The True Cost of Golf Course Staff Changes

From the web site Business Of Thinking BC Golf News presents an article by Steve Bareham, an instructor in the Golf Club Operations Online GCOOL certificate program at Selkirk College, Nelson, British Columbia. This article is related to course content for the course Human Resources for Golf Managers.

By Steve Bareham,
Instructor, Selkirk College, Nelson, B.C., Canada

A high level of staff turnover is expected and tolerated at many golf clubs where work is seasonal and a majority of staff changes each year. But what does the research say about the actual costs of retraining, termination, replacement, lost sales, and poor productivity? And, if the costs are shown to be unacceptable, what money is to be made and saved through retention strategies?

Turnover at golf clubs is complicated by the fact that they are complicated workplaces, at once retail stores, fine-dining establishments, liquor lounges, parks, and recreation complexes. Almost every club has several departments and just as many managers, so the issue of turnover can be very significant, especially if high levels of satisfaction are desired for your golfers, guests, and employees. It's a tall order to get it all right.

Several credible management studies through the years have revealed that costs associated with the turnover of a management position can be 1.5 times a year's salary. Thus, a $55,000-per-year position could end up costing an organization $82,500 to put a replacement in place. The U.S. Golf Association suggests such a number could be conservative for positions such as course superintendents, "when different maintenance objectives, goals, and programs, along with different equipment and labor needs, are taken into account."

But, what's even more alarming is information about the high cost of replacing even bottom scale employees earning $8 per hour. These positions, if they're revolving doors, can cost your club thousands of dollars every year.

Think about the time it takes to advertise, to interview, to train. Think about lost productivity (slow performance) and the cost of errors (broken equipment) for any of a dozen positions with learning curves. And, it isn't only the learning employee who is affected, so, too, are your regular employees who have to constantly check and correct.

It's a worthy exercise to spend time calculating your club's actual turnover costs to gain a better understanding of the downsides.

The University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Center for Community Economic Development provides a checklist of areas where real costs can be incurred. The list includes real money spent and also administrative/managerial time:

- - - advertising (can be hundreds of dollars every year or effectively zero if have qualified people who return from previous years)
- - - screening time on resumes (10 minutes per person)
- - - interviews (20 minutes per person)
- - - training time/costs (can be hours per person)
- - - wear and tear on equipment (a few dollars to thousands of dollars)• uncompensated increased workloads for other staff
- - - decreased productivity due to loss of work group synergy
- - - reduction in quality of product
- - - lost sales
- - - overtime to cover if you're short staffed due to vacancies
- - - uniforms
- - - theft, vandalism (not uncommon for employees on the verge of, or after, dismissal)
- - - separation pay

If you see red flags in the foregoing list, consider making managers accountable for employee turnover, but first educate them about the real costs involved and how they can be avoided. Turnover should be a regular topic for discussion, for research, and for ongoing training among the management team that can most directly minimize it. Once costsand benefitsare quantified, people tend to get behind a new program.

Also think about conducting exit interviews so you know why people leave. Research reveals reasons for leaving include employees not understanding what jobs involved or what was expected (the "throw them to the wolves" approach), and no sense of belonging (outsiders don't have high morale).
Common causes of high turnover

Understanding turnover is crucial to prevent it. Not a lot can be done about economic and labor market conditions, but club managers can control training, noncompetitive compensation, monotony, and poor guidance and supervision.

Proper training is vital for people of all ages, but especially so for young adults who often experience frustration and loss of motivation when they feel inadequate; such feelings can come across as anger, confusion, and incompetence...not impressions you want to surface around golfers. guests, or other employees.

Proper orientation and thorough training sessions, followed by evaluation by competent managers 2-4 weeks into the job, should be standard procedure. It's also important with young people to not be vague about expectations such as start times, length of breaks, and precisely what actions and behaviours are expected. Older adults view much of this as common sense, but many people in their late teens and early 20s really don't have work world experience, so how can they be expected to know what common sense is?

Also of huge importance are job descriptions. If you're going to evaluate people about work performance, it's only fair to you show them, in writing, exactly what they are supposed to doit's amazing how few employers have comprehensive job descriptions.

Another strategy: hire seniors

Blackberry Patch Golf Club in Coldwater, Mich., runs a high maintenance operation with minimal financial resources, according to superintendent Pamela Smith, writing on the BNET Business Network. Smith has successfully put together a team that combines seniors and students.

"The senior staff is critical to our department," she said. "They are quick to learn the operation of the equipment, are always dependable, and bring a wealth of knowledge and life experience to our operation. In addition, they are able to take the layoffs and return each year."

(Steve Bareham is an instructor in the Golf Club Operations Online GCOOL certificate program at Selkirk College, Nelson, B.C., Canada. This article is related to course content for the course Human Resources for Golf Managers.)

Visit www.selkirk.ca/ht/golf/ )