8 Ways to Bring Your Team Together on the Swine Farm Now
Even though all systems within a swine operation have purpose, it’s hard not to live in your own bubble, says Jose Santiago of Tosh Farms, winner of the Carthage Swine Conference’s annual production tips and tricks competition on Aug. 23.
“We came to realization a couple years back that when one of us fails, we cause failure across the whole system. We can't do it without each other,” Santiago says.
So how does a system to do that? How do you truly come together to be successful in production?
“The quicker we can identify that we're one team and we are working towards the same goal, the faster we can achieve results,” he says.
Tosh Farms decided to create a leadership initiation program. The started by identifying people in their system who were successful at what they do.
“That sounds easy, but it’s very, very hard because you have to define what success is in your system,” Santiago says. “I’d like to say that we have amazing sows, our protocols are amazing, we have great genetics and great performance, but the reality is we have amazing people doing amazing things.”
That’s why they decided to focus on people first – from the slat up – the people who are working every day to make the operation a success.
“We have gone extreme on training and educating people. The resources are out there. It's very simple. We’ve just got to invest time in our people,” he says. “Explain why everything matters.”
Here are eight tips that helped Tosh Farms improve production success.
1. Create a culture.
2. Identify future leaders.
3. Review/tour feed mill.
4. Understand accounting and finances.
5. Get the finishing people on the sow farms.
6. Get the sow farm people on the finishing floor.
7. Get the human resources team on the farm – show them around, explain the tasks at hand and what’s requested.
8. Ask questions within your system.
“Do people know what they are capable of? Do you know what they are capable of?” he asks.
Take time to find out. An investment in your team is always worth it, Santiago says.
“Caring for people leads to people who care for pigs. Identify amazing people doing amazing things and recognize them,” he says. “We have created an environment where people want to stay. When you don't have the turnover, you don't have to constantly retrain. You can educate the people that you've got to get even greater production numbers.”
More from Farm Journal's PORK:
Don't Ignore Conflict on the Farm
Beyond Face Value: How Will You Get to the Next Level?
Employee Emotional Health: The Crisis No One Wants to Talk About on the Sow Farm
