Private clubs are among the country’s best employers when it comes to retaining staff. Many boast workforces that include employees who have been with the club for 20-, 30- or even 40- and 50-plus years. What is the recipe for retaining long-tenured staff who stay through numerous transitions and changes? We interviewed several clubs that excel in this area to share their workplace philosophies and best practices.
Interviewed Clubs
Baltimore Country Club, Baltimore and Lutherville, Md.
Baltimore Country Club (BCC) has been named a Top Workplace by the Baltimore Business Journal for the past five years and has a talented workforce ranging from 300 employees off-peak to upwards of 450 during peak season. The team also has employees whose tenures have lasted 44 years, 37 years and numerous others at 20-plus years.
Lake Shore Country Club, Glencoe, Ill.
Lake Shore Country Club, just outside Chicago, has a loyal and energized workforce that includes staff who have been at the club for 30- and 40-plus years. Management has an average tenure of over 10 years, and many have enjoyed a long career at the club from their early professional days, including a 46-year-old manager who already has 21 years of service at Lake Shore. The club has 38 staff year-round and 170 seasonal staff.
Country Club of Virginia, Richmond Va.
The Country Club of Virginia (CCV) was named a Top Workplace by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and boasts 600 to 800 staff depending on the season, including 331 full-time employees. CCV has robust staff longevity with 63 workers being there 10 to 19 years, 33 from 20 to 29 years, 16 from 30 to 39 years. three from 40 to 49 years and one staff person has served at the club for more than 50 years.
Philosophy & Culture
Culture drives the entire club, including its workforce, every day. The interviewed clubs noted their clubs’ investment in their culture and philosophy, cultivating an environment that promotes staff development, recognition and longevity.
The Simple Truth: Great People Make Favorite Places is BCC’s way of expressing the club’s member service philosophy. It encompasses the crucial attitudes, values, and hospitality ideals the team implements daily. It’s about establishing genuine relationships with members and staff, taking care of people, listening to them, and truly connecting on a personal level.
At its center is “The Core Four:”
- Do what’s right, not what’s easy.
Take ownership and be accountable
- Empowerment through opportunity.
Be impactful with your actions
- Build genuine relationships.
Engage, be passionate, present, & empathetic
- Be extraordinary.
Going beyond expectations is the standard
BCC’s Core Four are four actionable value statements that ensure the team is working to create exceptional experiences at all times. “The concept of making the club a favorite place is not member-specific”, said Director of Human Resources Lauren Kourtsounis. “It’s about ensuring BCC is also a favorite place for our staff.”
The club also publishes an annual staff culture book, highlighting the club’s and staff’s accomplishments, staff milestones and announcements.
“It’s the GM’s job to take care of the employees. Employees take care of members,” said Brian Silver, GM/COO Lake Shore Country Club.
This philosophy creates and drives culture at Lake Shore. Everyone is valuable—no one employee is more important than the other. Because of that, their workforce is extremely open and communicative. Managers especially are encouraged to buy into this philosophy and are in tune with staff to understand staff needs and concerns.
“Culture is everything,” said Silver. “Once you establish that, you create a place people want to belong.”
CCV has a plethora of roles among its 800-person staff—bartenders, Pilates instructors, greenskeepers—but what ties all employees together is hospitality and the value of service, said Communications Director Ashley Payne.
One of CCV’s values is connection. This is incorporated into staff meetings and events where employees, even those who typically don’t engage with one another, are encouraged to engage and come together as a team. “It’s a community where people are treated the same whether they are on day one or at the club for years.”
Recognition Programs
Culture and philosophy are constant club investments, and manifest, both formally and informally, in these clubs’ recognition programs.
BCC’s Green Folder Story program shares moments when a BCC staff member has made an impact on someone’s life or gone above and beyond to help create a special memory. Staff are encouraged to “pick up the pen” and share special moments with supervisors. The act of recording these moments is essential to inspiring other staff and instilling The Simple Truth into the club’s culture. These stories are then published annually and shared with the club.
The executive team also picks a Simple Truth winner each month to be recognized where the team selects the most impactful story. “It’s ultimately about rewarding staff for listening, having empathy and feeling empowered to create a special moment,” said Kourtsounis. “Having that genuine approach has really grown our culture.”
