Prairieland Feeds Invests in Leadership Training and HR Best-Practices to Boost Company Profits and Confidence
The Challenge: Employee and Manager Churn Leads to Company-Wide Misalignment
The company’s proximity to the University of Illinois means many employees work at Prairieland Feeds while in school and leave upon graduation. As a result, owners Garry and Lisa had to be vigilant about filling open positions and training new staff so the customer experience remained consistent despite turnover.
A rotating roster of store managers through the years further created a disconnect between the owners’ expectations and the actions and decisions of both supervisors and employees. While Lisa and Garry gave managers a lot of autonomy, there was no process in place for training leaders about company values and goals. As a result, decisions were often made in a vacuum, creating a misalignment between managers’ priorities and Prairieland Feeds’ objectives.
Prairieland Feeds: America’s Country Store is a family-owned retail store with about 20 employees, based in central Illinois. Founded in 1985, the company sells pet food and supplies, horse and livestock supplies, and wild bird and other outdoor living products. Prairieland Feeds also sells products for labs and researchers at academic and private institutions.
The Solution: Invest in Leadership Development and HR Systems to Boost Alignment—and Profits
After their last manager resigned, the owners realized they needed new HR structures and systems to ensure their managers were equipped to lead their teams based on the company’s core values and goals. Lisa and Garry also hoped a company-wide reset could limit their involvement in day-to-day operations.
We didn’t realize how much People Spark could help increase profitability by helping the team focus on goals and metrics. — Lisa, Owner, Prairieland Feeds
The People Spark Solution
For twelve months, the People Spark team collaborated with and guided the Prairieland Feeds team to build company-wide structures and supports. They focused on:
- Developing leadership skills including how to give feedback and coach team members in light of company goals and values
- Establishing and communicating goals and metrics for the entire company
- Developing employee manuals and training manuals
- Refining job descriptions and processes for interviewing, hiring, and onboarding
The Outcome
According to Prairieland Feeds, the highlights of working with People Spark include:
- An increase in profitability by focusing the team on goals and metrics
- A positive, cohesive team and more confident managers by developing leadership skills in the managers
- Improved internal communications and refined processes by developing specific communication plans and talking points
- More confidence in decisions and actions as a result of having a sounding board for concerns and questions
You don’t know what you don’t know. Working with the right HR professionals can increase profitability, help retain key employees, and create a positive, cohesive work environment that attracts key people to work for you. People Spark helped us clarify business goals and promote success. — Garry, Owner, Prairieland Feeds
People Spark Consulting is a Minneapolis–Saint Paul, MN based consulting company that specializes in transforming business cultures through human resources and people strategies.