EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT: Back on track

Last year was lean for many companies, and golf course maintenance operations were no exception. And while therefs hope that the worst is behind us, that road to recovery may be long and bumpy.

So how do you keep your employees, the life blood of your golf course, engaged in their individual roles? Author and consultant Jon Gordon says work force burnout and negativity are the aftershocks of the recent economic crisis, but there are strategies for getting everyone back on track.

"Even if companies havenft literally lost their employees, many have lost them psychologically," says Gordon, the author of "The Shark and the Goldfish: Positive ways to thrive during waves of change." "When fear and uncertainty become staples of daily work and life, they lead to a lack of trust, decreased productivity, poor focus, uninspired teamwork and subpar performance.

"For leaders, now is the time to improve your culture and get inside your employeesf heads," he adds. "You need to personally make sure that your company is a place where people want to work. You can allow the current economy to crush your morale, confidence and spirit, or you can choose to proactively shape your organization into one that is positive, resilient and prepared to take on challenges."

Gordon and Golf Course Industry Editor Mike Zawacki discuss strategies to boost worker morale and engagement at your golf course as you prepare for the 2010 season.

How do you keep your work forcefs morale and attitudes in check, especially on the tail end of such a bad recession?

Therefs so much fear out there right now in the world of business, and fear keeps people from performing to their highest potential, it causes companies to scatter their energy and become less focused and really forget about their foundation.

Managers can be so focused on the numbers that they donft see these things happening around them. What are some of the symptoms to be on the lookout for that this mental checkout has started to take hold of your workers? I think it starts with the leadership. What message are you sending as a leader? If youfre always focused on numbers, numbers, numbers, then that is a symptom right there. While you do have to achieve certain results to be profitable, you wonft hit those numbers by just focusing on those numbers. You hit those numbers by focusing on the people and the product.

So where is the attention? Is it on the people and in training and developing them? Or is it just on the numbers?

Now, with your people, itfs hard to give you a set of symptoms, but I think you can tell when someone has become disengaged by the way they act.

Are they spending more time online checking their Facebook accounts? How much time are they spending on that? Are they complaining and blaming others, because when people feel powerless they complain and blame more.

We complain because we feel powerless. So if theyfre complaining more, then thatfs one symptom that they may have checked out.

On the operations front, they donft have that energy and gusto that you can easily feel during good times. Does your company feel like a fun place to work, or does it feel like a toxic dump or a morgue? Do you feel like youfre at a birthday party or a funeral?

I often say to resterauntuers that when you walk into a place you can immediately tell if a it has energy or life.

So how do you feel when you walk through the door of your place?

Letfs say youfve noticed your work environment feels more like a funeral than a party. How do you rectify this? Do you approach the problem with a sledgehammer or a pizza party? Whatfs the best way to get everyone back on track?

Youfve got to rally your team together and have some town-hall-style meetings. You need to be very transparent and open and say to your people: "Herefs where we were. Herefs where we are. And herefs where wefre going."

You need to paint the vision of a positive future in where youfre going. And if you donft have that positive vision of the future, then you might as well just drop out now.

You need to create a great, unifying vision. Martin Luther King said, "I have a dream," not "I have a strategic plan." You need that defining vision for your team that people can rally around.

Then, you need to get down and talk to each other, or, if itfs a large organization, you have your managers drill this down, and ask them how they can contribute to this vision going forward and move the company forward. How can you help them achieve their vision and how can they help you achieve yours.

Ifm not for kicking people in the butt, but Ifm also not for pizza parties either because these are short-term solutions. People donft want pizza, they want to feel good about where they work, that they have purpose, that theyfre part of something bigger than themselves and that they can contribute. Thatfs the most important thing to show your team and empower them to be part of the solution.

So youfre saying this solution should be short, quick and to the point, and not some sort of manifesto? No, it has to be simple, clear, bold and compelling. It needs to be a rallying cry and something that can easily be reinforced on a daily basis and gets everyone motivated.

Some superintendents and course managers report they are starting to see cases of not-my-job-itis. During better times everyone is willing to pitch in, now everyone is very protective of their responsibilities.

Again, this is a symptom of fear. When people start to feel fear they go into survival mode and become very protective and territorial of their duties.

The answer to this fear is faith, assurance and communication within your organization and that youfre communicating where your organization is going and that youfll get through this with teamwork.

You solve these things at the cultural level.

My whole premise is that no one should go to work and have to deal with an energy vampire next to them. Instead, they should come to work and perform to their highest potential and not have any obstacles in accomplishing that goal.

You, as the leader, need to make sure you create an environment where everyone can work to their highest potential. And this requires team, and if youfre not on the team then youfre off the bus.

A lot of organizations donft do this, and thatfs why they have problems. The best ones are the ones that create a culture and an environment that says, "Wefre not going to be protective and territorial right now. Instead, wefre all going to chip in."

In your book you talked about the importance of communication and transparency to get everyone onboard with a single vision. Can a superintendent or a manager be too transparent about whatfs going on with the overall business at their golf course? Is it best that everyone on your team isnft privy to whatfs going on, or is honesty the best policy?

I donft think you should disclose everything, but I do believe you have to be more transparent than more private. Ifd rather see an owner overly transparent and make a mistake than not because then if you make a mistake people will still trust you.

People donft want to be blind sided and the more transparent you can be the better off in the long term.

If it involves people, their lives and their livelihood, then I think you should always be transparent and disclose the facts to people. GCI

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