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Presented in partnership with YOUR CAREER
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Mentoring lessons
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Mentoring can increase retention on your staff, assist in long-term goal setting and many other benefits for both parties involved. GCM file photo |
Do you have a mentor who you can turn to for professional and career advice? Are you offering your services as a mentor? The mentor relationship doesn’t have to be with a direct report, but that connection makes frequent and consistent contact — a key characteristic in successful mentoring — an easy win.
When superintendents mentor their assistants, the benefits can include:
• Increased retention. Mentoring keeps the assistant engaged and interested in his or her position as well as learning and facing new challenges and opportunities. This is a great way to build a sense of loyalty to the facility and the mentor.
• Personal fulfillment. After a successful career, mentoring is a chance to give back to the industry, passing on lessons you’ve learned.
• Avoiding burnout. Mentoring gives you a way to look at the business through fresh eyes, stay engaged, meet new people and take on new challenges.
• Commitment. Mentoring shows commitment to employee development as a supervisor and from a facility as a whole.
Anthony L. Williams, CGCS, CGM, director of grounds at Stone Mountain (Ga.) Golf Club, who has a successful history of mentoring staff, stresses that mentoring is a two-way street.
“You should be passing on lessons and learning from others,” he says. “Mentoring at the highest level is information going both ways.”
Stone Mountain pays GCSAA membership dues for assistant superintendents and crew members, and Williams encourages his staff to contribute articles to newsletters and participate in continuing education.
“If you want your team to function efficiently and enthusiastically, give them the opportunity to grow,” he says.
Williams and the management at Stone Mountain ask each employee at the facility to set one-, three- and five-year goals, both personal and professional. They then create a team and strategy to help each person achieve his or her goals. This type of facility-wide mentoring teaches teamwork, helps with cross-training and creates a positive and supportive atmosphere, helping to supplement skills and expand the knowledge base of each individual.
For the assistants and others mentored by a superintendent, the benefits include:
• Access to advice. Whether your questions are personal, professional or agronomic, it helps to have a trustworthy person to turn to.
• Networking opportunities. You will have possibilities to meet more established superintendents and experts in the business.
• The chance to learn and emulate leadership skills. Don’t just ask questions and expect to be enlightened. Watch, learn and try things yourself.
• Help with long-term goal setting and planning as to how to reach those goals.
Whether you are a seasoned superintendent or just starting out in your golf course management career, it’s important to connect with coworkers and share knowledge. While helping develop the people you’re mentoring, you’ll end up helping yourself as well.
Boost job security by promoting your course on a local, state and national scale with John Deere Credit’s “Most Beautifully Brutal Golf Holes” contest in North America. Superintendents have until July 15 to submit their most beautifully brutal par-3 holes in the contest. All entries will be featured on the contest Web site, on posters and to the media. The company will provide any entrant with the proper press material to distribute to local and regional media to help create a buzz around your golf course. For more information, contest rules and additional details, visit www.johndeerecredit.com/brutalgolfholes. If you’re looking for a comprehensive guide to all things labor- and employment-related for your maintenance staff, visit www.gcsaa.org and click on the bar labeled, “Solutions/Tools” and then click on “Compliance.” This section features a wealth of information on the H-2B visa program, wage and hour pay requirements, employment eligibility verification, state-specific child labor laws and more.
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