Perspectives on Risk Management--Part 3
10/05/2022
Don’t Shortchange the Continuing Educational Opportunities
Building a culture of competence, resiliency and open communication will come from a commitment from everyone --- ownership, management, staff, vendors, and contractors --- to embrace lifelong learning. To that, add a commitment from all stakeholders to work every day at building trust and a genuine effort at leaving egos at the door, working together, breaking down silos, covering for one another when it’s appropriate, understanding our limitations, offsetting one another’s weaknesses with our strengths and vice versa.
Employment agreements and job descriptions should not be written and simply put on a shelf. They must be lived every day and reviewed regularly. Find each employee’s distinctive competence and determine where he/she best fits in the organization’s structure.
Mistakes can be tolerated, short of malicious intent, if used as a learning experience for everyone. If mistakes are never made, maybe not much is getting done anyway.
Family members, by virtue of being a family member, shouldn’t be put in a role just because of blood relations. The eldest son legacy is long past due for the history books.
Opportunities for continuing education and continuous improvement must be considered an important component of risk management. Technological advancements in all phases of production agriculture, including the business administration function, are occurring at paces we never imagined forty years ago.
Technology in office applications as well as in production functions is making workflows and business transactions accessible in fractions of the time once encountered. Desktop applications have replaced pencil and paper, typewriters and mimeograph, snail mail, and piles of paper to sort and file away in a room full of filing cabinets.
Remote access to data and files is making for improved lifestyles and mobility, more time to focus on important tasks, and more time for family and off-farm activities. The bottom line is that work/life balance and mental/emotional stability of the individual is the bedrock of the whole endeavor.
Lifelong learning is risk management.
There’s risk and uncertainty in everything we do. Building capacity in financial strength, in human resources, technology in the office and in the field, and striving for continuous improvement in all areas of the business will help you manage risk and uncertainty. Having this information gives you a head start to have contingency plans in place to adjust, adapt and improvise as conditions change. One thing is certain in life....things change. Don’t get comfortable. Be prepared.
COMFORT IS AN ILLUSION.
A false security bred from familiar things and familiar ways.
It narrows the mind, weakens the body, and robs the soul
of spirit and determination.
COMFORT IS NEITHER WELCOME NOR TOLERATED HERE.
= = = =
This article is the personal opinion and perspective of the author and may or may not be consistent with those of other ASAC Members. ASAC as an organization does not advocate positions on issues.
= = = =
Pete Weisenberger
Weisenberger Agricultural Services, LLC
pete.weis0956@gmail.com
Don’t Shortchange the Continuing Educational Opportunities
Building a culture of competence, resiliency and open communication will come from a commitment from everyone --- ownership, management, staff, vendors, and contractors --- to embrace lifelong learning. To that, add a commitment from all stakeholders to work every day at building trust and a genuine effort at leaving egos at the door, working together, breaking down silos, covering for one another when it’s appropriate, understanding our limitations, offsetting one another’s weaknesses with our strengths and vice versa.
Employment agreements and job descriptions should not be written and simply put on a shelf. They must be lived every day and reviewed regularly. Find each employee’s distinctive competence and determine where he/she best fits in the organization’s structure.
Mistakes can be tolerated, short of malicious intent, if used as a learning experience for everyone. If mistakes are never made, maybe not much is getting done anyway.
Family members, by virtue of being a family member, shouldn’t be put in a role just because of blood relations. The eldest son legacy is long past due for the history books.
Opportunities for continuing education and continuous improvement must be considered an important component of risk management. Technological advancements in all phases of production agriculture, including the business administration function, are occurring at paces we never imagined forty years ago.
Technology in office applications as well as in production functions is making workflows and business transactions accessible in fractions of the time once encountered. Desktop applications have replaced pencil and paper, typewriters and mimeograph, snail mail, and piles of paper to sort and file away in a room full of filing cabinets.
Remote access to data and files is making for improved lifestyles and mobility, more time to focus on important tasks, and more time for family and off-farm activities. The bottom line is that work/life balance and mental/emotional stability of the individual is the bedrock of the whole endeavor.
Lifelong learning is risk management.
There’s risk and uncertainty in everything we do. Building capacity in financial strength, in human resources, technology in the office and in the field, and striving for continuous improvement in all areas of the business will help you manage risk and uncertainty. Having this information gives you a head start to have contingency plans in place to adjust, adapt and improvise as conditions change. One thing is certain in life....things change. Don’t get comfortable. Be prepared.
COMFORT IS AN ILLUSION.
A false security bred from familiar things and familiar ways.
It narrows the mind, weakens the body, and robs the soul
of spirit and determination.
COMFORT IS NEITHER WELCOME NOR TOLERATED HERE.
= = = =
This article is the personal opinion and perspective of the author and may or may not be consistent with those of other ASAC Members. ASAC as an organization does not advocate positions on issues.
= = = =
Pete Weisenberger
Weisenberger Agricultural Services, LLC
pete.weis0956@gmail.com
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