we encounter anything in our day that will take less than two-minutes that we should do it, be it a quick email response or cleaning up our computer files. It is difficult to find more time in our busy work schedules, but one thing is clear seconds turn into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days and so forth, which proves that little things do add up over time.

For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu.

“Winter Safety in the Workplace”

By: Justin Waggoner, Ph.D., Beef Systems Specialist

Winter is here and many agriculture workers work in the elements, which brings a new set of seasonal workplace hazards. Falls, slips, and trips are one of the most common causes of workplace injuries (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017). Although falls and slips can occur anytime, extra precautions are required during the winter months. Hypothermia is real, especially for those that work in the elements. Safety experts suggest that clothing should be layered to retain body heat. However, how and what type of layers those clothes are made of is important. At least three layers are recommended. Cotton or other breathable synthetic fiber should be the first or base layer, wool or down is suggested for the middle layer, and the third or outer layer should be composed of material that will block the wind such as a nylon outer shell found on many ski-jackets, etc. Portable heaters are often used as heat sources in many shops and barns. Portable heaters are one of the most common causes of carbon monoxide poisoning and fires. If heaters are used in confined spaces, keep in mind that ventilation is required to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. Additionally, the areas where heaters are used should be checked for combustible materials.

For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu.