Graduate Projects

Creating a Team of all Involved on Farms: 2004

Project:
Work to assist pickers to understand the whole on farm process and ensure they are aware of their importance as part of the team.

Project Leader:
Craig Wooldridge, Manager, Solora South Pty Ltd, South Australia

Aim:
Develop a program to assist fruit pickers to understand the work they do in the context of the whole enterprise.

Background:
Traditionally in farming enterprises each person is employed or contracted to do a particular task and often have little idea of what their work contributes to the success of the enterprise.  Furthermore, individual workers don’t feel a part of a team working toward a common goal.

Approach:

• Reviewed the whole enterprise and what information and how to present this information to fruit pickers.
• Pickers exposed to a step by step approach to the payment of bins – picker slips, pricing on bins, computerised mapping of number of bins picked and payments made.
• Tour through packing shed – all processes outlined to pickers – tipping fruit onto conveyor belt, elevator, pre-sizer, sterilize fruit, sorter, fungicide, dryer, waxer, dryer, sorter, packing.

Challenges:
Balancing keeping it simple with providing enough information.

Outcomes:
Assisted the company to become more of a team operation.
As manager it provided me with insights into my staff.
The importance of valuing all staff.

Response from the pickers involved: “Seeing what happens to your picking slip from the time it leaves you, the process it goes through and the problems it can create if not filled in correctly.”

“To see fruit arrive, the different process it goes through and the end product gives a better understanding of the whole process. It is a good idea for pickers to go through this process.”