A new-employee training system

New employees are part of the staff at most golf courses, and getting them up to speed quickly is essential for an efficient operation. We have developed procedures over the years to help new employees become productive as soon as possible. We would like to share our ideas with you.

We start with a general orientation of the maintenance facility, followed by the new employee reading the employee manual and a discussion of its contents with one or both of us. We place an emphasis on safety from the start, with frequent safety tips and reminders throughout the summer.

Graphic: Golfdom Staff

The first thing we require of new employees is to safely learn their way around the golf course. To accomplish this, new employees are tasked with picking up trash at each tee — in order from hole 1 to 18 — and taking time to observe the routing of holes and play pattern of golfers. We direct them to formulate a strategy that disturbs a golfer only once when carrying out a task.

Before operating a piece of equipment, we give each new operator an equipment training sheet to read what is specific for that piece of equipment, and they’re required to watch a training video for that piece of equipment. The mechanic then shows the new employee how to operate the equipment, including all safety features, followed by how to properly fuel and wash the equipment.

Finally, an experienced operator provides on-course training in how to properly use the equipment.

The routes for all mowers are mounted on the machine. If there are changes from the normal routine, we give operators a card with specific instructions for that day.

The cost of the equipment is a key piece of information we include on all equipment training sheets. We want all employees to know that they are being trusted to operate an expensive machine.

Training is an ongoing process for all employees, including us. We constantly update our training procedures to make them more effective.

We would be pleased to share our employee manual and equipment training sheets with anyone who is interested.

Joe Stribley recently retired as superintendent of Yellowstone Country Club in Billings, Mont., where Cody Schulke is the assistant superintendent. You may reach Cody at codyschulke@hotmail.com for more information.

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