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Formal meetings provide opportunity to provide information and share ideas.

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MEETINGS of groups of employees or all employees are good for providing information with a more personal touch than written form and for taking up matters on which multiple people can contribute to discussion. Farm and ranch operators use them to report on the status of the business, formulate business goals and plans, make major personnel decisions, cope with specific operational problems, and provide training.

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How to formally engage labor—through direct employment, farm labor contractors and other service providers, or independent contractor agreements—is a basic choice.

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WHEN STAFFING with direct employees and family members, key decisions include: 1) Which tasks and duties to combine into jobs, 2) How to group jobs within crews or other organizational units, 3) What rates of pay and fringe benefits to offer, and 4) How to select employees for specific positions and assignments.

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Workers’ main impetus to leave is how they are treated.

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INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION is one of the most important skill areas for managers in agriculture and other fields. Communication involves more than just talking. It also takes deciding what to say and how, listening, “decoding” signals—words and body language—and checking back on the accuracy of interpretation. Effective communication occurs when the sender and receiver of a message both understand the message the same way.

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All managers have a theory of management; it affects how they operate..

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ELEMENTS of a manager’s theory often take the form of:
• If you want the task done right, do it yourself.
• The supervisor who respects his crew members will be respected by them.
• If you don’t measure results, don’t expect they will be achieved.
• A worker who has two bosses cannot effectively be supervised by either.
• Promoting to higher level jobs from within builds employee commitment to the business.
• Before entrusting business assets to family, decide which you value more.
• Offering entry pay a cut above the local average is necessary to attract the most capable applicants.

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Work performance depends on both ability and motivation.

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INCONSISTENCY between job requirements and individual abilities is a prime foundation for poor — as well as unsafe — performance. Work performance depends on ability and motivation, and neither is sufficient without the other. The most capable person still performs poorly if motivation is low. Likewise, the most eager worker cannot be very productive without ability.

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Mistakes and misconduct eat at the bottom line.

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A HELPFUL TYPE OF DOCUMENT that is used to promote understanding and consistency within an agricultural business is a code of conduct or list of expectations. It may be incorporated into a handbook or issued separately, but having written rules about behavioral standards informs employees and supports disciplinary action if necessary.

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Delegation simply may not work.

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RATHER than whether or not to delegate, the practical issues that growers, ranchers, and supervisors face are what to delegate, to whom, when, and to what extent. The what, to whom, and when questions largely depend on task characteristics. Implementation of all delegation decisions can be supported with job descriptions, policies, and training.

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Introductory training is essential, even for seasonal and part-time employees.

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MATCHING employee ability with job requirements is a key part of personnel management. The more effectively managers explain their expectations, the more satisfied both they and their employees will be with initial on-the-job performance, provided all other things are equal.

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Supervisors’ prerogatives to reward and threaten have been greatly reduced over the years

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SOMETIMES a supervisor’s best move is not to lead but rather to get out of the way and let workers do what they know needs to be done in the way they knowhow to do it. In the normal course of events, though, supervisors in agriculture want to initiate employee action or at least modify its direction. They need the power to influence.

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Fitting people with jobs involves working with information about jobs and about people.

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NO MATTER how the information about a job is obtained, having or putting it into the form of a written job description lays a foundation for recruitment, selection, and management later on. A job description is simply a verbal sketch of a given job—its purpose, content, and attributes or characteristics of the people likely to perform it well. Some firms also use the job description to formally state such terms of employment as pay, benefits, and performance standards.