Living Our Practices Submissions: January 2023

Connor Ferguson (Agribusiness)

My team lives in data – and with that comes the expectation or understanding that the data needs to be shared in order to be effective. Many of the processes we’ve developed for data analysis and data processing is very much behind the scenes. We are making it a priority in 2023 to increase the understanding and transparency of our processes so the greater Agribusiness team can see what we do and where certain trials are in the analysis process. This knowledge sharing will allow others to better understand how we do what we do as well as keep us accountable to ensure we deliver on better data processing and usability by the Agribusiness team working directly with customers.

We also gain great insights from the customer facing team members in Agribusiness to better improve the messaging and lens through which we view certain trials. This two-way data sharing puts valuable tools in the hands of those aiming to sell a product to improve a grower’s production and gives us a better understanding of how a given product is being positioned to ensure the final data summary is most useful to the widest audiences.

Colby Albright (Agribusiness)

In response to highlighting a practice of Knowledge Sharing, I wanted to identify two ways that I do so.
First off, I want to mention that our retail branch is small and like many, we are constantly busy and running like crazy! We all fill several hats so that operations may run smooth, and our customers’ needs are met.

Because of the fluid motion of our team members being in and out of the branch, we have implemented a morning muster that we all attend before we go our separate ways. During this meeting we all have the opportunity to communicate anything that we need to share. This can be as short as 5 minutes but is a crucial part of our day. Cell service can be spotty at best up here in the PNW Palouse, so face to face communication is vital.

We have all heard it said that knowledge is power and there is a certain amount of truth to that. I believe that much of our success is due to the knowledge that we freely share within our branch.

An example of this is, when I do online training or attend a training session that is not required by my coworkers, I freely share what I have learned because my team can glean knowledge from that information. Questions can be asked, and we can all learn and grow. And this is all done during our morning session.

I have also added a suggestion box to our safety program that allows the team to add safety concerns, near misses or anything that we may want to discuss as a team. I put together a standard operating procedure (SOP) and added it to our GPS program. By doing this the team has the opportunity to be heard and knowledge can be shared.

These may seem like simple actions, but the rewards are great, and we have found that it has only strengthened us as a team.
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to share.

Brandon McKenzie (Agribusiness)

Hello how I share knowledge is be willing to do any job that’s comes up or opposite if I see a coworker doing something where they are new to and I have experienced this job I don’t hesitate to help out and if the job is something I’m not familiar with excites me more because it allows me to add another tool to the overall team input!

One way I believe where our team can succeed in knowledge sharing is some sort of exchange program to where someone from operations (ie truck driver, applicator, warehouse specialist, dry fertilizer warehouse specialist) team exchanges spots with someone from a different geographical location. I do believe there’s more than one way to accomplish a goal. The employee that exchanges spots can pick up new traits of day to day operations. They can also pick up new perspective on the daily operations at their own location.

Thank you

Nathan Adams (Agribusiness)

I’ve only been with the company for 6 months, but one thing I have been impressed with is the amount of knowledge sharing that occurs in Pro Markets. Every month, an hour long presentation is shared with the Pro Markets folks in a specific segment such as; golf, greenhouse and nursery, vegetative management, lawn care, etc. Members of the sales team present and participants are able to share and ask questions. It has been a huge help to me as I try to learn the different and many facets of the business. We also have a quarterly new hire discussion where tenured team members share their knowledge to help ease the learning curve for new folks. I am blown away by the intentional focus on sharing tips with the team to better deliver exceptional service to our customers. I am also thankful to my team members who are willing to spend time with me in person or on the phone answering questions. Since day one, I have felt that everyone within Wilbur-Ellis is willing to help me learn and grow.

Blake Weatherald (Nachurs)

As a sales manager I try to share as much information as possible when spending time with my team as a group or in a one on one situation in person. I also like to encourage our group to share information amongst each other as well to help pass knowledge from more senior employees to the more recent hires. Our team has had a great deal of success using a text chat to share information. Anyone in the group can post a question into the chat and it allows the entire team the opportunity to answer the question or give advice, and for everyone in the group to see this interaction for themselves and learn form the questions and responses. This has proved to be a very efficient way to involve the entire team in these interactions as well as get answers quickly form team members who may have had previous experience with many of these topics over the course of their career.

Brandon Wilhelm (Agribusiness)

Everyone comes to Wilbur Ellis with professional experience that has been acquired throughout their career. What makes Wilbur such a strong company is the amount of knowledge and experience within each region, market and team. The sharing of knowledge is much like the analogy “as the tide rises, everyone rises together”. Sharing knowledge and information strengthens internal relationships and team chemistry. There’s not a playbook that can prepare you for every question or situation you will face in this industry. We must rely on our team to provide knowledge and learnings from previous experiences in order for growth and success to happen. Some individuals have the personality and character to be natural mentors, others may not share as freely but posses the experience and know how. Having a team culture that embraces comradery and knowledge sharing has provided not only individual success but success for the entire team. In order for the path to continually be paved with success we must continue to learn, share, and educate.

Mallory Robert (Agribusiness)

Knowledge sharing is so important with the quantity of information available to us. Within Wilbur Ellis, we work with numerous platforms and systems capable of holding large amounts of data and information. It’s imperative we share what we learn to fully utilize these systems to their upmost capacities; without, we would fall short on what we could achieve. We must work together to help fill the gaps in others’ experiences so we all can be One Wilbur. Technology has allowed us to share what we learn via zoom meetings with other locations. Others have traveled to branches to walk employees through tasks and to teach hands-on skills within our platforms. We design learning objectives and host group meetings to cover topics more thoroughly. Posters are created so the information is colorful, creative, intriguing…and we post them in areas where people don’t expect to see them or are in an area that is high traffic. We also remain open to learn from other people because without listening, we ourselves stand to not learn.

Caterina Estienne (Corporate)

Our team supports knowledge sharing by formally documenting procedures and updating those as changes occur. We also make it a point to include affected people in other departments such as HR or HRSS.

ANGELA LISTER (Agribusiness)

I have built strong relationships with others in my position within the company. When something comes up that I feel will be important for them to know, I forward it to them, product backorders or out for season emails are the common ones, as a newer employee I am not as familiar with replacements so forwarding that email leads to a conversation on other products that can be used.

Soledad Baker (Nachurs)

It’s impossible to know everything. However, the beautiful thing about learning is that even just a small introduction to a topic can enhance an experience. I’ve taken our knowledge sharing Practice and applied it in our recruiting efforts. Some of the things I’ve done include: having in depth conversations about what our operators do day in and day out with our plant directors, watching marketing videos from our Research and Development team to learn more about the products we sell, and sharing this information with others in different departments. Reaching out and asking to learn and finding fellow employees who want to share their knowledge is the best example I can find of this crucial Practice in our company.

Daniel Groves (Agribusiness)

Our team has weekly conference calls to keep current with what’s going on in the industry, suppliers , competitors ect. This is a valuable hour every week where lots of information is shared.