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DCronan

Hiring a Super
« on: February 22, 2011, 03:08:00 PM »
If this is off base, please tell me so and I'll try to take this down. We are in the process of hiring a new Superintendent at our club. I'm on the "search committee" and the response to our ad has been very strong.

My question is simple. What questions would you ask someone who is interviewing for the position? I know the usual questions about experience with certain grasses, grow-ins and renovations but are there others that would help us identify the best candidate?

Thanks in advance.

Pat Burke

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2011, 03:33:21 PM »
If this is off base, please tell me so and I'll try to take this down. We are in the process of hiring a new Superintendent at our club. I'm on the "search committee" and the response to our ad has been very strong.

My question is simple. What questions would you ask someone who is interviewing for the position? I know the usual questions about experience with certain grasses, grow-ins and renovations but are there others that would help us identify the best candidate?

Thanks in advance.

One question from me.
I'm coming out to your current course tomorrow, will you show me around?

JMEvensky

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2011, 03:49:12 PM »
Pat,what if the Super doesn't want his current employer to know he's looking?

That said,I agree that it's important to see the current course.Just maybe not with a guided tour.

Pat Burke

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2011, 04:13:28 PM »
JM
Great point. 
Okay, revise my question.
I went to your course YESTERDAY!  Tell me what you're doing?

JMEvensky

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #4 on: February 22, 2011, 04:18:53 PM »
JM
Great point. 
Okay, revise my question.
I went to your course YESTERDAY!  Tell me what you're doing?

The reason I brought it up is because I once witnessed your question being asked.The prospective hire started sweating until it was realized that maybe another way could be found to accomplish the same goal.

Jason Topp

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2011, 04:24:33 PM »
My experience is as a green committee member and co-chair, so I am sure others could identify better questions.  Nonetheless, this is a list I would work from as a starting point:

Communication:  

Assuming technical competence, ask to see examples of the person's communications to members at prior positions, views on blogs, newsletters, emails, committees; strategy for connecting with members of the green committee and the membership.  

Assuming you have a super with technical competence, the key factor differentiating between candidates to my mind is the super's ability to connect with the membership, communicate about problems on the course, navigate problems with committees and rogue members and to balance between ferocious and utterly inconsistent wishes of different members that are used to having their way.

Budget:

Find out what sort of budget the candidate operated under in the past.  Ask the candidate to describe any budget cuts she faced, how she implemented them and what impact the budget cuts on the quality of course conditions.  Ask her to identify the cost drivers associated with maintaining a budget and what she would investigate first in deciding to cut 10% for a maintenence budget.  Determine how capital expenses (such as machinery) was handled at the last job and have her describe the best method for budgeting for such items in the future.  Have her indicate whether she tracks labor expenses by task and how she does so.  

Get a feel for whether she is a fan of the latest and greatest in equipment, chemicals, irrigation and how she would do a cost benefit analysis whenm deciding whether an expenditure is worthwhile.  Get a sense of her familiarity and views on more organic approaches to course maintenence.  Have her look at the budget for your course and ask for her analysis of what more information she would want, what she would do with a 10% cut and what she would do with a 10% increase.

Ask her in what circumstances she would seek a midyear increase in budget and get a sense of whether she has done so in the past and how it went.

Conditions:  

Ask about maintenence standards and get a sense of whether she has experience setting and managing to written maintenence standards.  Ask whether or not she thinks they are a good idea and why.  

Ask about her view on keeping conditions consistent from day to day as opposed to priming the course for big events.  

Ask about philosophy on pin posiions and maintenence of the practice range and short game areas.

Ask if she has been in a tree removal effort and, if so, how much was handled in house v. out of house.  Ask if she has a view as to whether your course needs to remove trees and if so, how she would manage member reactions to such an effort.

Ask her views on irrigation levels, rough height, bunkers, no mow areas, green speeds, use of rolling v. mowing of greens, methods for putting the course to bed for the winter.

Staff:  

Ask whether she would want to use existing staff or would be looking to hire a new crew.

JMEvensky

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2011, 04:28:42 PM »
Jason Topp,you should copyright that and sell it to every club in the US.Good stuff.

Kyle Harris

Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2011, 04:37:15 PM »
If this is off base, please tell me so and I'll try to take this down. We are in the process of hiring a new Superintendent at our club. I'm on the "search committee" and the response to our ad has been very strong.

My question is simple. What questions would you ask someone who is interviewing for the position? I know the usual questions about experience with certain grasses, grow-ins and renovations but are there others that would help us identify the best candidate?

