Employee management may not be a strength of most livestock producers, but the Nebraska Cattlemen want to remind ranchers how much it can mean, especially in a tight market.

As the beef market struggles in the face of a mad cow scare, the Nebraska Cattlemen want to help producers understand how good labor management and compensation can improve their businesses.

The organization is co-hosting employee-management workshops in Scottsbluff and Kearney in February.

Rick Rasby, a University of Nebraska Extension beef specialist says hiring and retaining quality employees can be a key challenge to an operation's success.

The session will address finding employees in a tight market, hiring the right employee, communication, employee orientation and training, retaining good employees and dismissing poor ones and other issues surrounding management.