Dairy Coach

The Federal government has recently released a new I-9 Form. The old one “technically” expired on August 31, 2012, but they didn’t release a new form until just a couple weeks ago.

First, the bad news… The layout is now two pages and looks quite a bit different than the older versions that we’ve become familiar with over the years. Chances are, you’ll need to spend some extra time getting comfortable with the new format.  Also, technically we no longer have three days from the new employee’s date of hire to get the I-9 form filled out… it’s now supposed to be filled out on the newly-hired employee’s first day.

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Finally, it’s Daylight Savings Time. All winter, I look forward to the weekend that we pick up an extra hour of daylight. Hopefully that means spring is right around the corner.

But, there’s a downside. As part of the deal, we “lost” an hour on Sunday. So, where did that hour go? Did it just disappear? I’m not entirely certain here, but I’m pretty sure that we pick up the hour that we “lose” in the spring when we “gain” an hour in the fall. So basically, it’s probably a “wash”.

But if we truly did lose an hour on Sunday, do you think you’re any worse off? Probably not. After all, it’s just one hour on one day, right? What if you lost an hour on each of the other 364 days of the year? How would you feel about that? Can you see where I’m going here?

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For the past week, hundreds of the country’s most talented college football players were in Indianapolis for the NFL’s annual Scouting Combine. The “Combine” is where the nation’s top collegiate stars are invited to showcase their physical ability in front of NFL talent scouts before the upcoming draft. Every player goes through the same physical tests to prove how fast, strong, and agile they are with goal of increasing their “draft value”. Basically, their college career serves as their portfolio, and the Combine serves as their interview.

And as important as each athlete’s physical ability is, that’s only a part of what the scouts are evaluating. The other part of the Combine’s week-long activities deals with a player’s intellectual capacity and emotional maturity. It turns out that most personnel guys put a lot of value in a prospect’s character, aptitude, and behavioral traits too. That makes sense, right? After all, the team isn’t just getting a top-notch football player, they’re getting a person.

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I’ve always liked politics. But I’m not so sure anymore. Every time the State of the Union Address is given, it appears that our country’s political differences run deeper and deeper every year. I know, times aren’t really all that different now compared to the past. But from where I sit, it seems like our country is divided over almost every issue.

Health Care, Marriage, Raw Milk, Immigration, Constitutional Rights, Taxes, Climate Change, Unions, and the list goes on.

Whether the argument deals with politics, religion, sports, or food production methods, a lot people like to take a stand and choose one side over the other.  They’re either FOR it or AGAINST It. And as you’ve probably already noticed, the workplace isn’t any different.

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Are you frustrated that your dairy’s employees aren’t getting the results you think they should?  So… have you taken the time to teach them how to do their work correctly?

Chances are your current employees learned how to work at your dairy by working at someone else’s!  The real question is… Are you comfortable with having your team do things the way your “neighbor” does them?

Teach your team your routines, then check to make sure they’re doing what you taught them.  Until you’ve got that piece of the puzzle in place, it doesn’t pay to change everything else!

Are you in a “product business” or a “service business”? Not your company… you. The answer for the company is usually pretty easy… it depends on what you sell. But what about you?

Sure, your company might produce and sell things. But chances are, almost everyone on your team, from top to bottom, is in the service industry.

Let’s say you own a dairy. Most of us in agriculture call you a dairy producer. But… you don’t actually produce milk, your cows do. So, maybe a milk harvester would be a more appropriate name. But… as technology has improved and your role has changed, you don’t personally harvest milk these days, you hire employees who help do that. And even though we call these people milkers, the truth is… they don’t actually milk the cows either. Technically, they prepare cows to be milked and then attach a machine that does the actual milking.

So… what is it that you do again!? Technically, you run the company that owns the cows that produce the milk that’s harvested by the machines that your employees attach. There, that was simple.

So why does any of that matter? Maybe it doesn’t. I guess it depends on how you see your

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