Best Practices For Peak Country Club Performance

Three Key Strategies to Drive Team Cohesion

By Michael G. Smith, CCM, CCE, ECM, Search & Consulting Executive, KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE

Creating service excellence requires careful planning and strategy. In my time in club management, and now as a consultant, I find that clubs demonstrating the highest level of success have, at some point, conducted a 360-degree evaluation of their operations. They identify deficiencies and work with their teams to build the proper foundation that supports cohesion and effective communication.

Here are a few key strategies I have found to be the most effective in creating a positive culture and service excellence.

2) Open Communication and Transparency

Clear, open communication is the foundation of any cohesive team. High-performing club managers create environments where staff at all levels feel comfortable expressing their thoughts, concerns, and ideas. Here’s how they make it happen:

• Regular Team Meetings: Weekly or bi-weekly meetings have become standard practice. These meetings serve as a platform for managers to communicate updates, recognize staff achievements, and allow employees to voice concerns or suggestions.
• One-on-one Check-ins: Beyond group settings, managers schedule regular one-on-one check-ins with team members to discuss performance, address challenges, and provide feedback. This practice encourages staff to share concerns or ideas they might not feel comfortable raising in a group setting.
• Transparency in Operations: Whether it’s explaining the reasoning behind schedule changes or discussing long-term business goals, managers who are transparent help to build trust and ensure that every team member understands the bigger picture. When staff know the “why” behind decisions, they are more likely to align with the club’s goals.

2) Team Building and Cross Training

Team-building activities and cross-training are powerful tools for fostering team unity and collaboration. In a fast-paced service environment like a country club, ensuring that staff can work effectively across different functions and support each other when needed is a key to operational success.

• Team-building Events: Many clubs now schedule offsite or in-house team-building activities, ranging from social outings to structured problem-solving challenges. These events allow employees from different departments—such as golf, dining, and facilities—to get to know each other better outside of the usual work environment. These bonds translate into smoother collaboration and communication on the job.
• For example, Oak Hill Country Club, in my hometown of Rochester, N.Y., holds an annual kickball tournament for its employees at the local minor-league baseball stadium. It’s an opportunity to bring together all departments for a friendly, competitive, team-building event that opens up lines of communication across the entire club.
• Cross-training Initiatives: Country clubs often have diverse departments, each critical to the overall member experience. Cross-training programs allow staff to gain insight into the roles and responsibilities of other departments. When employees understand the work their colleagues do, they’re more likely to appreciate their efforts and collaborate effectively. Cross-training also allows for team members to support each other when unexpected circumstances occur, such as getting a shift covered quickly because of a family emergency, or accommodating a surge of members in the casual dining room.

By investing in both team building and cross training, managers enhance flexibility and camaraderie within the team, which can directly improve service delivery and member satisfaction. This also offers an opportunity to identify rising stars within the organization. Some of the best talent I’ve encountered in clubs are individuals who seek experience in multiple areas of the club.

3) Recognition and Reward Systems

Acknowledging hard work and rewarding excellence are crucial for maintaining a motivated, cohesive team. Recognition and reward systems not only drive individual motivation but also foster a sense of belonging and loyalty among staff, contributing to a more cohesive team environment. It also gives your club the opportunity to be the employer of choice in the community.

• Formal Recognition Programs: Some clubs have adopted monthly or quarterly employee recognition programs, where staff are celebrated for their achievements. Whether “Employee of the Month” or rewards for exceptional service, formal recognition programs boost morale and give staff something to strive for.
• On-the-spot Rewards: In addition to formal programs, many managers implement informal, on-the-spot recognition, such as verbal praise, small bonuses, or public shout-outs during team meetings. This real-time acknowledgment keeps staff motivated and reinforces positive behavior in the moment.
• Career Development Opportunities: Reward systems aren’t just about short-term incentives; they can also be tied to long-term career growth. Offering professional development opportunities— such as leadership training, certification programs, or mentoring—shows employees that their growth is valued and encourages them to invest in the club’s success.

As club leaders increasingly recognize that a well-coordinated and motivated team is essential to delivering top-tier service, these strategies will help to create a more harmonious workplace and directly enhance the overall member experience, helping clubs maintain their reputation for exceptional service.

 

KPIs to Enhance Your Club’s Talent Strategy

By Marcie Mills, CCM, Search & Consulting Executive, KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE

As we continue to navigate an increasingly competitive talent landscape, clubs are placing more emphasis than ever on the attraction, recruitment, and retention of staff,

while also implementing more comprehensive performance management systems. Club managers must now prioritize, measure, and benchmark human-capital metrics to ensure that their talent strategy remains at the forefront. Our employees are the most significant factorto the success of any club operation, and these Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are essential for assessing and enhancing talent acquisition, retention, and performance management in club environments:

1) Talent-acquisition KPIs

• Time-to-hire measures how quickly the club fills open positions, indicating the efficiency of the recruitment process within a set target range such as 30 days.
• Quality of hire tracks how well new hires perform and integrate into the club’s culture after a desired time. This KPI measures performance-evaluation scores over a series of dates—for example, 30, 60 and 90 days.
• Cost-per-hire calculates the total average cost involved in recruiting new staff, including advertising, recruitment fees, and internal resources benchmarked against industry standards.

2) Talent-retention KPIs

• Turnover rate tracks the percentage of employees who leave the club over a specified period.
• Employee- satisfaction scores monitor overall employee satisfaction through surveys, helping to identify areas where improvements can be made to increase retention.

