Page 12 - GBC spring 2015

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Golf Business Canada
before you post the position. Is your website’s employment section up-to-date? Are your club’s values, goals and objectives clearly outlined? Do you post “sample” schedules while clearly outlining the expectations of availability? Do you list quotes or endorsements from past team members? By clearly setting out the ground rules first, this will help weed out prospective candidates who might not believe in your customer obsessive culture.
Some of your colleagues have fine-tuned their hiring practices and continue to raise the bar. Paul Doucet, General Manager at Maple Downs Golf and Country Club, shared some insight into their hiring strategies.
1. Go beyond the page
Like over 91% of recruiters*, Paul and his department heads make sure to visit candidates’ Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles. What someone shares says a lot about that person. Are they creative, great communicators, have they received awards or accolades, are they positive?
*Based on study from Reppler and Lab42.
3. Paul’s three P’s when it comes to hiring: Passion – Personality – Product
• Did the candidate come across as
passionate about anything in the interview? If they did, we can train them to be passionate about their position and the members
• Does their personality lend itself to the team they will be joining as well as the membership?
•Do we feel that they are a “product” that we would like to sell to the members and guests? In the end, we are part of the product and overall experience
“Is your website’s that the members pay for.
employment section up-to- date? Are your club’s values, goals and objectives clearly outlined?“
2. Needs assessment
Maple Downs also complete a “needsassessment”perdepartment before hiring to ensure that they have looked at all the pieces of the puzzle. Paul pointed out that; “Someone may have a weakness in an area however we hire them anyway because of the strengths they bring to the team. We also have a few returning team members attend the job fair, greet applicants as they arrive and sit in at the table interview with department heads and observe. Their feedback is valuable.”
TRAINING ANd EmpoWERmENT
Everyone on your team is part of your customer service department. At one point in time in your customer’s golf experience, members of your team will overhear or be approached by a golfer with a challenge or an opportunity.
Are they trained on how to listen and how to deliver great customer service? Do they actually have the power to do anything or simply have the manager deal with the opportunity?
Use your non-peak season (winter months) to review and update your current service procedures. Not sure if your current procedures work? Call or email any of your previous seasons’ staff members and ask them if they felt the service procedures worked and how they could be improved.
This is also an ideal time to conduct your own self-assessment. Do you deliver on what you train? Do you “live” and “breath” your club’s service goals and values or are they simply words on a poster in your staff areas and by your team schedules?
It is important to share your service successes but even more important to share your service challenges.