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.