3) Performance Management KPIs

• Employee-performance scores are based on regular reviews and member feedback, measuring how well staff meet or exceed performance expectations.
• Member satisfaction linked to employee performance connects and measures employee performance with member satisfaction, related to specific areas.
• Employee-engagement scores measure how engaged and motivated employees feel in their roles through surveys or pulse checks.

Developing and managing a high- performing team in the service-driven environment of private clubs is best achieved through a systematic approach to talent acquisition, retention, and performance management. By identifying and tracking KPIs, club managers can ensure they are identifying and attracting top talent, retaining critical staff, and optimizing performance for the best member experience. A data-driven approach allows clubs to continuously refine their staffing strategies, ensuring operational excellence and member satisfaction.

 

Strategies for Ongoing Team Training

By Chris DeChillo, Hospitality Trainer & Leadership Coach, and Annette Whittley, Hospitality Consultant, Trainer & Search Executive, KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE

Whether you realize it or not, you are always paying for training. You could be paying for it through turnover or mistakes or, preferably, by planning ahead and investing intentionally.

As former operational executives, we understand better than most how “You can’t see the forest for the trees” ties directly into why many operations can’t find the time to properly plan and execute effective ongoing training programs. Here are some strategies to help simplify the process:

1) Consistent, Daily Pre-Shifts for F&B Teams: The best in our industry set aside 30 minutes per day to do this. We climb a mountain one step at a time— so why not start with 10 minutes a day, at the same time and in the same place, so your team can connect and train? Break your conversation into equal parts food, beverage and service.

• Food: The best experiences are driven by employees who have tried the food and can talk about it confidently. Taste food, and not just specials! Encourage the team to describe the specials, core menu items, and highlights from the culinary team.
• Beverage: Taste tea, coffee and non-alcoholic beverages—and of course, discuss wines and how they pair with various dishes, rotating beer tap changes, and seasonal cocktail updates.
• Service: Highlight VIPs, special requests, and update the team on upcoming events.
• Key Takeaways: Set the stage, ask open-ended questions, and let your team do most of the talking when it comes to describing product. If they stumble, keep encouraging them and always model what good looks like.
• Make it yours! Build in your club culture, make it interactive, give demonstrations, do role plays, bring in guest stars, require participation from every team member, and get their full attention.

Great pre-shifts are something the team should look forward to; they build morale, relationships, and strengthen your unique club culture.

2) In-Person Training: Setting aside scheduled time for internal and external training sessions is vital to the longevity and sustainability of any training program. Consider these commitments:

• Monthly Internal Training: Extended sessions of 60 to 90 minutes with a focus on role playing, product knowledge, and service excellence.
• Quarterly or Biannual External Training: Two to three days of team building that focus on fundamentals refreshers, the sequence of service adjustments, leadership development, and the importance of emotional intelligence as it relates to serving your members and your colleagues.
• Create a Club University: Reward and recognize your team for attendance. Use this as a developmental tool for future leaders within your organization.

3) Ask Your Team: Instead of simply assigning training topics, consider engaging with your team by asking what areas they would like additional training in and how you can support their professional growth. This approach encourages open communication and empowers them to take ownership of their development. This could be as simple as creating a suggestion box or question box, where people can ask things they have always wanted to know but are too afraid to ask.

While training does not have to be complicated, creating consistency in your training plan is hard. Set a small goal and build out a plan. As it has been said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”

 

Behavior: How To Change It for The Better

By J.G. Ted Gillary, CCM, CCE, ECM, CMAA Fellow, Executive Coach, Search & Consulting Executive, KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE

Since we were children, we have tried to change the behavior of others. As general managers and leaders of clubs, that effort continues unabated today. Now our aim is to improve the performance of staff, members, ourselves and our boards.

With such a constant stream of effort, you would think we would be experts on behavior and how to change it for the better. That does not seem to be the case, as evidenced by the plethora of business books and articles, like this one, that seek to provide new ways of looking at this age-old problem.

Several years ago, I called a psychologist friend of mine seeking the solution. His answer was that to change behavior, there are antecedents and consequences.

While consequences are the most effective part of that equation, the antecedents are where we are “experts” and tend to stop in the process. It is the source of the statement, “I told you so.” If everything that’s done to tell, describe, coerce, and instruct was truly the solution, what a wonderful place this business world would be. But while it is a necessary part of the action, it is only half of the solution.

Take the performance of boards, for example. Governance is the most talked-about subject in the club world today and certainly of significant primary importance to GMs and the well-being of the club.

Consider conducting a board self-assessment with the base of measurement being the board policy manual that specifically details the required duties of serving on the board. A thorough assessment exercise involves directors assessing the performance of each of their fellow directors against specific board performance standards.

This is a best practice and one needing consequences to improve performance. Here’s just a partial list of consequential actions that can be taken to change board behavior:

1. Each director receives a confidential summary of their performance as assessed by their fellow directors. Confidentiality is the only way to ensure that everyone shares honest opinions without a filter or fear of being criticized.
2. The entire board receives the aggregate results of assessed performance.
3. The board openly discusses the results, identifying what the board should do, what the board should not do, and what the board should stop doing.
4. Create an action plan. Enter the plan in the minutes.
5. Periodically, measure performance against the plan.
6. To complete the performance loop, inform the nominating committee of the criteria essential for a director to be effective.

This is a continuous process that improves performance and raises the standards of board service. For this and all areas of club management today, “antecedents and consequences” is the formula to keep top-of-mind for changing behavior for the better.