The Fumitaml; Direct / YOU’VE GOT THEM, NOW MOTIVATE THEM! I was recently talking with several people concerning the jobs they were working at in a direct marketing business. After a short time, the conver sation turned from what the job entailed doing, to the sense of frustration they felt because of the feeling of being miscast in their roles in the business. They agreed they brought a number of valuable talents and experience to the table that management was either overlooking or downplaying. Often they felt they were being asked to work on tasks that had utilized their skills in only a minor way or that could be collectively accomplished by one person in the organiza tion. Their underlying concern was that they felt a close alle giance to the business and had a strong desire to see it grow but weren’t being fully utilized to accomplish what they per ceived should be a shared goal, common to both man agement and employees. for Vineyards FRUTTETO 60. 75 & 85, 2WD & AWD models. Just 57.4" wide with engines ranging from 60 to 85 hp. Factory installed air conditioned cab with carbon filtration. Synchronized shuttle, 25 mph with integral front brakes and optional front PTO. GOLDEN 60, 65, 75 & 85 are noted for low rounded hood design, and is only 47.3" wide with engines ranging from 60 to 85 hp. Available with optional factory installed pressurized cabs. GOLDEN - FRUTTETO - your ideal vineyard solutions. Come in today and see the ARGON & FRUTTETO tractors from SAME! mm Since 1927 www sametractor.com Several times in the conver sation, the issue of good lead ership was raised and what at tributes they felt were critical in a good manager. Character istics such as being approach able, fair, supportive, re sourceful, setting attainable goals, being reliable, and hav ing the ability to motivate were mentioned. They also felt a manager should be able to see the “big picture” and translate it into a version that employees could work toward in their daily activities in the business. They further states that a top-quality manager should be a good communica tor and ask for ideas, opin ions, and comments from em ployees and encourage employees to ask the same of customers when appropriate. So as a business manager or owner, what value do these comments have to you? First you need to recognize that if you have one or more good, quality employees, you work toward retaining them in a va riety of ways. A top-producing employee is an investment of ARGON, lightweight but powerful and economical. Ideal for use in general farm operations. Operator comfort - levers positioned on right side. Engine hp 50, 60 and 70 with 24 forward/12 reverse trans mission with underdrive, creeper and synchromesh shuttle. 55° degree steering angle for maneuverability. Muffler under the hood with lateral exhaust. Foldable 2 post ROPS and four wheel braking. Allen Hoover Repair Inc. RRI, Box 227 Mifflinburg, PA 17844 570-966-3821 Your Home for SAME TRACTORS both your time and money. Stop and think for a moment how much mental time you spend replacing people when they leave and just getting back to a level of status quo in your business. Next to dealing with envi ronmental and zoning issues, finding labor in an agricultur al business is the top com plaint of owners. The hours usually aren’t pretty and it’s tough competing against other non-ag businesses on pay scales. You have already sur mounted these two issues with the people working for you or they wouldn’t still be there. In fact although money is crit ical. survey after survey con ducted with employees points to the fact that they rate high wages below such items as being appreciated, feeling they are a part of decisions that af fect them or their job, the work being interesting, job se curity, and a manager being approachable on personal is sues. It’s interesting to note that similar studies of managers il lustrates the opposite is true. Money and growth (personal and company) are ranked highest. The lesson learned is that you think differently than those who work for you and you need to see that as a chal lenge to work through. It’s often said being a good leader is an art form, to get there, you need to learn to read your employees, finding MULTI-PURPOSE UTILITY TRACTOR Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 1,2003, Grower & Marketer-El9 the common ground between you, and working toward the same end. You want to devel op a sense of ownership in your employees. A landscape business owner recently related a personal ex perience to me. He talked of being in a men’s restroom at a rest area along the highway washing his hands, when a boy in his late teens came in, used the facilities, and then proceeded to pick up paper scattered around the floor on his way out. The boy was a traveler passing through but demonstrated a sense of own ership by his action. The businessman stated that ownership is the most im portant skill a manager can develop in an employee. It re tains employees, prevents bro ken machinery, stops theft, and provides the best custom er service possible. The best employees will scrub bath rooms, unload late deliveries, harvest on wet days, and even cheerfully deal with unhappy customers if you continually “read” them and provide the motivation they need. Find and exploit the strengths of your employees instead of focusing on their weaknesses. Often the weak ness of one is the strength of another and tasks can be as signed in that manner. Man aging that way will create a stronger, stable, and more sat isfied workforce. That in turn creates a happier owner/ manager and a potential in crease in the bottom line. I Know You’re In There! S ) P*K2nM^ Com planting is coming soon, we have excellent quality and quantity of seed com this year. Seed com has been our business for over 57 years. We have a large selection of varieties. Reasonably priced! { Prices Ranging $56 to $3B per Bag | .jnL, We carry many varieties of Grass Seeds. We also have Oats, Soybeans, Twine & Chemicals Y HORST SEED AND CHEMICALS Charles L Horst Dennis S Horst 1 Mile East of Marion Along Manon - New Franklin Rd (717) 375-2582 (717) 375-4690 How Can I Be The One To Feed You? I have been asked a number of times this spring by growers of food crops how to break into the market of selling products in school settings. Actually the question should be larger, and asked as: “How can I sell my products to insti tutions?” That’s because other group ings of people are equally im portant as a market for your products. Don’t overlook local, state, and federal pris ons in your area, colleges, sen ior centers, health care facili ties, nursing homes, and other similar locations. There are a lot of facilities probably within a short distance of your busi ness that are purchasing prod ucts similar to yours, from companies out of the area. This can be a good market once you profile the institu tional customer and learn to provide the right product. I was speaking to Dan Schofer from USDA’s Agri cultural Marketing Service re cently about a project he worked with in Florida deal ing with a similar scenario. This was not just survey stuff. It was a real, in the field, hands-on effort between grow ers, school district buyers, and marketing researchers. It in volved a group of growers looking for methods to get their products profitably into the kitchens of local schools on a routine basis. He offered a number of good suggestions (Turn to Page E 22)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers