Don Tyler, agriculture Management Coach and Advisor

A Strategic Plan for Labor:

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A Strategic Plan for Labor:

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I thought I would step out of my normal blogging on family, employee and management issues and forward a few observations and notes from conversations with producers across the midwest.  My travels this spring and summer have taken me to most of the parts of the country that have seen weather extremes, so I thought I'd share what I've seen and heard.  These comments are all anecdotal, so use them at your own discretion.....

 --In speaking with a seed sales rep in the central/eastern Iowa area, they cut off re-seeding beans in the flooded areas on July 10.  The reason being that even if they do come up, the same areas that are prone to flooding are the same areas prone to an early frost......

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I thought I would step out of my normal blogging on family, employee and management issues and forward a few observations and notes from conversations with producers across the midwest.  My travels this spring and summer have taken me to most of the parts of the country that have seen weather extremes, so I thought I'd share what I've seen and heard.  These comments are all anecdotal, so use them at your own discretion.....

 --In speaking with a seed sales rep in the central/eastern Iowa area, they cut off re-seeding beans in the flooded areas on July 10.  The reason being that even if they do come up, the same areas that are prone to flooding are the same areas prone to an early frost......

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Managing People in Tough Times:

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Managing People in Tough Times:

A client of mine who is a Texas dairyman was going through a rough time several years ago, and asked about managing his people.  He realized that he was going out to the parlor more often and looking over the employee’s shoulders, talking about how tough things were and making sure that everything got done right because there was no room for error.  We talked about the parlor manager there, and sure enough—he had been there for 12 years and was considered one of the best in the entire industry.  So why look over his shoulder and nitpick?  We discussed the possibility of not going out there and interacting with the people unless he had a positive attitude and could avoid micro-managing the staff.

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A brief note to mention that PORK Magazine has asked me to spend some time in their booth at the World Pork Expo for some Q & A with Employers and Employees.

Their full announcement is:

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Answers to Employee/Employer Questions

Whether you’re an employer or an employee, plan to stop by the Pork magazine booth during World Pork Expo with your employment-related questions and seek advice from Don Tyler, employee and business management consultant and Dear Boss columnist. Tyler will be available at Booth 763 in the Varied Industry Building on the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Thursday, June 5, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., and again on Friday, June 6, from 10:00 a.m. to Noon.

read more

A brief note to mention that PORK Magazine has asked me to spend some time in their booth at the World Pork Expo for some Q & A with Employers and Employees.

Their full announcement is:

= = = = = =

Answers to Employee/Employer Questions

Whether you’re an employer or an employee, plan to stop by the Pork magazine booth during World Pork Expo with your employment-related questions and seek advice from Don Tyler, employee and business management consultant and Dear Boss columnist. Tyler will be available at Booth 763 in the Varied Industry Building on the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Thursday, June 5, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., and again on Friday, June 6, from 10:00 a.m. to Noon.

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During a recent visit with a client in Iowa, the owners talked about a challenge that they had in getting their employees to “care more about the pigs.” They had discussed ventilation issues, appropriate watering and feeding, watching for sows that didn’t eat, etc.—all the important stockmanship training issues—but it seemed that it was not getting through to their people.

Instead of reviewing their training process and regular monitoring, I asked them about what areas the employees did seem to care about. “Well,” the wife said, “they really like to see the pigs ‘happy.’ They can tell when they walk into a building if the pigs are ‘happy’ and they seem to like seeing the pigs behave that way.”

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During a recent visit with a client in Iowa, the owners talked about a challenge that they had in getting their employees to “care more about the pigs.” They had discussed ventilation issues, appropriate watering and feeding, watching for sows that didn’t eat, etc.—all the important stockmanship training issues—but it seemed that it was not getting through to their people.

Instead of reviewing their training process and regular monitoring, I asked them about what areas the employees did seem to care about. “Well,” the wife said, “they really like to see the pigs ‘happy.’ They can tell when they walk into a building if the pigs are ‘happy’ and they seem to like seeing the pigs behave that way.”

read more