President’s Update

Tipping Point

“It’s hard to find help these days.”

“These kids just don’t know how to work!”

“My generation would work every day of summer vacation.”

Hang out long enough in the right maintenance shops and you’ll hear these lines parroted from every corner of The Commonwealth. Aside from the nationwide economic fishbowl we find ourselves in, acquisition and management of our employees remains one of the greatest challenges we face as turfgrass managers. The generational divide between management and employees seems to have hit a tipping point and if it hasn’t yet for you, it will.

Our longing for the good old days is like a cup that can never be filled enough. The benefit of hindsight bronze plates our formative experiences and codifies the daily routine that we consider second nature. Your “Second Nature” is somebody’s first day of a summer job (or budding career in Turf Management); providing an encouraging environment could be the nudge that a young borderline employee needs to show up every day and thrive.

Like every generational epoch, it’s hard to suggest that The Kids are Alright. Statistically speaking, we’ve all burned the social/professional candle at both ends, letting our personal lives intertwine with our careers (McNitt 2006). You’ve probably upset a manager or three somewhere along the way, and if you really knew your stuff, challenged a direct supervisor on whose “Second Nature” was better. On the other end of each one of those interactions was at least one stakeholder, working with you to ensure the grass was still alive at the end of the day. Somebody took a chance on you, had patience with you and if you don’t believe that, your narcissism is showing.

Of course blind faith and excessive generosity are the bricks that pave the road to Hades, but much like your fledging employees, responsibility precedes privileges. Managerial responsibility keeps your seat cool and comfortable; recognizing and rewarding an employee’s work when earned is a bargain.

“Garbage in, Garbage out” is an axiom in the structured world of computer engineering, but fully applies to so many aspects of our ever so fluid careers. When you feel like you’ve had enough of an employee doing a less than perfect job on their task, consider whether you did a less than perfect job of instructing, communicating your expectations, and following through to completion? If we want to ask ourselves what today’s employees are truly capable of, we must first ask ourselves “Who are you?”

Tom Fisher

PTC President