One of the more difficult situations to accurately judge is determining what is the state of today’s economy? I say this because the country has been inundated for several months with consistently conflicting storylines about the economy.

>For example: one week the White House and the media are telling everyone that things are going “as planned” and the economy has turned away from the brink. The next week we hear from the Federal Reserve that net unemployment will not improve for at least five years. Then, this week’s Newsweek magazine’s cover story boldly proclaims, “The Recession Is Over.” Yet, the Congressional Budget Office consistently advises that the country can’t sustain its present level of debt – meaning the country will go bankrupt. Confused? You have every right to be.

Because of the confusion this conflicting testimony creates, many Americans have defaulted into a dangerous wait and see what happens mode; i.e., dangerous because the key to surviving in a bad economy is knowing what is coming and, therefore, being able to do something about it. Ignorance is not bliss in a bad economy; rather, knowledge is king. Accordingly, my immediate concern is that too many people are ignorant about this economy and will get hurt accordingly. Therefore, the question:

What Is The True State Of The U.S. Economy?

As always, the “facts” will tell the true story and the facts about this economy are: (i) the Obama administration has committed to a national debt level never before seen in this country; (ii) heavy debt assures that heavy inflation will inevitably follow; (iii) today’s unemployment rates (10.1% when only those receiving unemployment checks are counted but 16% when those who have worked through their unemployment eligibility period and still do not have jobs are added to the count) are the highest in decades; and (iv) if the proposed Health Care, or Cap & Trade (global warming) bills become law, the tax consequences to the American people (especially those supporting the private golf club community) will be devastating.

The summary conclusions that can be drawn from the above set of facts are clear: yes, the economy is in trouble; and yes, it is plausible that the economy could get decidedly worse before it gets better. You should know this.

But, there is also a vital lesson that can be taken from this economy; i.e., by taking the initiative to search out and identify with the true nature of the economy, you will plan better and, therefore, be in a better position to secure your job. Whatever the number of superintendents is that might lose their jobs in this economy, I believe that 90% of these jobs can be saved by knowledgeable superintendents taking the appropriate initiatives. Your job puts you in the batter’s box of a high stakes game. This is not the time in your career to take a “called third strike.”

(Reminder: two of my earlier blog messages, the June 5^th blog, entitled, “Addressing Job Insecurity” and the July 2^nd blog entitled, “The Bad Economy Offers An Opportunity To Secure Your Job” custom detail the ways you can establish a job-saving communications rapport with your employer.)

Superintendents, want to help your assistant(s) on their career path? Print out these Career Corner posts and responses on an ongoing basis and assemble them in a hard copy binder for your assistants and crew.

Can you imagine in this day an age an entire country population that has never considered or adopted the concept of long range planning within its culture? I found this notion hard to envision until I visited the country of Israel a while back and became acquainted with its people’s way of life.

From the year of the country’s birth in 1947, the Israeli people have never had the luxury of bringing the concept of long range planning into their lives for one unrelenting reason: you can’t plan into future years when no one could be certain that the country would survive for two or three years – never mind fifteen years – down the road.  Surrounded by countries dedicated to its demise and terrorized by suicide bombers year in and year out, planning and investing five to ten to fifteen years ahead simply was not an option. Yet, how Israel and its people have succeeded and actually flourished in many ways through the years within this environment offers invaluable lessons that we Americans – now working through our own difficult times be they of a different nature (i.e., a steadily deepening recession) – can learn from.

The Israeli Way

Born out of necessity, the Israeli way is a beautiful enigma to behold; for example:

• always deal in the present because that’s all there is
• prepare well to maximize what you are doing because there will be no second chance
• be aggressive with life and when conducting business
• be result oriented
• emphasize schooling and education
• communicate directly
• balance work, play and family life, and finally,
• be respectful of neighbors but when neighbors take advantage of this trust – be willing and able to vigorously defend what you believe in.

