As I noted in last month’s column, fewer young people are choosing logging as a career. At the same time, competition and the demand for more timber at lower costs is putting increased pressure on loggers.
It’s no longer good enough to be good at cutting timber. Loggers have to be more productive and more efficient. They need to be able to spend time on running their businesses, looking for new opportunities, and taking advantage of them. That starts with having good people.
Jack McFarland of McFarland Timber in Winnfield, La., understands this very well. He has worked very hard to ensure his employees know that logging is more than just a job. It’s a career. “We have to help young people see that logging is not the stereotypical job you see on TV,” he says. “It’s a career, with benefits and opportunities like any other career.”
It sounds simple enough, but finding, developing and retaining good people is no easy task. Human resources is an advanced business function. Ideally, it should be handled by a trained specialist who can help you create and implement the right policies and programs.
But the reality is most loggers simply cannot support a full-time HR manager. Finding a part-time HR manager, training a current front-office employee on HR basics, or retaining a human resources contracting firm are all viable alternatives, at least in the short-term. There are also online resources that can get you started and help you do it on your own.
Whatever your approach, doing nothing is not an effective strategy. You have to start. Here are a few things you can do right away:
Set Expectations
The foundation of all human resources is the employee handbook. It provides important information like drug policies, vacation and holiday schedules, sick leave, and benefits packages. It also makes clear your expectations of employees, and is the guiding document in the case of any dispute or question. If you don’t have a handbook and don’t know where to start, there are templates available online. Just be sure to get some input from a specialist to help you customize it to meet your exact needs.
Of course, the best handbook in the world is useless if your employees don’t read it, so it’s best to meet with your employees to be sure they understand it. At McFarland Timber, this meeting happens before an employee’s first day. “We discuss the job and go through the rules and policies for drug screening, cell phone use, and all other aspects of the job,” relates McFarland.
Lay Out A Career Path
One of the biggest motivations for employees is knowing they are on a path toward advancing their careers. As a business owner, it is your responsibility to help employees determine their career goals, and give them the support they need to achieve them.
This may mean exposing them to other parts of the business, giving them more responsibility, or getting their input about certain business decisions. Every employee’s career goals are different, so it’s important to have these conversations with them.
This is something McFarland takes very seriously. “We give our employees the opportunity to learn multiple machines and learn the industry,” he points out, adding that his employees know they have an opportunity to grow and are not restricted to just one job. “That gives them an incentive to stay with us.”
Provide Feedback
Employee performance reviews are also crucial to their growth. Providing ongoing feedback helps your employees to grow and improve their work.
To satisfy employees’ need for growth, you may also need to offer training. This will help them expand their skills, gain a greater grasp of the overall business, and become more effective employees. By offering ongoing on-the-job training and even allowing employees to attend off-site courses, you can ensure that your employees will stay motivated and help your company succeed.
At McFarland Timber employees are trained on different pieces of equipment, and also have the opportunity to take courses to become a Certified Logging Professional.
Offer Full Compensation
While competitive wages are important, there is much more to compensation than hourly pay. Benefits like vacation, insurance, retirement plans and guaranteed income are all big parts of a total compensation package. The key is to explore these options to find what works best for you and your employees.
In addition to health insurance and vacation, McFarland Timber offers production and safety bonuses, so employees have the opportunity to increase their income. This approach has enabled McFarland to attract more young employees and virtually eliminate turnover. “We have to let young people know that there are financial rewards to logging, and that they have opportunities to grow and thrive,” says McFarland.
I understand that taking this approach to human resources is difficult. But it is absolutely necessary for survival in the coming years. Too many loggers opt for the easy way and hire under-qualified employees. That’s a tempting approach, because it’s much easier and less expensive. But in the long run, committing the time and resources to make sure the people you employ are the best they can be will help ensure that your business is nimble, smart and efficient well into the future.
Tom Trone is Director of John Deere’s North American forestry business, and is responsible for all sales and marketing activities as well as product development. Over his career, he has owned and operated several businesses. He is also a lecturer at the University of Illinois where he has taught the subjects of entrepreneurship, business strategy, organizational development and leadership.