KCCC devotes considerable time to constantly rethinking and retesting its training and orientation practices.
As someone with multiple professional certifications, Marc Bado, CCM, CCE, is well-versed in theoretical approaches to effective staff training. In fact, as he pursues his next certification level to become a Master Club Manager, Bado is preparing a monograph on integrated team management within the private club industry.
But in his “day job” as General Manager/COO of The Kansas City Country Club (KCCC) in Mission Hills, Kan., Bado also knows that all of the best theories and book-learning mean nothing if they can’t be practically applied when it comes to teaching club staff at all levels—including seasonal and part-time—what they need to know to carry out their daily duties properly. That’s why KCCC, under Bado’s leadership, devotes considerable time to constantly rethinking and retesting its training and orientation practices, to make sure they are as effective as possible in preparing staff for what they will encounter when providing service to members or making other contributions to the club’s operations.
The KCCC orientation process for staff management, for example, is designed to ensure that all new hires are “efficiently, thoroughly and personally established as an employee within the club.” It includes an orientation video and a club tour during which new employees are introduced to all members of the management team and fellow staff they will work with.
THE GOAL: Put teeth into training theory at The Kansas City Country Club, through practical application of effective orientation techniques for staff at all levels, including seasonal and part-time.THE PLAN: Develop and adhere to an orientation process that ensures all hires will be “efficiently, thoroughly and personally established as an employee.” Supplement pre-hire and classroom training with practical sessions, such as “test runs” using other staff as “customers” before facilities are opened to members, and require nightly closing reports from on-duty managers to highlight staff issues and recognize exemplary performance.
THE PAYOFF: Dedication to a well-developed and -executed orientation process has helped the club see a decrease in new-hire turnover and an overall increase in employee satisfaction. |
“This process allows new hires to become more comfortable with the layout of the club, as well as the individuals they will most regularly interact with on a day-to-day basis,” Bado says.
But it doesn’t stop there. New employees are also given orientation packets that include a checklist, drawn from instruction provided in the Team Manual for club staff, that ensures they understand all critical aspects to service standards and club policies. “The standardization of this element [of the training process] has increased the quality of the orientation process, and guarantees that all aspects are covered,” says Bado.
The orientation process also includes a “personnel action form” that details how an employee will be compensated, defines his or her employment status or type, and other key facts.
Once new hires have been provided with all of this, their assimilation into what working at the club will be like is further eased by practices such as “test runs,” using other staff members as “customers,” before facilities actually open to members, and nightly reports from the “Manager on Duty” that highlights how all club activities were executed during the just-completed day, including any staff-related issues that might need to be addressed.
“The ‘MOD Report’ is required of all closing managers,” says Bado. “It is sent to different levels of the management team and allows us to have better follow up with members, as well as help with any mechanical, technical or service issues that may have come up. It also is used as a ‘checks and balance’ system for our managers.”
Nothing is deemed too trivial to include in these Manager on Duty reports. One night’s report, for example, included a reference to a “very frigid” room and the fact that “we currently do not have enough clean white napkins for tomorrow’s events.”
The reports are also frequently filled with commendations, by name, for staff members who are recognized as “good sports” for their flexibility, good nature and things like “pitching in to make sure everything was done and checking out with me before leaving.”
Is all of this effort worth it from a management standpoint? More importantly, does it have the intended effect on those who are trained and oriented through all of these steps?
Based on two key measures, Bado answers “yes” in both cases. “Thanks to the management team’s dedication and understanding of the effectiveness of a well-developed and -executed orientation process, [KCCC] has experienced a decrease in new-hire turnover, as well as an overall increase in employee satisfaction,” he reports.
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