Retail Training

Single Best Tool To Predict Peak Performance

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 14:26:53 GMT

It’s a commonly held goal to hire good employees and keep those great team members onboard.

Dave Mitchell thinks there is one–the job description.

“The single most important tool to predict peak performance is a very well developed job description,” he says.

Mitchell founded The Leadership Difference after two decades in corporate HR management. While working with companies of all industries across the country, he’s developed metrics to measure peak performance.

“Go blow the dust off your job description book, or maybe first make sure you have job descriptions,” he says. “The next step is to update those job descriptions with necessary legal considerations. And third, make sure those job descriptions are good for the roles.”

Mitchell says he defines “good” job descriptions as those that aren’t just what the job does, but explain to the degree the employee is expected to do it.

“If you provide that level of detail, you’ve got a recruiting tool, a training tool, a performance appraisal tool, and an alignment tool. It makes one What if there was one tool to focus on using to achieve the best recruitment and retention? document serve multiple purposes and makes sure you have everything covered,” he says.

Hear more from Mitchell in The Scoop Podcast:

New Employee Training Sets Strong Roots for Success

Fri, 13 May 2022 20:10:24 GMT

Denton Lowe, feed manager at National Ropers Supply, shares how the team invests in new employees with a training program to set them up for success with customers. Lowe leads the team at the 90,000 square foot retail operation, which is co-located with its 400-acre working cattle ranch located in Decatur, Texas.

“If it goes in or on the animal---or the rider—we carry it,” he says.

He credits the culture at National Ropers Supply for being able to see a weakness and address it with a new approach.

“All of our feed staff maybe don’t come from a ranch and rodeo type background. So I just started this whole new curriculum and presentation called Feed Staff Orientation,” Lowe says. “We say here’s who we are, here’s what we do in a nutshell, these are the products we carry, and if the customer says this you need to give them a suggestion if this product.”

The training includes a basic rundown of the different digestive systems and the different animals sales staff with help support. For the team based in north Texas this ranges from cattle, horses, whitetail deer, and more.

“I’m 26 years old, but I feel like I’m proud papa whenever employees come back to me and they’re like ‘hey man I really appreciate what you did there. Here’s how I use it and I got this customer to set up a feeding trial here, and we gained this account.’”

The timing of launching the program has been particularly advantageous as feed demand and feed costs have risen. It’s equipped the team to be more prepared in answering customer questions. And it’s led to being able to instill a deeper customer loyalty.

Hear more in The Scoop podcast:

He says there is a trifecta of trends right now in how livestock producers are seeking feed products.
“They want products that work. they want products they can trust, and they will be sure that it’s convenient for them to order it,” he says.

Convenience to the customer has been a differentiator for Lowe and his team.

“One thing I’ve definitely seen change here lately is just how much convenience matters. Whether that’s something simple like a customer having a credit card on file or and setting up deliveries at a routine schedule,” he says.

America’s Conservation Ag Movement Engages Farmers

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 21:04:17 GMT

Widespread adoption of sustainability practices throughout agriculture is key to the industry’s future. Trust In Food , a Farm Journal initiative working to accelerate the adoption of sustainable agriculture, announces the successful completion of the first wave of dedicated regional conservation agriculture programming for farmers in five states.

With financial and technical support from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and in collaboration with the independent Farm Journal Foundation , Trust In Food organized virtual continuing education, promotional outreach and delivery of action-oriented resource guides to help producers take the next step in conservation agriculture adoption.

America’s Conservation Ag Movement is comprised of leading industry organizations aligned around a common mission to assist farmers, growers and ranchers on their conservation ag journeys: American Farmland Trust, Corteva, Ducks Unlimited, Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, National Corn Growers Association, National Pork Board, Sanderson Farms, SIMPAS, The Nature Conservancy, United Sorghum Checkoff Program and Valent.

“Producers and consumers alike want a food system that supports clean water, healthy soil and a stable climate,” said Amy Skoczlas Cole, executive vice president, Trust In Food. “Throughout 2020, America’s Conservation Ag Movement collaborated with hundreds of farmers from coast-to-coast through information, insights and farmer-centered experiences that pave the way for increased conservation agriculture practices.”

All conservation events delivered in 2020 with the financial and technical support of NRCS are available at www.agweb.com/ACAM . Topics covered include soil health, water quality, water quantity and nutrient management.

“The guidance documents and other materials produced in this partnership will allow conservationists to engage producers in new ways. Farmers and ranchers are central to conservation stewardship and play a leading role in implementing innovative practices,” said Terry Cosby, acting NRCS chief. “We want to help inspire producers to put conservation on the ground, and partnerships like America’s Conservation Ag Movement continue to enhance our ability to do that.”

In 2021, the Movement will work with NRCS to develop additional national and regional education and outreach centered on farmer-first conservation, including events in each of the five states and a resource guide on water quality.

To learn more about the Movement, visit www.AgWeb.com/ACAM .

About Farm Journal

Farm Journal is the nation’s leading business information and media company serving the agricultural market. Started 145 years ago with the preeminent Farm Journal magazine, the company serves the row crop, livestock, produce and retail sectors through branded websites, eNewsletters and phone apps; business magazines; live events including conferences, seminars and tradeshows; nationally broadcasted television and radio programs; a robust mobile-text-marketing business; and an array of data-driven, paid information products. Farm Journal also is the majority shareholder of the online equipment marketplace, Machinery Pete LLC. In 2010, the company established the non-profit, public charity, Farm Journal Foundation, dedicated to sustaining agriculture’s ability to meet the vital needs of a growing population through education and empowerment.