Page 12 - GM Spring 2023

Some examples that Wood shares include: Leaning on retirees who may be looking for part-time work to keep their minds sharp as grass-cutters or light landscapers, installing a morning shift into the schedule and not a pre-dawn shift, or cross-training people who work in turf to also work in Food & Beverage or with the golf professional in the shop. Financial incentives could work too – something as simple as offering $1 per hour more if a worker comes in prior to 7 a.m. – or offering refer-a- friend bonuses.
Housing for workers is certainly incredibly important too, says Wood. She points to her own experience when she was in school for hospitality and there were co-op options in resort towns that provided housing at a lower cost. You can’t necessarily be a young person working at a golf course, she admits, and live in a big city centre. On the other side of the coin, it might be difficult to tap into a labour pool to get folks to move to a more remote location.
Regardless, the cross-promotion of golf with other industries is just another way to keep making the pool bigger. Maybe someone likes technology and the environment but doesn’t like getting up at 4 a.m. How could that identified lead turn into someone who is motivated to join the golf industry?
“We never had to promote our industry, but now we do. And now it’s just figuring out how best to do it,” says Calderwood. “The working Visa through Australia and Canada is an example. Focusing on Diversity & Inclusion is an example. We can cross-pollinate with other industries like skiing in Banff or Whistler. There are opportunities there.”
Calderwood, who also heads the National Golf Course Owners Association Canada, admits there is no silver bullet answer to this labour challenge. He’s confident there are a collection of existing solutions that, when combined with some new thinking, could be a helpful starting point for the next five or 10 years to refill the pipeline.
What kind of conversations could be kick-started with different levels of government to build out a financial assistance program? Or add
Marine Drive Golf Club’s Superintendent Jamie Robb, AGS with a couple of excited interns.
golf to something that exists already? Collaborations amongst industry stakeholders and the sharing of best practices is certainly one of those big opportunities, too. But so is the participation in virtual job fairs, the development of golf and non-golf perk programs along with environmental stewardship programs, plus developing engaging media content using social networking to get in front of a new generation.
“There are a lot of company-culture things, non-traditional benefits and just smart marketing work on the recruiting side that could attract candidates,” says Calderwood. “They’re not singular things but the retention strategies are important. I’m encouraged some courses are able to solve this.”
Dustin Zdan, AGS, who is the vice president of the CGSA’s board of directors and the superintendent at Blackhawk Golf Club in Alberta, is part of the Olds College advisory board. They’ve got a mandate to try to introduce the profession to high school students more frequently.
Olds College, he says, has a complete cohort of 25 students. But that’s a singular institution that is set to serve the whole country plus a few spots in the United States. There were 15 assistant superintendent postings in the spring of 2022 in Alberta, Zdan says, and half didn’t get filled.
Zdan is a big proponent of encouraging those who are in the leadership positions in the turfgrass space in Canada to have a bigger line of communication with prospects, especially after the last two years. Even something like installing a week’s holiday in the summertime can go a long way. The pandemic, he says, showed how important quality of life is – and that includes being able to pivot old thinking about when work could happen.
“Supers are changing, and we need to change to keep people in this industry for sure,” says Zdan. “There is definitely change coming. (Superintendents) are open to it and know how valuable it is to retain a staff – you have to be open to new ideas, for sure.” GM
12 • CGSA • GreenMaster
4. APPEAL TO THE INCOMING GENERATION