Are retirees a logical solution?

Help Wanted:

People willing to wake up before the sun rises; work long hours in often unpleasant conditions including heat, humidity, rain, snow and occasional hail; must take holiday and weekend shifts; most time spent alone. Low wages guaranteed, no experience necessary — and forget playing any golf.

Be honest (which is something I always try to do in this column): Does this sound like a job you’d want to go for after finishing your work career?

We all know that labor issues are a perennially perplexing problem, and maybe worse now than ever. And while I applaud human resource professionals and my fellow superintendents for their creativity in casting a wider net looking for a new crop of people to fill out a grounds crew — young, old, international, etc. — I’m not convinced that retirees are the answer to our prayers.

I know that many 60-plus folks — like myself — already go to bed before prime time and wake up before the rooster. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re interested in spending the hours in between raking, mowing, watering and performing other often back-breaking chores.

Hey, I know the drill, having done it all from lowest laborer on the crew to superintendent and more. I enjoy seeing the sun come up. But I’m not sure you’re going to find many, if any, seniors who want to care for a golf course day after day after day. Particularly after they realize that the last thing they’re going to want to do on their days off is play golf (and if they’re working for a private club, they won’t be welcome to tee it up there anyway).

I get it. Someone had a job, retired, is now bored (or needs the money), and maybe loves the game and thinks this gets them closer to it. If you’re interviewing some of these types, you owe it to yourself — and them — to be very honest about what the work entails. And more important, you need to ask yourself one question: How long do you think this “old guy” is gonna last?

Yes, everyone, at every age, is different. Some 80-year-olds run marathons, father children, even shoot their age. But before hiring them to work on your crew, consider:

• Are they in good health, with stamina to work a half or full day outdoors, in the sun (or rain or worse) on your golf course?
• Is it going to be more work for the rest of your crew to “carry” the old guy?
• Do they have the physical capacity and strength to do heavy work hour after hour?
• How fast can they work? What’s their pace? How well and how quickly can they move? How much can they accomplish?
• Even if they spent a lifetime doing a “dirty job,” do they really want to do it again? And do they want to start at the bottom of the pecking order?
• Do you have some tasks better suited to older workers, like mowing (with proper training, of course), divot repairs, bunker raking or hole changing? Can you afford to make special accommodations for the older workers — giving them the “less taxing” jobs? And remember, even mowing doesn’t mean sitting all day: It’s getting on and off the mower, replacing tees and other obstacles, and in some cases having to work the mower carefully around flower beds, benches and other obstacles.
• Is the older worker temperamentally suited to working on your crew — working with younger people and maybe workers from other countries?
• What was their past work experience? If they had any sort of management experience, they might be used to being in charge and not want to take instruction from others, especially those younger than they are (like you).
• Will they think their older status means they can say whatever they want, offering advice that you — or others on the crew — might not want to hear?
• How many hours a day, and how many days a week, is this job? Are they physically and mentally ready to make that commitment?
• Find out if you can ask what medications they’re taking and try to find out if they’re going to be OK in the heat or cold. Also, what previous conditions have they had? Are there heart issues? Any other physical liabilities or restrictions?
• What other commitments do they have? How frequently will they need to take time off for doctor appointments, tending to grandchildren, or other things? Will you wind up working others’ schedules around them?
• Many older folks are looking for a social outlet through their job. Will working on a maintenance crew provide this? If so, at what cost to the crew’s productivity? How will your crew take to having someone much older working with them?
• Will they be available — and dependable — during your busy seasons? Holidays? Weekends? It’s hard to justify missing Christmas morning with the grandkids.

Something else to weigh, especially if you’re trying to decide between hiring a senior and hiring someone younger, like a high-school kid who you already know won’t be sticking around very long. On the one hand, the younger person will move faster, but may not do as thorough a job. And while the veteran may not be as quick, they also might not dally, stopping every 10 minutes to check their Twitter feed.

Again, every individual is different. Ultimately, it’s up to you to learn as much as you can before offering someone a job, then making the best decision for your course, your crew and your sanity. But as I’m sure you can tell, I’m very skeptical that the older worker is going to end up your superstar. But when the talent pool is small …