Preventative Maintenance for Your People: How to Reduce Turnover and Boost Morale
Follow this strategy to reduce turnover and increase morale on your farm team
No news from your employees is good news, right? That approach might fit your leadership preference, but it’s an archaic way of leading your team, says Dave Mitchell, founder of Walla Walla, Wash.-based consulting firm The Leadership Difference.
“I’m stunned at how little leadership interacts with their team members,” he says. “Leaders need to be more assertive in reaching out to the employees to make sure any frustrations are resolved before they fester and cause permanent damage.”
This concept is something Mitchell calls people preventative maintenance. Essentially it is a system to create continuous feedback from the employee to the employer.
It can take several months for employees to be open to providing honest feedback. But over time, Mitchell says, team members will be more eager to participate and share.
“The key is you are consistent in collecting the information and reliable in acting on what you collect,” he says. “This cycle creates a continuous improvement process based on employee feedback.”
Simple and Purposeful System for Feedback
1. Create a spreadsheet with all your team members’ names in the left column and all the months as headers for the columns.
2. Each month, schedule a casual 15-min. meeting (over a cup of coffee or during a drive to town) with each of your team members.
“The key is to execute the meeting informally but track it formally to ensure you speak with each team member each month,” Mitchell says.
3. Ask questions, such as:
How are things going at work?
What do you like most?
What do you like least?
What would you change to improve our work?
What do you need to make it easier for you to be successful?
4. Take notes on the feedback and identify any suggestions you should implement.
5. Note the meeting on your spreadsheet so you know you conducted the meeting.
6. Once you know which suggestions you will take, respond to the team member within a few days about the status of their suggestion.
Hear Dave Mitchell discuss how leadership hits your bottom line on the “Farming the Countryside” podcast:
