Learning to leverage human resources
By Hugh Maynard

So, are you a “doer” of things, or a manager of people? Your answer to that question pretty much determines what kind of farm you operate, or what kind of farm business you may one day run.

Most of us grow up as doers of things: we start at the bottom of the heap and gradually move upward based on our capacity to do more things better. I once marveled at a young Prairie girl telling me that her daily job was to drive the water truck out to the cattle on pasture, a box on the cab seat so she could see over the dashboard and blocks on the pedals so her feet could still reach the clutch. She wasn’t just doing chores, she was also training for the eventual operation of the farm’s eight-wheeled, articulated tractor that cultivates, fertilizes and seeds in one pass. Doing more things better.

There is a limit, however, and every small enterprise,  farms included, reaches that stage where one person or one family can’t do any more things – you can get a bigger tractor but there are still only so many hours in a day that you can drive it. The fork in the road offers two choices – stay a doer of things, or start to become a manager of people who do things for you.

There’s no right or wrong in which fork you choose to take as long as the management role doesn’t suffer. It’s a matter of preference in working style and professional goals – you don’t even have to have employees on the farm, there are lots of benefits from delegating responsibility to external professionals such as crop doctors and livestock technicians.

One of the downfalls of those who choose to become managers of other people is that they don’t segment and limit their “doing of things.” Old habits die hard – “I can do it faster myself” – and while many young producers are shown the ropes for milking cows or seeding grain, few are given the chance to learn the basics of managing people.

A common image of human resource management is one of employee command and control – punch in, punch out; do this, do that. The power of managing people, however, is being able to work with them so that they can give their best with a minimum of supervision.

Whether it be learning when and what to delegate, or how to clearly communicate delegated tasks (so you don’t have to learn how to explain in a positive fashion how that delegated work should have been done!), being a manager of people means acquiring a whole new skill set – and resisting the temptation for always “doing things.”

So, how do you become an effective manager of people? There are literally hundreds of resource books available online, and lots of courses and seminars offered by colleges and the like. Farm Credit Canada offers courses and you can find more information at www.AgriSuccess.ca. The Canadian Farm Business Management Council has a best practices guide for producers that’s a good place to start (check out their catalogue at www.farmcentre.com/english/products/ index.htm or download a PDF document at www.farmcentre.com/english/downloads/bettermanagement.htm ).

Thinking long term, programs such as 4-H are an excellent way to provide the next generation with the leadership and communications capabilities that are the foundation of good people skills in any context.

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