In many ways, immediacy (what is left when long range planning is not available) is a far simpler, more effective way of dealing with life and doing business – especially in recessionary times – because it applies solid planning and necessary funding to problems before they can metastasize over time into something more difficult to deal with; i.e., put out the fire before it spreads. The single piece of evidence that irrefutably supports this premise is the fact that when left to its own devices Israel has developed and for some time maintained one of the strongest three or four economies in the world; i.e., better than the U.S. economy on a per capita basis.

Immediacy… applies solid planning and necessary funding to problems before they can metastasize over time into something more difficult to deal with; i.e., put out the fire before it spreads.

Lessons To Be Learned?

Rather than spell out what lessons I believe you should take from the above Israeli profile, I am asking you to do this for yourselves. In a few words, write out the one overriding lesson you take from the “Israeli Way” as described above; then, share your selection with your fellow readers by submitting it through the “Leave a Reply” section below. We can learn a great deal from each other if you will participate in this exercise. Thanks for this support.

Superintendents, want to help your assistant(s) on their career path? Print out these Career Corner posts and responses on an ongoing basis and assemble them in a hard copy binder for your assistants and crew.

As expected this time of year, I have received numerous resume and cover letter drafts from superintendents asking me to evaluate the effectiveness of their job application documents as they prepare to apply for jobs that will open this coming summer and fall. There is nothing unusual about this, except that this year I have noticed two emerging patterns worth commenting on:

1. The majority of the drafts received this year are coming from superintendents who are presently unemployed while in past years the majority of drafts came from employed superintendents looking to upgrade to a better job. This reversal of employment status is understandable in today’s economic environment.

2. Virtually every resume and cover letter draft received is identical in tone to the resumes and cover letters the superintendents who have recently been released (to purge higher salaries) undoubtedly submitted to get hired by these same clubs/courses a while back; i.e., they were prepared as if today’s bad economy did not exist.

The unintended consequence this approach creates is that it virtually eliminates all possibility of a candidate being granted an interview because search committees clearly are looking to go in a different direction when hiring within today’s ever tightening economy.

Revised Application Guidelines

Following is a checklist intended to lead candidates successfully through the job application process during these tough economic times that are not about to go away:

1. Do not fall into the trap of presuming a continuing sound economy when preparing your cover letter because this will always be a high-risk interview denying approach – especially for veteran superintendents with more established salaries; rather . . .

Freely acknowledge that the economy is the reason why you are presently unemployed… because the truth sells well…

2. Use your cover letter to freely acknowledge that the economy is the reason (if this be the case) why you are presently unemployed (or are looking for another job while still employed). Tens of thousands of summarily dismissed private sector people across America today have comfortably adopted this approach when job-seeking because truth sells well when there are jobs to be had. Superintendents are encouraged to follow this same approach when presently seeking jobs and to incorporate the following within their job applications:

a. Request/require that your former employer provide you with a reference letter that confirms your solid job performance and clearly states that you were reluctantly let go solely for economic reasons. This letter will become a valuable tool when applying for your next job. Under the circumstances, most employers should readily comply with this request when asked because you have earned the right to and are entitled to this support.

b. Prepare and submit a standard resume (with a personal web site, if available) that fully optimizes your career performance. Do not soften your resume in an attempt to avoid being characterized as “over-qualified” because this is not where adjustments should be made to accommodate the economy.

c. Rather, use your cover letter to accomplish this task. Before going on, readers should review my April 30^th blog message entitled, “Don’t Waste Your Cover Letter” to place the following commentary within appropriate context when applying for a job.

It is essential that you use your cover letter, resume and web site to advise/educate prospective employers that you have the vision and prerequisite experience to restructure their golf course maintenance programs to fit within today’s economic means while still maintaining the integrity (not necessarily the cosmetic look) of the golf course.

To prove this point – after using your resume (and personal web site, if available) to get the attention of the search committee – clearly state in your cover letter that should you be granted the privilege of an interview you would use this opportunity to personally inspect/audit course, maintenance facility, equipment and budgetary conditions for the purpose of submitting a workable written plan of action (with budget drafts and a recommended personal salary appropriate for the situation) to the search committee that you will be prepared to defend during your scheduled interview. (Candidates should incorporate the interview technique presented in my March 20^th blog message entitled, “Stress Free Job Interviews” within their cover letters.)

