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Golf course superintendents manage a variety of resources, but none more valuable than their staff. It is estimated that the labor component of a golf course maintenance budget is around 55 percent of the total budget. It is logical that if you can control your labor costs you can better manage your budget. There are several ways to manage your labor, but in this article I will focus on scheduling.
Most golf courses take their available staff and “assign” them to specific tasks each day. Every golf course has its priorities and we assign higher priorities to the things that must be done. Smart operators go a step further and analyze the most efficient and productive ways to maintain the golf course. This can be a totally different way of thinking for superintendents, but one that is necessary for survival in the current economy and beyond.
Scheduling is the process of deciding how to commit resources between a variety of possible tasks. Historically, golf courses tend to work a defined schedule that has been the standard for many years. The standard schedule would be to start the golf course maintenance activities before play to stay ahead of the golfers on the course. That is smart scheduling and allows for the most productive performance of tasks. The work day begins at 5 or 6 a.m. which minimizes the interference of golfers with the scheduled work. The first several hours of the day are undoubtedly the most productive. However, after the first three or four hours the level of productivity tends to fall as workers must do their tasks and often wait for golfers.
I am sure we have all experienced the mid-day situation where workers are on and off the greens while trimming heads, fixing ball marks, hand watering as players play through the work at hand. With fairway mowing and other activities I would estimate that the productivity level is less than 60 percent at the middle of the day.
Some companies and golf courses have done time and motion studies and developed systems to provide the most efficient operations to best utilize the man hours available. Today there are a number of methods to analyze how efficient the staff performs. I have seen several software programs that track activity on specific pieces of equipment or even with tracking employees by a chip in their helmet. We all know that there are many ways that trips and activities are repeated and that can be considered a waste of time.
While working with ValleyCrest Golf Course Maintenance I was able to see LEAN management put in place. It had been used effectively in the landscape side of the business and currently is being used on the golf courses that ValleyCrest manages. Each and every task is broken down and analyzed. Input is given by workers as well as management to best figure the most efficient way to perform tasks. Kevin Neal works with many of the courses to improve performance. Additionally, Ted Horton works with ValleyCrest in developing strategies for scheduling that provide minimal interference with players resulting in higher productivity. Ted utilized these strategies at Pebble Beach while he was vice president of resource management.
Other superintendents have developed schedules that take into account efficiencies created through scheduling. I can remember back in the 1970s, when I worked for Frank Dobie, and he would have a full staff work the morning schedule and then utilize some of his people in the food and beverage area for the lunch period. We would go back out on the golf course later in the day and work into the evening when there was little or no play. Bruce Sering, superintendent at Glen View Club, would have some of us work a split schedule so we could mow fairways and spray the golf course later in the day when play was minimal.
So now, more than ever before, is the time for golf courses to look at the concept of scheduling to better manage their budgets. As usual, I will throw out a couple of ideas that might work at your facilities. Some of this can be a paradigm shift so look at the bigger picture and see if it will work for you.
Happy Trails GC has tee times beginning at 7 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m. in the summer months. Tee times are on 7-minute intervals and they do 60,000 rounds a year. There are 14 people on the crew including management. Without regard to optimal scheduling, this course would have all 14 people come in at 6 a.m. and perform the standard tasks such as cup changing, tee service, mowing greens, raking bunkers, mowing tees and mowing rough. Mid-morning activities would include mowing green and tee banks, mowing fairways, continuation of rough mowing, hand watering greens and irrigation repairs.
With optimal scheduling, Happy Trails Golf Course might look at a system that would have some management and the mechanic come in early to prepare and stage the equipment for a quick start in the morning. The first 10-15 minutes of the day are often spent with people waiting for others to get their equipment out of the way. Making sure all pieces are positioned properly and running allows workers to get out on the job and be most productive.
Tremendous amounts of time are lost during startup, breaks, lunch and the end of the day. It is not an effective use of time. If it takes 10 minutes to drive to the shop for a break and 10 minutes to drive back to the work site that is 20 minutes of non-productive time. A man-hour of labor costs approximately $10 per hour plus an additional 35 percent for benefits. With two breaks a day that could cost a facility 40 minutes per crew member per day. That would equal approximately $9 per full time employee per day. Multiply that by 14 employees and you have $136 per day that could be saved at Happy Trails.
Scheduling the most people in the early morning makes sense as that is when they are most productive. Consider using not just your normal number of 14 people but perhaps some additional staff to get things done. This can be done by hiring part-time employees or the use of split shifts. In this economy, there are a number of people that are looking for work with non-conventional hours.
During the middle of the day the schedule should only have tasks performed that can be done in a productive manner. This might include equipment maintenance, clubhouse grounds, pumphouse maintenance, etc. In the afternoon there will be a point in which many golf courses have their last tee time. It is at this point that once again optimal performance for efficiency can be scheduled. An afternoon crew can mow fairways, mow rough, do irrigation repairs and hand water until local noise restrictions take effect. Often that is as late as 8 p.m. Imagine how much more productive we can be from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Happy Trails Golf Course than we would be from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
For anyone that has ever gone to Disneyland or any of the other theme parks it is amazing how you never see anyone mowing the lawns, sweeping the streets, painting, or doing any other maintenance. This is by design, as those parks have figured out how to schedule properly with little or no interference to the customer and maximizing their productivity. Golf courses should take a lesson from this.
Now if we have staff working from 5 a.m. until 8 p.m. then how does a superintendent work 15 hours a day? The answer is simple and it can be done with proper scheduling and delegation. Training staff as managers and leaders will allow delegation to assistant superintendents, equipment technicians and foremen. It is possible at Happy Trails for the equipment technician to arrive at 5 a.m. and stage the equipment. The superintendent could arrive at 5:30 a.m. with the staff starting at 6 a.m. The assistant superintendent could arrive at 11 a.m. and his schedule takes him until 8 p.m. The superintendent leaves at around 4 p.m. and all the shifts are covered.
Alternative sources of labor can be found by utilizing and cross-training clubhouse staff. College and high school students are available for the p.m. hours. Think of retirees that would make wonderful equipment operators. Many people are looking for part-time jobs these days and creative scheduling would fit their needs as well as yours.
The goal of managing labor productivity is all about reducing costs and allowing the golf course superintendent to meet the maintenance standards on that property. Think of it as cutting waste rather than cutting man hours. More productive time usage is the key to scheduling. If we owned our own golf courses, then this type of scheduling would be a no-brainer. “Spend the owners’ money as if it were your own,” has often been said but not always practiced.
Any owner would strongly support less player interference with maintenance tasks. It allows for quicker rounds of golf and happier customers. It also allows for more rounds and greater revenues. As shown above it can also result in better managed labor costs.
Each superintendent must develop a plan to sell their scheduling to the ownership.
Efficiency and productivity will result in cost savings. The cost savings can be used to improve the quality of course conditioning and/or improving the bottom line. The golf business has never been more competitive than today. More and more courses are implementing schedules like Happy Trails Golf Course. It makes a whole lot of business sense. GCI
Bruce Williams, GCGS, is the principal in Bruce Williams Golf Consulting and Executive Golf Search. He is an author and speaker in the golf industry, a GCSAA past president and a frequent contributor to GCI. Reach him at BruceWms1@hotmail.com.
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