A44-Lancastcr Fanning, Saturday, April 21,1990 I 3 *-v ' —*-’■ M ' - y if F A R MANAGEMENT ALAN W. STROCK Farm Management Extension Agent Why Bother? Having carefully inventoried the need for labor, researched the legal, tax, and record keeping requirements, formulated the job description, actively recruited qualified candidates, interviewed and hired the person for the job, the next task is to train your energetic new employee. Training is something “you pay for (directly or indirectly) whether you do it or not.” Employees who are challenged and supported in their development, reach full potential early, and are able to improve productivity, and ulti mately farm PROFITS. So training may make you MORE MONEY than anything else you do. Do You Expect Too Much? Farmers often hire unskilled workers and expect immediate skilled performance without pro viding any real training. This often leads to conflicts and misunder standing, then to open and heated 2 BIG DAYS! Come & See The Finest Horse Facility In The Tri-County Area! FRIDAY. APRIL 27th And . SATURDAY. APRIL 28th (Rain or Shine) . Friday - Fre ®^® 8 B & B Q°with Drink . Saturday : Chicken . Ah Bahoon Ridel disagreements and finally to early dismissal. The employer must pinpoint and overcome the barriers that prevent new workers from being highly productive. Is Your Farm A Nice Place to Work? Employees with real potential will not remain on any farm that doesn’t help workers to improve themselves. They must think your business is a good place to work, and experience your commitment to their personal growth and to their progress toward higher level responsibilities. The Key To Successful Training The employer must make every effort to enlist the participation and support of the employee(s) in the training development process. Candid meetings or discussions should be held with employees to determine the skills and know ledge training needed, who will be trained and by whom, and how the training results will be measured. Workers are then more likely to “buy in,” or assume “ownership” Red Rose Building System; Invites You T 0... of the program and feel compelled to make it work. How Do I Train? Some training can be done off the farm, in community adult edu cation programs. Examples: weld ing or tractor safety course at a loc al vocational center or high school. The employer will often pay for the cost of the training and even provide time off from the job. Outside training is most effec tive when the principles learned are reinforced when the employee returns to the job. The second approach is for the training to be done on farm. Many farm employers report that they feel inadequate in the role of teach er or trainer, yet they are very accomplished at the task they are attempting to teach. Perhaps the key to success in this situation is a systematic approach to training. Effective Training Techniques The following steps should help you become a more effective train er for even the most basic jobs: • Determine your training objec tives. List exactly what tasks, skills, and knowledge are going to be taught, then plan to teach them in a logical order. • Prepare to instruct. Put the work ers at ease and try to make them comfortable as they leant the new skill or task. Make sure that all the materials necessary for doing the job are on hand and that the work place is set up in a manner condu cive to learning. When possible, pick a less busy day, so you can take the time required to be a teacher. Take time to show your unique methods and be very specific. • Provide supervision until the job/ skill is mastered, observing the employee while he/she is doing the job, by coaching through the cor rect steps and correcting errors immediately. Be sure the employ ee has ample opportunity to ask questions and that he/she under stands the job. • Follow-up. Allow the employee to work independently, and be sure he/she knows who to go to with questions and/or problems. • Periodically check, evaluate, and encourage your employees in their progress. Reward workers when performance benchmarks are achieved. Praise and recognition can be as important as pay raises or fringe benefits. Perhaps the greatest challenge facing you is to invest sufficient LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.) Franklin and Marshall College has planned a day of “environmental education and action for all ages” at Earth Fair 1990 on Saturday, April 28, rain or shine. Beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the college and lasting into the even ing, Earth Fair 1990 will feature educational forums, woric trips, children’s activities, and displays to provide information on conser vation methods and practices. Lectures and discussions on cur rent local and national environ mental issues, better farming prac tices, and improving standards of living will be featured. Earth Fair 1990 culminates the celebration of Building Materials And Construction By: p.o. Box P-50 Located Along Stevens, PA /k RED Rt - 272 Just South 17578 / * hami Of PA Turnpike 215-267-4911 / ROSE EXit 21 BUILDING SYSTEMS 1 “°- 537 - <15 “ • Red Rose Building Systems • MGS Horse Trailers • Quality Fence Plans Earth J.A.M. STABLES Take Rt. 272 North of Ephrata, Turn West On Schoeneck Rd. (At PP&L Building) Go 5 7/10 Miles To Facility On Right. Meet Representatives From • Textan Leather Goods & Saddles • Eisers Tack Equipment • Caldwell Horse Health Care Products time to'make the process work. Time invested in preparation for training, the training itself, and the follow up can have a big payoff later. Evaluation of Training Program Training effectiveness can be measured by the worker’s improvement in job performance, so it is important that work perfor mance is checked to see if training objectives are achieved. Evaluation techniques will be covered in a future article in this series. All of this sounds very time con suming and expensive. But equally costly, are the hours and mo/iey spent attempting to correct jobs done poorly. Next time Workers. Fair Earth Week, presented by the F&M Environmental Action Alliance (a student group) in con junction with the Earth Day Coali tion of Lancaster County. Work trips to help clean roads and parks and plant trees, along with environmental interest dis plays, will be included. Children’s activities will include crafts, mural painting, and activities. Food and music will be avail able all day. Special attractions include “Plant-A-Tree” with 3-year old spruces available for 50 cents each, and white dogwoods and sugar maples for $1.50. An art contest award ceremony will begin at noon and there will be an even ing concert at 8:00 p.m. on the Ben Franklin Quad. AT 840 S. Cocalico Rd. Denver, Pa. Motivating
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