Adapt with the times

Work used to be so much simpler: Employers needed workers; workers needed jobs. As the economy cycled through good and bad times, labor was a function of supply and demand, with employers competing for the best and brightest in good times and workers competing for fewer and fewer openings in lean times.

Now we hear economists and human resources professionals debating the future of work and it sounds like we’ve entered a parallel universe with its own language. The pandemic introduced us to the “Great Resignation,” which saw nearly 48 million people leave their jobs in 2021, many in retail and hospitality. There were multiple reasons for the mass exodus, but the impetus for many was that they discovered they had their choice of better ways to earn a living.

More recently, we’ve learned a new term: “Quiet Quitting,” which describes workers who have not actually quit but have delineated clear barriers to what they consider their job description. The concept is summed up as: “I’ll show up and do my job, and do it well, especially if it interests me, but don’t expect anything above and beyond.”

According to the management consulting firm Gartner, the pace of employee turnover is forecast to be 50 to 75 percent higher than companies have experienced previously; the issue is compounded by an 18 percent increase in the time it takes to fill roles than it did pre-pandemic. “Increasingly squeezed managers are spending time they don’t have searching for new recruits in an expensive and competitive market,” according to Sarah Ellis and Helen Tupper, co-founders of career counseling firm Amazing If.

Today’s smarter strategy — which has always been the smarter strategy — is to refocus on retention, to keep top performers performing by meeting more of their post-pandemic needs. Although executing on that strategy is harder by the day, here are three ways to make it work in your organization:

• Foster a sense of “belonging.” People stay where they feel valued, respected and an important part of the team. Look at military organizations where small-unit structures preserve and embody the values and purpose of the force overall. Small-unit squads (fireteams) make small knots of people interdependent and accountable to one another. This is a key to effectiveness because cohesiveness within small groups is easier to maintain and direct to specific purposes. Bring the concept to your facility by asking team members to help reorganize into smaller and more mutually accountable work teams built around geographic location, task orientation and agronomic specialties.Guide those small groups in goalsetting that becomes the backbone of your agronomic plan. Consider performance standards and measurable results, operational efficiency and “reach goals.” Finally, recognize teams meeting and exceeding goals. Celebrate their successes in ways that are important to them.
• Make it personal. The ways of managing people that club leaders learned from their baby boomer bosses are outdated. It’s no longer command and control. Workers joining your team want to know how their work connects to the bigger picture and why it’s important. Their expectations demand that club leaders:
  • Explain how tasks associated with each job contribute to the team’s overall success and increase golfers’ satisfaction. “Because I said so” is no longer an effective answer — if it ever was.
  • De-institutionalize their management approach. Make time to speak with each team member to confirm they understand expectations. Give your team the opportunity to buy in and respect their suggestions for changes or improvements.
  • Workers are not looking for you to be their buddy. But they do want to know that you recognize, respect and appreciate the jobs they do. Eye contact, a word of encouragement and a real conversation are more meaningful than ever.
• Lead the way. On D-Day in June 1944, Brigadier General Norman Cota famously reorganized the soldiers trapped on Omaha Beach with clear-cut guidance, finishing with the order: “Rangers, lead the way!” Although the circumstances are not so urgent for turf managers, the importance of leadership can never be taken lightly. Your team wants your leadership. They may challenge you, disagree from time to time and test your patience. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want you to demonstrate your knowledge of turf management and resource allocation.