The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
1-27-2016 Column
The first month of the New Year is almost gone and I’m already behind on many of my resolutions. One of my goals for 2015 is to update our farm office operation.
I’m not saying how we’ve been operating for the past 30 years is wrong, but I think we just need to work in a more professional and businesslike manner.
We need to update and clarify expectations and responsibilities for future employees, be it our kids or non-family hires. My first goal is to write job descriptions .
We are constantly being told to run our farms like a business and not as a family. The seminar speakers tell us “you need to have a mission statement, job descriptions, entry and exit plans, and succession strategies in place.
You need to have weekly meetings around a conference table with your “team” to discuss meeting expectations and goals.”
We have never talked about job descriptions, mission statements or goals around here. We all just knew our main focus was to earn a living at farming.
We knew we needed to develop a herd of high typed cows with solid production to earn that living. So, we put our heads down and started working. We each had our strengths and areas of interests.
We never specifically decided who would do what jobs, things just fell in place. Al is in charge of the calves. Mark handles the cows. I do the books and registrations. Al plants alfalfa.
Mark plants corn and beans. I garden. Al cuts the alfalfa, Mark runs the chopper and I drive chopper boxes. We each have our areas and we all work together to complete the other daily jobs.
This system has worked well for us over the years, but as we look to the future, we’re going to need to make some modifications.
Now that we need to start bringing in help, we need to start writing things down. A new employee will not be able to read our minds or “just know” what needs to be done. We need to write a job description.
Even if our children decide to come home and already know what to do, we will still need job descriptions so there is no breakdown in communications or expectations.
I went online to see what it takes to put together a formal job description. Here is what I learned.
A job description is usually developed by conducting a job analysis, which includes examining the tasks and sequence of tasks necessary to perform the job.
An analysis considers areas of knowledge and skills needed to complete the job. In writing a job description, you need to highlight primary responsibilities, requirements, qualifications and challenges.
Job descriptions typically include a job title, job objective and a list of duties. Now I know why we never wrote out a job description before. Our simple work philosophy has been “see a job…get it done.”
How would you write a job description for what you do on your farm? I think most of us can sum it up in one word….everything! You know what needs to be done and you just do it.
It doesn’t matter how the job is “described” or who it is “assigned” to. If there is a job to be done, you just do it. We may not always complete the job efficiently, but it will get done.
Then it is time to move on to the next job because we never run out of jobs to do on the farm. We work by the motto…”just do it.”
Nike shoes may have trademarked this phrase but parents and farmers have been using it long before rubber soles were first molded and the swoosh was only a sound.
Part of my problem with job descriptions is defining the job. How do you not know what feeding the cows mean? It is fairly obvious, but if I really take the time to review the process, I realize there are several tasks which need to be accomplished before the feed is even delivered to the cows.
I’ve never broken down our jobs into tasks or steps to be performed.
We have never closely examined what we do and why we do our jobs in a specific order. If we do break down our jobs, I think we will be surprised at all we have to do to complete a “simple task”. The number of steps would make the job seem impossible.
It would be like a marathon runner counting each individual step he would take in a race. The number would be so large, he would never start! Instead, he breaks the race down into manageable markers to reach the finish line. So, we must also break down the jobs into manageable tasks.
Writing a job description also shines a light on why things are done a certain way. The kids will tell you some of our jobs are done a certain way because that is the way it has been done since the beginning of time!
Grandpa did it this way. Dad does it this way. But why? It challenges us to take the time to really think why we do some of these routine jobs in a certain order.
If you can’t defend it or even remember why you started doing it this way, is it time to try a different process?
Even with well written job descriptions and mission statements, you still have to do a good job every day. If you don’t do the daily stuff right, it doesn’t matter what your expectations and goals were for the long run.
You have to do the daily jobs to fill in the big picture. It takes many brush strokes to create a masterpiece. We need to pay attention to the little details and do each job right the first time.
Many times we let our jobs define who we are. We’re a famer, a banker, a baker, a salesman. But that’s not who we are. A job or job description defines our job.
How we do our job defines who we are. I would like to be defined by different words..honest, trustworthy, dependable, loyal, disciplined, committed.
While a job description defines what we do, let our actions define who we are.
My job description for the Dairy Star is evolving. I will be splitting my time between this column and a new cooking adventure column.
I would love to have you help me with this new adventure by sharing your stories and favorite tips and recipes for some simple down home farm cooking.
I’m looking forward to talking with you as we develop this new section of the paper together.