Winning Supervisor Coaches Others
posted on Monday, December 6, 2021
A few months ago, Mark, a finishing supervisor for Iowa Select Farms, told us he was challenging his team of growers to winning first place in SelectPride every quarter of 2021. Well, he has yet to prove us wrong.
Congratulations to Mark, Jeff, Wes, Shawn, Jeff, Scott, Jordan, Ryan and Clint on once again taking first place finishing for the third quarter in a row!
Mark continues to display his dedication to outstanding animal care by teaching his team the best practices to having a successful and healthy farm. Mark has the heart of a teacher and a leader, making him a resource of knowledge that he naturally passes on to his team. Over the years, as a finishing supervisor, Mark has overseen many farms and managers that have relied on him as a guiding voice to improving upon their pig care every day.
One of Mark’s former managers is Shane, who has since been promoted to a finishing supervisor himself. He says without Mark’s guidance he likely would not be finding such outstanding production results within his farms. “Mark was such a key figure in coaching me towards the supervisor role,” said Shane. “Whether it was weaning and marketing pigs or managing workloads and organization, Mark is one of the best.”
Shane moved into the finishing supervisor role in February of 2021 and has already climbed the finishing SelectPride ladder of production results in a group of highly competitive employees. In Q2 of 2021, Shane placed 4th of 10th in SelectPride production results, a considerable jump from not even being in the top ten only one quarter prior. Let’s get to know Shane and how he has made a name for himself at Iowa Select Farms.
Officially starting with Iowa Select Farms a little over six years ago, Shane was managing farms as a contractor. From his experiences during that time, Shane reflects on the impact his supervisors, like Mark, had on him. “I have taken a piece of each one of my supervisors and transitioned that into the supervisor I am today,” he said. “I cannot say enough good things about the supervisors I got to learn from, and now get to work alongside.”
Surrounded by animals his whole life, great animal care comes naturally to Shane. “I take animal care so seriously because I understand the importance and impact it has,” shares Shane. “Animals will always be a large part of my life, from my upbringing to who I am now, and seeing them healthy is what it’s all about.”
While animal care is nothing new to Shane, being a relatively new supervisor has brought a whole set of new tasks and challenges for him to learn from. He took on a large workload and has greater responsibility, but Shane accepted the challenge. He has plenty of help and guidance to steer him in the right direction. Mark recalls when he was Shane’s supervisor, saying, “I was always impressed with his willingness to do any task that was asked of him. Shane has an actual desire to learn and holds the attention to detail when it comes to marketing pigs. In fact, Shane is now contending as one of the top marketers in the company and it’s great to see him doing so well.”
Marketing pigs is how pork producers evaluate and sort pigs to help them grow with like pigs in unique groups and put them in the healthiest environment. “Shane always steps up and gets the job done the right way,” said Mark. “He has carried that character and work ethic into his role as a supervisor and I am proud of what he has brought to Iowa Select Farms and our group of supervisors.”
Through the training process of becoming a supervisor, Shane learned valuable skills that have helped him in his every day, particularly prioritizing organization and communication with his managers. “Staying highly organized is what keeps me on track,” he said. “I habitually write everything down—you can truly never have enough notebooks!”
While these skills Shane has developed are working well for him, he says each day teaches him something new. “I’m looking forward to continuing to grow with Iowa Select Farms and to be a great asset to our company,” said Shane. “To anyone who has a desire to be better, never be afraid to ask questions because we are surrounded by some of the best in the industry.”
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