Additionally, the club hosts Staff Appreciation Week among other employee pop-up events, like cooking competitions, food trucks, raffles, local sports team ticket giveaways and countless other perks.
CCV has two recognition programs. The first recognizes people in the moment. Staff write and deliver a note to their colleagues to commend them for going above and beyond the line of duty. After collecting enough commendations, the notes can be turned in for prizes or can be contributed to the staff fund, CCV Cares.
CCV’s MVP Program encourages staff to highlight colleagues who go above and beyond by submitting notes to supervisors. Winners are selected each month and given $100 gift cards and other prizes and are recognized at staff meetings.
Payne noted the need to encourage staff to engage in these programs. When there was a dip in participation, the club adjusted meetings to start with department shoutouts and keep recognition top of mind. Managers are instilled with this idea, and it trickles to everyone else.
At the start of Lake Shore’s Friday senior staff meetings, managers take time to write a thank-you note recognizing hourly staff members and giving them a $10 Amazon gift card. “This goes a long way toward building a culture of recognition and gratitude,” said Silver. The program supports the club’s Employee of the Month and Employee of the Year awards as well. Adding a fun culture-building element, the Employee of the Month receives a custom WWE-style championship belt.
“Handwritten notes are a lost artform,” said Silver about properly recognizing people. “Spontaneous prizes, recognition, and just checking in on staff is part of our culture making people feel appreciated. Giving thanks goes a long way. It’s all about recognition.”
In addition to these programs and HR, BCC has a dedicated staff engagement coordinator whose primary responsibility is to create these experiences for employees. CCV leverages a managerial team called The Great 8 (“eight” referencing words like “appreciate” and “elevate”) that is a sounding board for staff appreciation events and quality control to ensure they are fun, effective and ran smoothly.
Development
Clubs that sustain talent also do exceptional jobs at listening to staff and developing their skillsets as they grow and advance through the club.
BCC YOUniversity is a continuing education program now in its fourth year. This required program for year-round staff lets staff pick various class types—BCC Enrichment, Member Engagement and Personal Enrichment—in areas like F&B, leadership, fitness, culinary, gardening and more. BCC utilizes its staff, members and surprise guests like Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., and other notable people, to teach. The wide variety of topics and speakers keeps courses engaging. Classes are typically held during the week and staff receive pay as well as education credits for attending.
BCC also designates $20,000 annually for staff scholarships that include dependents and spouses, and in 2024 will start a school loan repayment program.
Recently, Lake Shore created an education fund that has more than $165,000 of member-supported funds for staff’s continuing education in areas staff request. These scholarships now apply to employees’ children and even grandchildren.
CCV maintains open communication for staff and development. Whether it is F&B workshops, Club Management Association of America and Greater Baltimore Chapter Club Management Association of America courses, departments and staff have access and are encouraged to participate in these learning opportunities. The club also participates in benchmarking trips in which departments visit other clubs to learn from them and bring back new ideas to the club.
It is important to note the financial investment the clubs undertake to ensure staff development, buy-in and morale. These clubs are empowered by the boards, memberships and leadership to create programs and initiatives to drive support their staff.
Promoting from Within
Education programs not only advance an individual’s development, but also populate a pipeline of internal talent to move up and throughout the club. A staff person’s first position at the club has little bearing on their ability to change departments and advance in new roles.
Lake Shore’s strong communication allows for the club to quickly know staff goals and identify candidates for promotions. “It’s an open-door policy,” said Silver. The club encourages managers and leaders to be in tune with them to help the club grow from within. It can be as simple as asking staff their personal goals, said Silver. “We are constantly looking to grow from within. If you are not, you have a problem.”
CCV also prides itself on offering multiple career paths for one person. CCV’s membership director started as a bartender, an HR employee started in F&B and another started as a valet. “Because the club is a special place that treats people well and helps find opportunities well, those stories are what make the club special.”
BCC heavily encourages promotions from within, identifying candidates who routinely show the drive and culture fit to seek out and excel in any new role. “The cultural fit aspect is huge,” said Kourtsounis. The cross training from BCC YOUniversity also allows staff to learn about all club aspects and become great fits for promotions.
From Day One
The clubs also ingrain culture from day one both formally and informally. BCC utilizes its Onboarding Passport, a document that instructs new hires to discover all parts of the club and write lessons learned and encourage them to introduce themselves to others. Culture and standard are both emphasized.
CCV too has an extensive orientation where culture, values and standards are regularly woven into training and conversations. It is reinforced in weekly and monthly meetings and staff events as well.
Lake Shore emphasizes the importance of generating buy-in early. “If you go too long and new hires don’t feel a part of the energy that the staff puts out, you will lose them,” said Silver. “There’s always something to learn.” He noted the constant need to inform them of special events that build relationships with members, including birthdays, weddings, etc. all make them feel important to the member experience. By setting the standard that they are wanted and involved, on top of support from management, new hires can quickly see themselves at the club for the long-term.
Identifying and Recruiting Great Workers from the Start
In a competitive hospitality labor market, it is critical to attract and retain as many great candidates as possible. The clubs shared some quick tips on finding and keeping talent from the beginning of the search and beyond.
In the past few years, especially for line-level workers, BCC has changed their hiring philosophy to hire the best workers. “We look more for personality and attitude rather than if they are hitting every bullet point on the job description,” said Kourtsounis. “We can teach them skills, but we can’t teach them attitude or personality. They come through the door with that.” One question she asks at the end of interviews to find this quality is, “’Tell me about your last act of random kindness.’ You can really tell a lot about a person from the answer given.”
Lake Shore has a strong reputation in the Chicago area where candidates know they will be appreciated. “We foster that thought process,” said Silver. This manifests in work facets like scheduling. “We prioritize their ability to have two days off, even back-to-back when possible. We know that would make their experience better as we are in a world where sometimes people value their time even more than their money.”
Payne added that a strong referral program can be an effective tool for bringing in promising new hires. “If you have good people already, it helps when they provide a recommendation. They will know the kind of person who will do well in the environment.”
Looking Out for Each Other
Given enough time, many employees need extra support to get through difficult life events. These clubs go above and beyond to ensure that all members of their club families have what they need during these times.
The CCV Cares Foundation provides financial support for staff members facing unforeseen financial hardship. This foundation has aided staff who have undergone surgeries, needed help with bills and or have needed support through other unexpected challenges. During COVID-19, the program was opened for members to contribute, offering much-needed support. The club also hosts candy cane gram drives, raffles and other events to grow and advertise the foundation. Additionally, the club has programs like a coat closet program for staff to donate and grab a free coat.
As a part of Lake Shore’s culture, the club maintains free-flowing communication between staff and management. When a member of the team falls behind, is struggling or dealing with life events, the club quickly knows and can lend its support. Silver pointed to the close relationships managers have with staff so that everyone is engaged. This allows for quick and immediate assistance. When someone needs help, the club responds, “how can we help you?”
BCC has a strong support system for staff, staying open and nimble to respond when needed most. When one staff person needed housing assistance, the club secured a lease for him in the club’s name, giving the employee a home that was heavily subsidized by BCC and time to get back on his feet. When an employee passed away during COVID-19, the club took care of all logistics and costs to send her body back to Guatemala so her final resting place could be with her family. The club has also brought in grief counselors and therapy dogs, commemorated the lives of employees who have passed and set up memorial funds.
Membership
The benefits of long-tenured staff are numerous. Multigenerational families get to know tenured staff and become a part of their extended family. At BCC, Patricia at the front desk has seen members join as kids who are now getting engaged, married or having children of their own. Staff are invited to members’ family events and feel like part of the family.
“Our members love to get to know our staff and are invested in what is going on in their lives,” said Kourtsounis.
Additionally, cross-trained and long-time staff can better serve members by knowing the ins and outs of club offerings, locations, schedules and other helpful information.
Silver noted that longtime staff speak to the club’s quality from the staff to membership and the club’s overall culture. People who have been at the club for many years are an enormous recruiting and retention tool for the club. When someone starts working at the club, seeing and speaking with someone who has decades there and who still loves the job is powerful. Because many longtime staff have been with the club since their early professional days, it provides an extra bonus to retention.
Members will also request specific staff to work their events, making them even more a part of their family and lives.
Payne noted the bond that is formed between members and the staff throughout the years. When culinary team member George Clark celebrated his 50th anniversary at the club, as many members as staff came to join in the festivities. As the club weaves employee recognition throughout the club, members truly treat staff as family.
Phil Mike is NCA’s communications director. He can be reached at [email protected].