Diversity is an ongoing topic within the club industry, with some clubs making progress on their diversity initiatives and others struggling with where to begin. Diversity is really about differences; the color of one’s skin, religion, ethnicity, race, and gender, to name a few. Just as our founding documents and purposes are what separate us from each other, we need to remember that diversity may look different from club to club. It is difficult to compare your club to others when we all have varied starting points.
When you read articles about diversity, equity, and inclusion, attend seminars and classes, or read books, you can feel overwhelmed and not know where to begin, especially when you are encouraged to undertake D, E & I all at once. In a nutshell, it becomes hard to see the forest through the trees.
One Step at a Time
At the Chilton Club in Boston, where I serve as GM/COO, we formed a diversity committee and as we began our early discussions, we opted to start with “D” versus D, E, & I—not because we were afraid of taking on all three at one time, but because we needed to determine what diversity meant to us and how we should address it.
Our committee met monthly; we discussed a variety of books, looked at the demographics of our club and reviewed traditions “we have always done.” We began with small steps.
Takeaway: When tackling a large task or initiative, especially when you are unsure how your club membership may respond, start slowly. Over time the number of small things you have tweaked will begin to take shape as if you have always done them. You will soon have members and staff who will notice and may perhaps thank you for your efforts.
Creating a Safe Space
Once the Chilton Club made the deliberate effort to embrace our diversity initiatives, we continued our thoughtful approach. Knowing this would not be easy, we sought assistance from Julius Rhodes, SPHR, founder and principal of the mpr group. Julius reminded us this was going to be a long process. We needed to be comfortable with being uncomfortable as that is how change occurs.
Julius collaborated with our diversity committee and subsequently our board to provide us with the confidence and tools to continue forward. We created an atmosphere in which members could speak freely, ask questions and raise concerns if necessary.
At our annual meeting, we spoke openly about diversity and framed the message to explain that if we wished to remain relevant in a changing world, we needed to embark on this journey. We reminded those in attendance, and subsequently the membership at large, that the world is changing around us; our communities, the business landscape, the workforce, not to mention our own families, are different today.
Takeaway: Many clubs, like ours, like yours, are generational. Recognizing and understanding that families today are far more diverse than they were 20, 30, or even 40 years ago, some diversity, equity, and inclusion will be organic. With regards to welcoming new members to your club, it should occur naturally and not be a forced effort. If your club’s membership is more mature, increasing diversity among your membership may happen at a slower pace than if you had a younger membership.
Steps Taken
Taking conscious steps forward to focus on who our club is today and who we want to be in the future has guided us. The lesson we learned: Be committed to taking a thoughtful approach forward. Depending on your club or where in the country you may be located, this may be easier for you, or you may have more challenges.
Holidays
- Rename your traditional events in December to use the word “holiday” instead of Christmas to be more reflective of your broader membership and your staff at large.
- When decorating your clubhouse in December, use more silvers and golds than reds and greens. If your club always has a Christmas tree on display, perhaps select an elegant menorah and generic winter-themed decorations to place in the same space.
- Maybe consider offering Spring Holiday To–Go, which would allow you to include both Easter and Passover. This may provide your culinary team with additional inspiration to offer items that represent both holidays.
- Make a conscious decision to avoid scheduling club-sponsored events such as bridge games, programs, tournaments, or social events on dates that coincide with the major Jewish or other faith-based holidays. Note these holidays on your club calendar.
- In addition to the traditional holidays, you may have always observed, consider the addition of Juneteenth and other cultural observations as observed holidays.
- Some of your team members may celebrate other holidays or celebrate a holiday on a different day. Make an allowance by being flexible with your holidays or offer additional personal days for them to use.
Dress Code
All clubs have a dress code of some fashion whether in their house rules or codes of conduct. Think about adding a note that states:
Traditional dress of a country, culture, or religion is exempt from the Dress Code.
This simple statement allows your membership, along with their friends and family members, to know they are welcome to enjoy the club in a manner in which they are comfortable outside of the stated dress code.
Perhaps rather than having an employee dress code that describes specific attire for gentlemen and women, your club can adopt a more gender-neutral dress code.
An example of gender-neutral dress code verbiage may include:
- Employees may wear earrings no more than two inches in length or diameter.
- Employees must wear a suit to meetings with members.
- Employees with hair below the chin must wear their hair tied back while working in an area which serves food or beverage.
Activities
Many years ago, some clubs were founded as men- or women-only clubs. As an example, the Chilton Club was founded as a women’s club. And although today we are still primarily a women’s club, we do welcome gentlemen as members.
We host bi-monthly luncheons specifically for our gentlemen members and spouses, so they can forge friendships with each other. Occasionally they will bring a friend to the luncheons, one they hope to propose for membership.
