Landscapes Golf Management’s President Tom Everett shares what goes into successfully building a solid infrastructure with a well-trained and motivated talent base.

Searching long and hard, it’s difficult to find a bona fide “Golf Employer of the Year” ranking.

Other industries promote several programs, but we guess, quite disappointingly, golf is considered too much of a sport than a business, especially in non-endemic circles.

If there was such a distinction, it’s reasonable to think that Landscapes Golf Management would take the No. 1 slot. We caught up with company President Tom Everett for him to share what goes into successfully building a solid infrastructure with a well-trained and motivated talent base:

TLC – While leaders’ time is at a premium, remember they should always make time to help employees perform better today than yesterday and tomorrow than today. Suggest, guide than monitor their actions and contributions. Give them the kindness and attention they deserve, make them feel respected, appreciated and overall special and put them in positions to become the best versions of themselves. The more they produce, the more you, as a leader, can focus on big needle-movers.

Role Play – Each team member should be clear about his / her roles, responsibilities and expectations with latitude, encouragement and courage to go above and beyond. As such, it’s important to scenario plan as countless situations can pop up on any given day and moment. Learning correct and incorrect ways to treat people and circumstances, both proactively and reactively, may appear to be simple and common sense, but finer management touches must be rehearsed. Lack of preparation likely raises the cost of customer acquisition, has negative effects on customer lifetime value, and, worst case, could spell lawsuits and ultimately business doom. At a minimum, rinse and repeat quarterly for new and veteran staff alike.

Employee Handbook / Curriculum – Most golf courses have (or should have) an employee handbook. Yet they typically share it with staff to simply acknowledge receipt with a signature. Wrong! Review contents of the handbook quarterly. Any lesser time interval limits learning and eschews accountability. It’s hard to sink in at a once-annual cadence. The same goes for curriculum, in Everett’s case his company’s “LUniversity,” with regular course requirements helping to turn golf course, country club and resort service staff into smart professionals.

In Sync – Quick productive all-staff meetings should minimally be required twice monthly and department meetings weekly. This is an activities preview / review exercise as well as updates on business performance against goals. Remind them of the rewards and risk, the latter not taking employees low on the proverbial totem pole for granted. One misstep in the parking lot, dining room, swimming pool area or golf course could be of major detriment. Everyone must work in unison on time, on schedule and on budget to exceed winning customer and business ways. There are no exceptions. You could deliver 100 great experiences and it’s the one bad occurrence that’s often amplified and goes viral.

Outsourcing – If you have a particular need misaligned with the staff’s core competencies, don’t be shy to look outside your walls. Not everyone can be talented in everything. It’s not an indictment on leaders to outsource; it’s lauded recognition that it takes a village of disciplined experts to manage priority functions.

Feedback – Bill Gates keeps a card in his wallet simply stating, “they may be right.” Asking teammates for their thoughts on various topics makes them feel important and widens the scope of enhancing operations, marketing and other business functions. It’s long rumored that a secretary taking notes during a meeting of Nike executives and sports marketing experts coined the name Air Jordan.

Environment – Don’t be a boss, be a leader. They don’t work for you. You support them with teachings and serve as a safety net to mitigate large margin-of-error risk. Don’t demand but coach. Don’t control but trust. Don’t issue ultimatums but generate enthusiasm. Don’t say “I” but “we.” Don’t use people but develop them. Don’t stagnate but teach. Don’t micro-manage but empower. Don’t talk at people but listen to them.  Don’t be closed-minded but listen to new ideas. Don’t be rigid but have fun and engage in understanding and personable ways. People are human with real sensitivities. These actions represent the bedrock of employee satisfaction, not as a job, rather a growth opportunity.

“A happy employee is a productive employee, and it’s all leaders’ jobs to make that positive culture happen,” Everett said. “Turnover of ‘keepers’ is the barbed wire of business evolution.”