Developing labor management expertise among agricultural advisors

Developing labor management expertise among agricultural advisors

Summary

This professional development project is designed to build capacity and expertise among Extension educators and other advisors that will enable them to effectively address labor management issues with their clientele. Of the 200 educators who participate in the project, 100 educators will report increased confidence in providing small group and individual support with labor management topics, 35 will publish articles on labor management in newsletters or other press, 20 will hold local meetings focused on labor management, and 10 will consult intensively with at least two producers to develop their labor management practices or tools. The project will incorporate variety, repetition, active learning, and continuing support in a coordinated series of learning opportunities. These opportunities include interactive seminars, successful farm tours, and follow-up telephone conference calls that provide additional content and the opportunity to discuss experiences and receive support from peer learners.

Objectives/Performance Targets

The overall objective of this project is to develop expertise in labor management among Extension educators and other agricultural advisors. Two hundred educators will attend educational seminars and farm tours, and 120 will participate in technology-enhanced conference calls that focus on specific labor management topics. Of the 200 educators who participate in the project, 100 educators will report increased confidence in providing small group and individual support with labor management topics, 35 will publish articles on labor management in newsletters or other press, 20 will hold local meetings focused on labor management, and 10 will consult intensively with at least two producers to develop their labor management practices or tools.
We expect that most if not all participants in this professional development practice will be familiar with email and the web. We will use a web-based survey to rapidly and conveniently gather information from participants about their activities in achieving the performance targets described above.

Accomplishments/Milestones

We have now completed one year of our project. On November 13, 2006 we held our first seminar for the New England states in Lebanon, NH with 17 people in attendance. Our first farm tour was held the next day at a nearby dairy in Vermont with eight people in attendance. The New England seminar was highly rated with topics ranging from a low of 3.4 to a high of 4.25 on a scale ranging from 1 = not useful to 5 = extremely useful. Evaluations indicated that attendees would: write articles about HR topics, pay more attention to organizational structure, and be more patient and understanding regarding clients’ resistance to change.

The New York seminar took place on April 25th, 2007 with 28 people in attendance. The farm tour at Noblehurst dairy farm included 24 people. The New York seminar was highly rated with topics ranging from a low of 3.95 to a high of 4.86.

The Pennsylvania seminar took place on May 1st, 2007 with 20 people in attendance. The farm tour at Red Knob Dairy Farm on the following day had 14 people. Topics in this seminar ranged from a low of 3.86 to a high of 4.53 in the usefulness evaluation.

We have held five follow-up web and telephone discussion groups. These discussions lasted about 90 minutes each and included presentation of new concepts, discussion of human resource management topics, resource sharing, and questions and answers. We had as few as 6 people in attendance on October 16th and as many as 17 on August 6th. These have been well received by participants because they can receive substantial support and access to new information for little cost of time and no travel costs.

A web site was developed to support participants in People in Ag. This site is a central location for people to access one-page summaries of HR topics, resource lists, and other tools such as Powerpoint presentations.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Participants indicated in their evaluation comments that they would advise clients on HR issues, send out newsletter articles on HR topics, and modify their own behaviors as managers.

At least two Extension educators who attended People in Ag events are planning HRM meetings in Pennsylvania and New York.

Collaborators: