Know-how, value and
cooperation
How can management focus
increase survival in the
farrowing unit
Chief advisor Merete L. Andersen
Pig advisor Inga Riber
Are you leading your staff?
• - Or are they looking for you?
Good management
• Create results through others
• ”Others will be tending to the pigs
now”
• What does it take?
A good leader is attentive and
present
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A leader must like people
Closeness in daily work relations
No mobile phone – or let it ring
Oral communication
• Texting only as an emergency
• Mutual respect
• Physical and mental state of the staff
• Body language, what they say, do they need
help?
• Who works well together?
A good leader is adaptable
• Positive attitude
• Both internal and external changes
• External
• E.g. prices, legislation, disease
• Internal
• No. of staff
• Type of staff
• Trainees/experienced
• Personalities
• Sows / place units
• Changes in routines
A good leader uses his staff’s skills
• Know what you are good at
• Know what your staff are good
at
• Teach the staff to understand
that and to work with that
• What are others good at, and
how can we use that?
• Help bring out the best
in each other
A good leader is reliable
• Act in a reliable and credible manner
• Note how your behaviour affects others
• Tell your staff the effect of dismissive body
language
• Inexperienced staff may become insecure
and make mistakes if you put pressure on
them
A good leader performs
• Lead by example
• Be active
• Show and create
commitment
• Be interested
• Show recognition
• Deliver messages convincingly and credibly
• Lead and give space
Lead by example
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May be owner as well as herd manager
Does not mean you should do all the work
Manage and distribute tasks
Make sure the team functions
Make sure all staff know what they need to
know (reports from vet and advisor)
Management
• Create results through others
• Good results require satisfactory
solutions every day
• Staff must thrive to deliver results
• Job satisfaction is the outcome of,
among other things, good coperation
• Cooperation requires mutual respect,
even if you are different
WHAT DO I SEE?
An example
• The person in charge of the farrowing unit
knows how to perform her
duties
• Crossfostering
• Nurse sow for the smallest
piglets
• Nurse sows
• Feed curves
• Stil, something is not right..
Typical situation
• E control shows mediocre results that vary
greatly
• Pigs are not tended to in a satisfactory
manner during weekends
• Busy everyday, always slightly behind
• Owner in the unit at night
• ”Cleaning” up after the staff
• Unhappy staff
Unhappy with colleagues
Different statements
• The others do not do things properly
• Some are too fast and sloppy
• Others are too slow
• They work in an unstructured
manner
• It is annoying that some people keep
proposing new ideas rather than just doing
their job
Unhappy with owner
Different statements
• We are being taken for
granted
• We are not given credit
• We lack input from owner
• We do not see owner often
• Owner fails to keep agreements
• Owner fails to do as agreed
• Owner fails to observe own instructions
• Skims over work during weekends
• Owner is unstructured
Each has his own goal
THIS IS WHAT WE DID!
Challenges from owner’s point of view
• Failure to follow up on decisions made
• Staff should make more decisions
themselves
• Own solutions – own routines
• Control ought not be necessary…
• Loose follow up on agreements
• Agreements not 100% clear
• Who does what in the unit?
Problems
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Fell between 2 stools
Intentions were good
Everybody did their best
What had to be done, and by whom
Shift in responsibilities
• Owner-Herd manager-Staff in charge of
farrowing unit
• Too much responsibility on
herd manager
• He did not say
• – and we did not ask...
Management consulting
• Responsibilities were agreed
• Herd manager had too many tasks
• Work plans analysed
• Routines – responsibility agreed
• Agreed on how to do each routine
• Action plans with follow-up
• Weekly meetings to follow-up on
agreements made
Week plan
Planning every Monday
• What needs to be done this week?
• Who will do it?
• Who has time off?
• Who needs help?
• Planning the weekend
Name
Owner
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Meetings
from 13
Thursday
Friday
Meetings
9-17
Herd
manager
Resp.
Farrowing
unit
X
Time off
from 14
Time off
THIS WAS DONE!
Work plans and
working procedures
• Work plan was made
• Which tasks to do?
• Working procedures were described
• How to perform the tasks?
• Everybody knows what needs to
be done and how
• If in doubt, look it up
• Greater chance of tasks being done
• Referral to documents
• Also at follow-up
Responsibility
• The best man on the job
• Farrowing staff member did all tasks
quickly and wanted total overview
• The others did not do it well enough..
• But not enough time and not enough time
was spent on the smallest piglets
Responsibility
• Everybody knows who does
what
• Things get done
• Staff from weaner unit handled
• Castrations
• Morning feeding on farrowing days
• No one spends unnecessary time doing
tasks twice
• Or on worrying
Weekdays
• What does the owner do in the unit at
night?
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Checks on pigs
Moves individual pigs
Adjusts feed
Treats pigs
• Without passing on information
• Now clear agreements!
• No moving of individual pigs/adjustment of feed
• Treatments are noted on board
Weekends and national holidays
• Pass on info before
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Possible nurse sows
Retreatments
Ongoing farrowings
Adjustment of feed
Keep it simple!
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Problems
Retreatments
Ongoing farrowings
Adjustment of feed
• Pass on info if
Visit from advisor
• Visits are prepared
• What would we like to discuss?
• Follow-up
• Reports are read and discussed
• Provides clarity of what needs changing and
who implements the change
• Ensures understanding of why changes are
needed
• Motivation to implement changes
WHAT WAS THE RESULT?
Result
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Improved information level
Insight into each other’s work
Fewer misunderstandings
More direct dialogue and improved
cooperation
• Everybody works towards the same goal
• Greater joy of work and motivation
• Vicious circle now a good circle
• Staff look forward to coming to work
• Better dialogue during lunch– everything is
more fun
• Staff are happy to do a little extra
Result
• Ahead rather than behind
• Finished on time – almost every day
• Significantly fewer mistakes
• No staff replacement
• Still room for improvement,
but this is an ongoing process
Result
• Stable, better results
• More pigs for sale
• Fewer stillborn
• Fewer dead
• Improved bottom line
• Owner knows he will not be
excempt from work
• Everybody acknowledges that cooperation
is a joint responsibility
Thank you