Crew Structure Cancel The title field is required!

1. Sheppard Paul

   
   10/14/2011 1:10 PM

   Our golf club will soon to change over to a new company ( long story). It is an opportunity to do some much needed crew restructuring. I wanted to ask some advice about the best system of categorizing an employee's status and wage according to skills rater than simply giving increases due to length of service. We are Unionized and negotiate a new increase every three years. The increase is usually spread out over the three year period.Everyone gets an increase across the board.
   I am thinking in terms of using a system like Greens- keeper 1 and greens-keeper 2 and so on and have a pay scale for each category associated with skills.
   Does anyone have this system in place or know where I can find information that will help? What are the advantages? What are the disadvantages? Can it work with unionized employees.
   Thanks for your help in advance.
   
   Paul Sheppard
   The St.Lucia Golf Club
   St.Lucia

   
   
   
   
2. James Smith

   

   112 posts
   
   10/16/2011 6:10 AM

   No experience with the system you are talking about but may I ask why you want to take away seniority as a way to structure their pay?
   
   I have 16-20yr tenure employees that do not do the most important jobs but they are here on time everyday and rarely miss time. If I chose to pay a newbe more then them because he can cut greens the best I may have a mutiny on my hands.
   
   I think I understand your thinking but caution about disregarding tenure in the structuring. long time employees are still working for you for a reason.

   
   
   
   
3. Homme David R

   
   10/16/2011 3:10 PM

   Unions are so different from non-union setups, you better find someone in your area running with union crew and get as much info. as possible. I've never worked in a union, just heard about it. Lots of paperwork.
   
   Dave Homme
   Falls Resort

   
   
   
   
4. Wahlin Scott B

   
   10/16/2011 5:10 PM

   I really enjoy having a union crew. Everything is spelled out in the contract and there is no variation from that. Poor performing employees are addressed by upper management and the union. SEIU has worked great for me. All my my greenskeepers are on the same level. They all need to be able to do everything from changing cups to operating heavy equipment.

   
   
   
   
5. Patrick Finlen

   

   4 posts
   
   10/17/2011 8:10 AM

   Hi Paul,
   
   We have 45 holes and a union (SEIU) staff. There are many challenges with being union. Everything is based upon seniority. We have a tiered structure with three levels, Greenkeeper Start, Greenkeeper One, and Senior Greenkeeper. You get to the highest level based upon time. It is very hard in a union environment to base pay upon skill levels. A union environment typically treats everyone the same. Your best employee is paid the same as one you consider your most challenging employee. I would be careful with structuring your staff based upon skill levels. It is much easier to not have restrictions on equipment based upon skill level or pay. If you do this, you may have a day where you don't have enough staff with a specific skill to accomplish a certain job.
   
   SEIU likes to have a three year contract that coincides with all of their national contracts. All overtime is based upon seniority. Offer to the top and assign from the bottom. You should have a very well defined progressive discipline program in place. Documentation of all behavior will help you with issues that arise with employees. We have some very good long tenure employees who do a great job. We also have some employees who take advantage of the system. All must be treated the same. Be careful about trying to treat a good performing staff member differently than a poor performing staff member. Become very familiar with the NLRB so you understand your rights as an employer as well as the rights of the staff and the union. Sometimes you just have to slow down a bit and think about what you can and can't do before taking action.
   Whether you like having a union or not, your employees are like most employees, they want to do a good job and be treated fairly.
   
   Pat Finlen, CGCS
   The Olympic Club
   San Francisco, CA

   
   
   
   
6. Keith Pegg

   

   0 posts
   
   10/17/2011 6:10 PM

   Paul,
   Keep it simple, if you can. If you have a say on how the job titles and descriptions are done start with what you think the lowest point in your crew is. Write that one with all duties possible. Always add "and other jobs as seen fit by management" in your words. The next up use every job listed about then add into the duties that these men can also do. For the next one add all the above jobs from both the positions and add in more. If you can stop at this one that would be great. But most likely you will need one or two more. The basic Job Description is 2 pages with maybe a ½ page per upgrade. Just do not get in the trap that so many do that a level 3 or 4 tells you that's not my job (like hand rake bunkers). On my staff I can tell the mechanic to dig a trench or rake a bunker if needed. I try not to do that but we just had a Typhoon with 200 trees down or damaged and every staff member was on the course for a week. Myself with a chainsaw and ax in hand.
   My Titles: As you see I do not have an Assistant, I would like one but it will not happen.
   4 Green Keeper: (Light machine operator and driver up to 2 liter engines)
   6 Equipment operator: ( up to 3 liter all machines)
   6 Heavy Equipment operator: (any unit) plus irrigation repair and maintenance.
   2 Foreman: all jobs plus irrigation programming and management in my absents. One man is senior by years of service.
   2 Mechanics: all jobs if needed. Plus equipment maintenance with limited purchasing power.
   
   Keith Pegg
   Zama Japan

   
   
   
   
7. Neidhardt John J

   
   10/18/2011 9:10 AM

   63 HOLES = 350 acres
   Soccer Complex = 10 acres
   
   Me
   2 Assistants
   1 Irrigation Supervisor
   I IPM Specialist
   1 Equipment Supervisor
   2 Mechanics
   15 Turf Assistants
   1 PT Turf assistants

   
   
   
   
8. Vedath Singh

   

   0 posts
   
   10/19/2011 12:10 PM

   Hey Paul, whats up!
   I would be careful about categorizing the guys. If you want to reward the guys who perform well, maybe you can introduce a performance based incentive instead. That way whether you are senior or junior, once you have the skills you get paid for it.
   
   Vedath Singh
   St. Andrews GC
   Trinidad WI