The above-described initiatives create a “win-win” situation for all parties because employers and golf course superintendents will once again have found the mutual ground where each can best serve the other within the worst of economies.

Superintendents, want to help your assistant(s) on their career path? Print out these Career Corner posts and responses on an ongoing basis and assemble them in a hard copy binder for your assistants and crew.

As hard as the present economy is negatively impacting the country, the situation is destined to get worse because policy-driven unemployment and coming inflation will not run their course for some time. Then, we must face the reality that the private club and daily fee golf economies (not the municipal market because it is government funded) will be hit significantly harder than the balance of America because:

1. The Obama administration is committed to “redistributing” wealth out of America’s achieving class; i.e., the core of the country’s private club membership community. This is a direct assault on every private club’s membership base.

2. The first reality check for the country’s private golf club community still lies ahead because this year’s member dues were solicited last fall before the national economy started to seriously decline. Therefore, when 2010 member dues are solicited this fall (and this process is repeated next year for 2011 dues) private clubs and daily fee courses could be looking at a level of economic pressure not seen since WWII.

Should the economy continue to unravel as economists and the above realities suggest it might, as many as 5000 superintendents at every salary level (roughly one in three) will face the prospect of being replaced in their jobs by lowered salaried people over the next several years. Several recent national polls indicate that roughly 72% of the country’s golf course superintendents presently feel insecure in their jobs.

All of the above commentary is not intended to frighten you. Rather, it is intended to educate the profession to the reality you face because the national TV and news print media have a tendency to paint the national economy in a far more positive light than circumstances warrant. As difficult as the present economic circumstance might seem, you should not let the threat of a job loss discourage you because there are definitive steps you can take to help secure your job in the worst of economies. For example:

1.   Do not await news. Superintendents who sit passively by hoping for the best are likely to get hurt. News that you wait to come to you invariably will be bad news.

Borrowing on the premise that the “best defense is often a good offense” and the use of personal diplomacy, take the lead…

2.   Take the initiative. Borrowing on the premise that the “best defense is often a good offense” and the use of personal diplomacy, take the lead (be timely) to reach a mutual understanding with your employer relative to what budget cuts will be needed from year to year to keep pace with a declining economy – without undermining the fundamental quality of the golf course. Be prepared to cut operating budgets up to +/- 30% over several years, if necessary.

Then, once circumstances have dictated it is time to cut budgets, don’t hesitate to volunteer to take the same percentage cut in salary as is being mandated for the department’s operating budget. Clearly, it is better to have a job at roughly 75% to 80% of a former peak salary than have no job at all.  Major employee unions utilize this wage-cutting practice all the time to keep jobs.

You will have to prove yourself all over again in the current economic climate if you want to secure your job…”

With the two goals of a reduced operating budget and a discounted superintendent’s salary in hand, employers will look favorably toward retaining the known effectiveness of their golf course superintendent instead of hiring a less proven commodity.

3. Do not push for a written contract in these difficult times unless it is otherwise offered because this could unsettle things; rather, accept what is being offered; i.e., standard year-to-year, or multi-year verbal agreements that will allow you the opportunity to prove yourself anew in today’s very challenging times.

Yes, it will all get down to the single thought that you will have to prove yourself all over again in today’s market if you want to secure your job. Once this premise is accepted, you will be in a position to “earn” new job security.

4. When written contracts are once again in vogue (and this day will come sooner than many think), include the concept of binding arbitration within the contract’s termination clause – as suggested in my June 18^th blog entitled, “Binding Arbitration.”

I would like to be wrong about the high level of concern the country and golf course superintendents will continue facing, but this may not be the case. Nevertheless, it is far better to prepare for and be able to deal with the worst (even if the worst never comes) than not to prepare at all and suffer the debilitating consequences. Always remember – you are selling the game’s most precious commodity: yourselves. God speed.

Superintendents, want to help your assistant(s) on their career path? Print out these Career Corner posts and responses on an ongoing basis and assemble them in a hard copy binder for your assistants and crew.