Many clubs offer activities, whether golf, swimming, bridge, boating, racquet sports of all types, and even fitness. And while most of your programming or athletics may be more appealing to one demographic or interest group, consider offering events and programming to enhance what you currently offer. You may be surprised to find an offering that may have a broad appeal to the membership –a foreign language class, educational seminar or lecture, backgammon, or a book discussion group.
At the Chilton Club, we feature lectures on a wide variety of subjects such as politics, economics, art, and architecture. We offer tours of gardens, both public and private, sculptures and monuments, cultural tours, historical areas, and art museums. Our membership is intellectually curious—perhaps yours is the same. The more programs and activities we offer to engage our members in varied ways, we find the more diverse our offerings have become naturally.
Noted here are examples of recently held tours and learning opportunities we have featured:
- The Boston Ballet.
- The Green Book Tour of Boston’s Historic South End and Lower Roxbury.
- The State House Art Tour.
- Boston Public Library’s Newly Renovated Special Collections.
All of these were fully subscribed and had waiting lists.
Food & Beverage
There are so many ways to embrace diversity within our food and beverage departments. Offering themed parties such as a Caribbean Night, celebrating the Chinese New Year, and even Cinco de Mayo are great ways to offer your members culinary delights outside of the normal dishes in your dining room.
To expand on this idea, rather than featuring a one-night event, consider offering these culinary delights as weeklong specials. Chefs and their teams enjoy making culturally inspired foods.
Many of us have diverse workforces, especially in our kitchens. Our club’s kitchen team represents five different countries from across the globe. Embrace this opportunity to include your staff in the creation of menus using recipes and featuring some of their favorite dishes.
Members love the opportunity to try food or relive the cuisine from a trip they may have taken. By offering these as specials for an entire week, members can invite friends or family with them to the club to share in the experience while trying something unique. Be creative: Offer the items à la carte in the event someone is not culturally curious, but also as a three-course prix fixe.
Don’t limit the offerings to food. With each themed week, challenge your beverage manager to select complementary wines from the respective countries. Pair them with the specials being offered both by the glass and by the bottle. Additionally, consider enhancing the prix fixe offering with the selected wines to heighten the experience.
Understanding not all members enjoy wine and nor do all cultures have a wine that will be widely enjoyed by the membership, it’s a good idea to ask your bartender, mixologist or beverage manager to create a fun cocktail or mocktail. Have them research to see if there is a signature cocktail for that country or certain ingredients with which they can create their own cocktail or non-alcoholic beverage.
Given the nature of the Chilton Club, we sell more wine and cocktails than beer. As part of our diversity initiative, we looked to our wine list to ensure we include minority winemakers or winery owners. In addition, being a predominately all-women’s club, we wanted to offer a wine from a female-owned winery or one that has a female winemaker as well.
After some tastings and the support of our wine distributors, we found four wines our members especially like. These are noted on our wine list with our logo next to the wine. One of the wines, Longevity, Chardonnay, from Livermore Valley, Calif., is owned by Phil Long, who is also the president of the Association of African American Vintners (AAAV). On a recent trip to Boston, we hosted a Meet the Wine Maker social. He engaged our members during a wine tasting while sharing his story about the winery and the wines as well as his new projects.
Engage your Members in Conversations
Our most recent initiative was to hold multiple Diversity Conversations with our members. Limited to 15 members at a time, the conversations were led by our club president and our diversity committee chairs. The conversations began with a welcome and an explanation of why we were hosting these informal group discussions. We wanted to provide our members with a safe, judgment-free space to ask questions, air their concerns if any, and then engage in a discussion about how they would like to see our club evolve while embracing more diversity.
These were productive conversations with wonderful ideas, suggestions, and a spark of excitement at the possibilities before us. Ultimately, these conversations showed a strong support to reach out to candidates for membership with diverse backgrounds and ensure we are relevant well into the future.
Employment
The club industry is often challenged with finding diverse candidates for some roles. Look outside your traditional avenues to find the perfect talent for your club. Rather than turning to LinkedIn, Indeed, and HCareers, consider reaching out to career offices at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), The National Society of Minorities in Hospitality, local community colleges, and vocational schools. You can train for some skills or provide educational opportunities, so hiring for the right attitude and cultural fit are most important for both the club and the employee.
Exclusive, not Exclusionary
Are these the only things you should be doing? No. If you start with small steps, eventually you will begin to see forward momentum. It may take time. Being exclusive does not mean we need to be exclusionary. Some clubs are much further along in their diversity initiatives than others. We can learn from them. There is nothing about diversity that is one size fits all. However, we can all agree that we wish to remain relevant for the future of our clubs, have a vibrant membership, and have a fabulous staff with a passion and desire to serve.
Carol A. Bliss, CCM, ECM, is the general manager and chief operating officer of The Chilton Club and a member of NCA’s D&I Committee.