Julian’s Business Tips: Grow Your Own
I was recently chatting with a manager friend about staff productivity, particularly among his younger recruits. So I told him about my days as a naive agricultural student on a farm in the eighties.
One morning, the farmer was handing out the day’s jobs. My fellow student drew an all-day task that was, frankly, very dull. I cheerfully offered to help, convinced two of us would finish in half the time.
But the farmer said no, and when I asked why, the shepherd gave me a wry smile and said, ‘Because one boy is a boy, two boys is half a boy, and three boys is no boy at all’!
Their experience was that two inexperienced youngsters simply distract each other, and a three-boy job might never be finished at all!
“So what does that mean for me in the 2020s?” asked my friend.
Well, instead of pairing us together, the farmer paired each of us with an experienced worker. Yes, that kept us working hard. But more importantly, they mentored us, shared their skills and taught us the quiet pleasure of a job well done.
That lesson has stayed with me and now, in my teams, every new starter gets an experienced buddy to help them build their skills and, above all, instil a good work ethic.
The staff who feel happy and fulfilled are rarely the ones who skived or found clever ways to avoid the work. The satisfaction is in the doing. A good buddy doesn’t preach; they just show it, one job well done at a time.”
And at the end of my placement? The farmer paired me with my replacement, to mentor them – crops were not the only things he grew on that farm!
