Club Management - September/October 2007 - (Page 53) EVOLUTION continued from page 35 His club features an 18-hole golf course, six clay tennis courts and a fitness program. Located on the side of the Santa Catalina Mountains, it commands a perspective of the city and the valley from 2,000 feet up and is known for its fabulous views. In addition to golfi ng and other sports, Skyline offers a fitness center and has plans for a 9,000-square-foot expansion, approved by 93 percent of members. “We decided to become more relevant to our members. There are lots of other public and private golf clubs here, but we want to offer spas, food and beverage, and other attractions for the whole family, including children’s programs. Thorpe said the average member’s age used to be “70 to dead,” and it’s still 65, so the club wants to attract more families. “Health and fitness is big, and it’s not going away. Currently, the club is partnering with the University of Arizona Medical School and Cancer Center to develop diet and exercise programs. “We provide the test subjects, and they provide the menus and the plan,” he said. Competition for Skyline, which opened in 1962, has leveled off. The real growth of the late 1990s has tapered off, and Thorpe said it won’t come back. Skyline’s core group of golfers (who play eight to nine times a year) dropped 27 percent in 2006, and it doesn’t make sense for some to be members – unless the facility offers more than just golf. “It’s all about running it as a business,” he said. Ward noted that the changing club member demographic (from women playing golf to a better-rounded, family-oriented approach) has revolutionized clubs. Dad no longer comes and plays golf with his friends and leaves the wife and kids at the pool, Ward said. Now Dad plays golf early in the morning, then goes to the pool and has lunch with Mom and the kids. After lunch, Mom plays golf, and Dad and the kids stay at the pool. “We call it the handoff,” he said. “Many times it is the other way around with Mom playing in the morning. In addition, we have many more couples playing golf together. We hold our board meetings on weekend afternoons and sometimes have difficulty scheduling a date that does not confl ict with family events. The membership priority is family fi rst.” Ward said one interesting conversation has been to define exactly what business clubs are in, and he said all agree it’s the “member satisfaction business.” “This is a guiding principal in what we do, but we never lose track of the reality that someone has to pay for it,” he said. Labor, Immigration and Demographics Labor issues affect everyone, and staff turnover means replacement by new employees who must be trained and pass criminal and background checks. Finding entrylevel managers “isn’t an issue for me, but it is for some,” Grady said. “Young people don’t have the same desire and work ethic as older ones; they don’t want to work long hours or weekends.” Borders noted that private clubs used to be exempt from immigration laws, but not anymore. It’s a huge issue, especially in entry-level positions. And young people aren’t willing to put in the time required and are getting out of the business. “When I started out, I expected seven-day work weeks,” Borders said. Like the others, Thorpe’s challenges include finding and keeping employees, although he now only deals with hiring department heads. Part of the problem is the Immigration and Naturalization Service. In 2005, Skyline terminated five golf course employees because of false documentation. Since the entire crew was only 20 people, it had a big impact. The work is hot, difficult and not high-paying, and the club is geographically isolated. Still, Skyline currently has five Chechnyans on its crew as well as Serbs, Croats, Nigerians and Afghans – as diverse a workforce as any in Tucson. Refugee relocation centers in Tucson help with integration into the community, and Thorpe is very happy with the immigrant workers. But challenges remain. Immigration statuses have to be checked, and Arizona recently passed a minimum wage increase (as did the federal government). But many Skyline employees have worked there for 20 years or more, Thorpe said. Thorpe said Skyline has a history of finding people without management degrees and many with no degrees. Skyline trains them; in Las Vegas, Thorpe took people from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, hospitality program. However, he agreed that today’s work ethic is different. For Thorpe, it’s work until the job is done, but many today think work is a 40-to-50-hour week and no work on weekends. “The business isn’t like that,” he said. Thorpe has a different take on retaining employees. He likes to mentor them and is happy to see them advance, even if that means moving on. He hired one person as a bus boy who rose to Skyline’s number two job, and then Thorpe helped him get a job elsewhere. “I don’t want people here to feel dead-ended or pigeonholed,” he said. Ward said the biggest change in CMAA has been its member demographics. “Our association has gotten younger, smarter, and better educated, especially in the last 10 years. Club management was usually a second career choice as managers migrated from other areas of hospitality management. Today we see a large number of entry-level managers who choose club management as a career right out of college. “I think CMAA has played a major role in this regard. Our student chapter programs throughout the country have exposed many potential employees to our industry.” When Ward started as a club manager, there were none of today’s alphabets and acronyms. “Then came OSHA, ERISA, FMLA and the other rules and regulations we must be knowledgeable about,” he said. “Every day brings a question about labor issues that did not exist 25 years ago. Many clubs have added full-time HR personnel to help deal with these issues.” On almost every labor decision, Ward consults with an attorney who is not a club member. The attorney reviews the club’s employee manual every two years to ensure compliance with current state and federal labor laws. Technology Borders’ staffers use technology to be in touch with each other and with families, but the club tries to keep members off cell phones in the dining room, on golf courses and in the lounges. It’s allowed in parking lots and corridors, but Borders said at the Los Angeles Country Club, he used his cell phone in a parking lot and was told by two members that he couldn’t. Peachtree’s no-cell-phone rule changed to a no-electrical-devices ban because of iPods and text messaging. On the golf course, the club uses the latest technology for agronomy and equipment. Although Peachtree uses up-to-date phone EVOLUTION continued on page 54 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007 • 53
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