Participants may attend all of the General Sessions and 7 of the 13 Breakout Sessions.

GENERAL SESSIONS

Getting to “We”—How do employees make the transition from thinking of it as “your” business to “our” business?  Of all the skills an employee must learn, sometimes the most important is the journey from “you” to “we.”

Managing Across Cultures—There is more diversity in agricultural businesses today than ever before.  This dynamic session will help everyone to think about what makes us different.  What makes us alike?  And, most of all, what makes us better.

I Love My Job.  It’s the people that make me crazy.—Have you ever wondered why people do the things they do?  All business results are a function of behavior, and in this session participants will learn how positive changes in behavior can create positive changes in results.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

1.  Being a Boss vs. Being a Buddy—Many managers want to be their employees’ best friends, but what happens when you need them to treat you like the boss?  This incredibly popular session will help managers learn to walk that fine line.

2.  Basics for Immigration Compliance —Recent publicity regarding the employment of illegal workers is a reminder to all employers that they need to maintain basic information on employees' work status.  Learn the basics of the I-9 form and how to conduct a self audit of your business to assure compliance with federal employment laws.

3.  Managing for the Success of Your Farm Family Work Force--family workplaces are wonderful when they work and quite stressful when they do not. This session will help family members to recognize and manage the potential pitfalls that often occur when operating a family farm business operation

4.  Workers’ Compensation—Come learn to navigate these risky waters by understanding the laws and learning the keys that can help your business to be as safe and productive as possible.

5.  Orientating and Training from the Ground Up—More and more agricultural employees have no agricultural experience.  Learn to use this to your advantage by designing an orientation and training program that takes nothing for granted.

6.  Compensation—Like it or not, compensation is the one issue that ALL managers have to address sometime.  This session will help producers build compensation packages that meet their employee’s needs without breaking the bank.

7.  Growing Your Own Replacements--People are maybe the most important resource our businesses have.  But where do we go for replacements?  This session will help managers learn how to identify, recruit, train and empower employees who will be the next generation of managers.

8.  Recruiting—Most managers have broken down and hired a “warm body” at one time or another, but this session will help them to think more proactively.  Learn where to look, how to advertise, and most importantly, how to think like a potential employee.

9.  Conflict Management—Conflict is everywhere.  This fun and informative session will help producers to learn basic strategies for recognizing and diffusing workplace conflicts before things get out of control.

10.  Understanding Under-Performers—Many managers have the hardest time dealing with chronic under-performers—people who neither thrive nor perform badly enough to terminate.  This session will help them answer the questions:  how do you bring those people up?  And when do you let them go?

11.  Turnover: Symptom or Disease—People frequently think of turnover as a problem when actually it’s the symptom of a host of other problems.  Learn to identify the root of turnover in your business and learn how to cut it off at the source.

12.  Dealing with Difficult Times—Drought.  Flood.  Snow.  Heat.  There’s no shortage of trouble for agricultural operations.  They will come and they will go, so how do you keep morale up and people pushing through difficult times?

13.  Industry-Specific Panel Discussions--Participants learn as much from each other as they do from the speakers.  In the panel breakouts, producers will get to speak candidly about the challenges they face and the successful methods they have used to meet those challenges.