Staffing Strategies That Work

January 2023

Golf facilities are always challenged to recruit, hire, and retain the best workers. Intellectual exercises of analyzing economic situations or blaming it on “kids these days” are fruitless. Managers are tasked to meet clientele’s expectations—hiring a full roster of people that buy into your services and culture makes that happen.

Below I share some of the strategies and methods I have used for hiring great staff. Do not let the excuse of insufficient resources become a non-starter for you. Human resources management may be a new frontier for you, but using a few of these practices can pay off big time. 

This new staffer likes his job—not just because

he works outdoors—but because he made

an extra $600 by referring two of his friends for work at our facility.

Intentional Planning

Determining the number of people and skill sets you need is a good starting point. The following questions will direct that discovery.

What is the labor structure and budget at your facility?

Headcount, positions, and hours are variables you can manipulate. An excellent manager will look for opportunities to exploit each of these variables for efficiency and productivity.

For example, there may be an opportunity to retain only the best performers as full-time staff and hire more part-time staff. Or maybe, in your market, people really want full time positions—it might be possible to cut your total headcount to get the right full timer, like a skilled technician.

What is the labor market in your area?

For any open position, there will be competition from other facilities for the best people. Determine the going pay rates for the positions you intend to fill. You will have to be at, or slightly above, the average rate of pay to attract good candidates.

Do you have clear position descriptions?

You will send a clear message to potential hires if you have detailed position descriptions. You also will save precious time by deselecting unqualified candidates. Take the time to outline the responsibilities, qualifications, and abilities for each position to accurately assess the candidate.

What defines the best employees at your facility?

You will want to hire a person that works the way you do and that delivers the service that your clientele expects. Determine why people like working at your facility, how your facility draws people to work with you, and how people find out about working with you. Use your organization’s strengths—it is the culture of your unique operation that attracts the very best people.

Staffing is critical for all departments at your facility. A key objective is finding enthusiastic people who create the culture and provide the service your clientele expects.

Strategic Recruiting

Once you have defined specific needs for your staff, select people who meet those needs. Your mission is to recruit the right person and the right fit.

            Recruiting requires action—you need to go to the people. Recruiting should be targeted with respect to skills and where you find the best recruit. For example, some of the best employees came from existing employee referrals—people who understand the work and know the candidate.

With potential recruits, use conversation starters like, “Have you ever considered working at…,” or “You have a great way with people, the course where I work is looking….” Actively going to and searching for the people you want is always better than waiting or hoping for them to come to you. Consider offering “recruiting bonuses” to existing staff who use these strategies to bring in the next great hire.

            Other active recruiting strategies include print and digital information. Do not assume that new candidates know what working at your facility is all about. Show them as much as you can and leave them with the impression that it would be “very cool” to work at your establishment.

Hiring and On-Boarding

            Do not take this step for granted—make it official. Complete the process with all the required paperwork and orientation. By doing this well, you show your new employee the facility’s commitment to his or her success and safety.

This is an opportunity to make the new employee feel comfortable, to address any unanswered questions, and to provide support and resources for questions and training that will eventually arise.

            The required paperwork is a legal matter. New hires appreciate knowing about the identification and documents they must provide before they can begin working.

Key Takeaways

            A Human Resources Administrator can assist with the required paperwork, with generating consistent job descriptions across departments, and with recruiting. Depending on the size of your operation, this may not be an option. However, the more you can do to facilitate hiring and transitioning, the more successful your staffing and workforce will be.

Plan well. Be intentional and active in your recruiting. Send a message to your new hires that they are expertly chosen, valued, and are part of a successful and professional operation. Be creative with your staffing plan—try new ways to structure time and resources.