The old man is finally retiring. The stories of night watering with roller bases on a three wheel Cushman with your future wife riding shotgun are becoming fewer and far between now. I learned plenty from Dean over three summer internships and six years as his lead assistant. The transition from intern to assistant was intense. Dean was training me to be a superintendent from day one. There was very little room for mistakes, especially for mistakes that were caused by poor planning and not being three steps ahead of the rest of the crew. Here are three of the main philosophies that I continue to build on, of which Dean helped create. Treat your staff like real people. Care about them and ask them how they are doing at home, and at work. Treat them how they want to be treated, not how you want to treat them.
If you asked them to do a certain task and they didn’t follow those directions, that is on you. Find a way to talk to them so they can hear and understand you. Don’t exaggerate. Describe the issue precisely and figure out how to fix it. If something broke or you killed something, just come out with it in proper detail. Don’t dance around it, minimize it or blow it out of proportion and make people aware sooner than later. Network with everyone. Your peers, your members, your friends, your vendors. Learn from all these people and never expect anything of them, but know someday those relationships will help you further your career and be a better person. Be a leader among your peers and don’t settle for mediocrity in any space in your career.
Thank you Dean and congratulations! I am still waiting on you to teach me how to be a decent fisherman! — Chris Harriman Congratulations to one of the finest gentlemen I’ve had the pleasure to work with in the golf business. Dean has always taken the time to mentor not only those who have worked for him on the agonomy side of the business - but also those that have worked with him on the sales side. Dean would always take the time to ride or even better walk the property...and give little pieces of life advice along the way! I’ve learned alot from Dean over the years and wish him the best in retirement. — Paul Schultheis
Creative Staffing Solutions by Tyler Bloom - Sparrows Point CC If you had to identify the ideal golf course maintenance employee, what characteristics would be most pivotal? Punctual, responsible, passionate, engaged, desire to learn and belong, quick learner, coachable and thirst for being a part of a team are all things that come to mind. The labor issues in our industry continue to push creativity, wage scales, and Superintendents, like myself, to reprogram our operations. It was at our job fair held last March, that a group of joyful and personable candidates came with a career counselor from the Arc of Baltimore, a placement firm for people with disabilities. I then realized this was an opportunity to reinvent diversity and the personnel within our golf course operations. Based out of necessity, we needed to embrace a new channel for employees. What I didn’t know was how much the golf course would impact them. Most importantly, I didn’t know how much they would impact me. Our job fair was established by the management team at Sparrows Point Country Club as a creative means to interact, interview and showcase our facility. The job fair was advertised through newspaper advertisement, digital media and word of mouth. Each year it has grown and reached new targets, the Arc of Baltimore fell into our lap. They had seen our advertisement in the local newspaper. My initial thoughts and gut feeling were that our daily operations may be too complex and physically demanding. I was a bit apprehensive about how our staff would interact. Could these employees keep up with our team’s pace? Would my core staff engage with them? Could they meet basic employment standards? Our golf course maintenance team has evolved through the years. I would characterize our early years as a bunch of misfits with little team
camaraderie to evolving into a brotherhood and family culture. We employ up to 10 seasonal or part-time roles and 10 full-time employees. Each year we have spent a great deal of time building culture, aligning our company vision with individuals who share common traits. My approach was built out of necessity to facilitate basic operations. I am not a beneficiary of prolific course renovations and modern infrastructure. We make platinum out of dust. That is due to a highly engaged workforce and pride. Finding and attracting labor has been my number one challenge since arriving at Sparrows Point Country Club. Without question our labor market in the greater Dundalk area has been negatively affected by the lack of industrial growth since the 1980’s due to the demise of Bethelehem Steel. We are slowly climbing our way out as redevelopment tycoon, TradePoint Atlantic, has reinvigorated over 15,000 jobs and significant investment into the region. As I evaluated the “fit” with the Arc of Baltimore, I also knew I didn’t have candidates knocking at the door. Butts in seats was unfortunately a hiring motto, and I thought at least I would have positions filled. I couldn’t have been more wrong in my assessment. What we found were two candidates - Ariel and Jacob - who met the criteria of our ideal candidate, while starving for a chance to build their personal and professional skills. Our platform, the golf course, could certainly benefit from those with an internal sense of ownership and drive to grow. We welcomed them into our operation with an open mind, knowing this could be the start of a key partnership in our recruitment efforts. The initial challenges we faced really were no different than any employee - proper training, consistent communication, accountability, continued on page 14
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