Getting to Grips

I soon settled in, and started getting organized. One thing that I abandoned very quickly was the old "Store". For generations, the staff were able to 'buy' basic commodities ( mealie meal, sugar, yeast, cooking oil, soap washing powder etc) from stocks kept at the house. It soon became clear that it would be a nightmare keeping track, and worse - it was obvious that the staff would spend a large portion of their wages at the store during the month and then have very little left at month end. Inevitably this would result in them requiring a loan which would have to be rolled over the following month. In consultation with brother R, it was decided to pay a portion of salary at mid month so that incidentals could be purchased. We further abandoned the practise of dishing out loans. Once the staff became used to the new system it worked without further problems.

There were several labour issues that had to be dealt with, most were resolved amicably. It was made quite clear that whatever was done in the past would only be continued if it were efficient and reasonable. The staff, as was to be expected, 'tried it on' to their benefit. Farmer I had never been, people manager I have been my entire working life.

The first issue was the Gardener. Like most farms in the area, the staff members all are either closely or not so closely related. This particular man used the fact that he was related to most of the other members to do as little as possible. Since the farm took precedent over the domestic chores, very little time was spent on monitoring his output. It was quite obvious that he was doing nothing, and after about two months, I took the day off from farming, and supervised him directly. It was amazing what he achieved that day. Sadly the work output was never repeated, as he resigned the following morning.

There was a large amount of 'jockeying for position' between the two most senior men, and also between the two wives, who were employed in the house. Again, I tried to ignore most of it and was successful unless it impacted on the operations.

Still the first few months gave a clear indication how hard the staff worked, and how capable they were at the many tasks, both stock management and maintenence, involved in farming in the area.