Thanks in advance.

One question from me.
I'm coming out to your current course tomorrow, will you show me around?

Very slippery slope. Your golf course is not the superintendent's current golf course. Your membership not his clientele, etc. etc. etc.

John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2011, 04:39:02 PM »
Ask what they would tell a high school senior that was considering getting a degree in turf management.

Rory Connaughton

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2011, 04:46:40 PM »
Talk to guys like Scott Anderson, Latshaw and Bator and find who worked under them that they think highly of.

Mike Nuzzo

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2011, 05:32:30 PM »
Are you planning on a renovation and grow-in?
I would ask them what they would change about your club after a day's visit.
Good luck
Thinking of Bob, Rihc, Bill, George, Neil, Dr. Childs, & Tiger.

Matt Vandelac

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #11 on: February 22, 2011, 07:58:35 PM »
Follow up on refences both personal and professional.
When looking at your pile of resumes (you should have quite a few), be careful not to pick just the ones that came from the best known clubs.
Experience in your climate may be important.  Are they familiar with your grasses?
What are your needs?  Do you have issues with turf or soils (hire someone strong in turfgrass science)?  Do you have projects coming up?  Do they need to speak another language?
Talk with someone that they worked with previously.
Are they strong leaders or delagators?  Do they like to get dirty?  Rarely is this the same person.
Are they strong leaders?
I love Jason's questions and many of these are good ammo for an interview, but I'd be very careful before discarding resumes - you might have a diamond in there.



Mike_Young

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #12 on: February 22, 2011, 08:51:17 PM »
I would ask if they would be a steward of the club's money or would they be convincing the club of more budget....and using improvements  to progress to another club....
"just standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona"

Don_Mahaffey

Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #13 on: February 22, 2011, 09:32:16 PM »
No selection method is going to hit 1.000 and I could go on and on about my criteria but I've come to believe about the best group possible to identify superintendent talent is the architects with some dirt on their boots.

Members get way to hung up on where a guy has worked.
PGA guys, in many cases but not all, are not looking to hire an equal.
The super tree created by the famous guys is fine as long as they are walking into a similar position, which is not usually the case. Doesn't mean they can't do a great job, but just because you trained under a legend doesn't mean you fit everywhere.

Find a local architect that also knows his way around a construction site and he'll usually also know how to identify talent.

ps...everyone today either knows how to write a resume or knows how to get help writing a resume. IMO, resumes are not worth the bandwidth they take up. Talk to people who know their work (like architects) and then go see their work. Check out the shop (unannounced if possible), look at the equipment, talk to people they work with, spend a little time, don't hire a piece of paper.
« Last Edit: February 22, 2011, 09:51:24 PM by Don_Mahaffey »

corey miller

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #14 on: February 22, 2011, 09:45:01 PM »

I would ask the candidate what golf course architecture books he has in his library.  If he does not care about the minutia it is unlikely to ever get done properly. 

Richard Choi

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #15 on: February 22, 2011, 09:53:45 PM »
Why not just go visit the clubs where the supers are from and figure out if the course is maintained the way you want?

There is only so much you are going to learn about a person from interview, why rely on that when you can review the actual product? The interview would be nothing more than a personality test to make sure that he isn't and a-hole.

Kyle Harris

Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #16 on: February 22, 2011, 10:57:00 PM »
Why not just go visit the clubs where the supers are from and figure out if the course is maintained the way you want?

Because the guy telling the super to maintain it that way may not want it the same way you want the super to maintain it.

Richard Choi

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #17 on: February 22, 2011, 11:26:35 PM »
Because the guy telling the super to maintain it that way may not want it the same way you want the super to maintain it.

???

I have no idea what that means.

Does it mean that super is maintaining it in a way that the GM wants instead of what super wants?

If that is the case, so what? You know how you want your course to be maintained, you know this guy can do exactly what you want. Who cares if it is not necessarily what the super wants? It is actually preferable since he can do what you want and not the kind of guy who can only do what he wants.

Or do you mean the course is not maintained the way you want it, but the super MIGHT be able to maintain your course in your preferred method?

If that is the case, you don't want to hire him anyway. You want to hire somebody who is maintaining the course EXACTLY the way you want the course to be maintained. That way you are getting EXACTLY what you are looking for. Sure, the guy who is maintaining a different kind of course may also do a good job in a different type of course, but why take that chance? Just fine something you want and hire that guy who does it.
« Last Edit: February 22, 2011, 11:29:22 PM by Richard Choi »

Kyle Harris

Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #18 on: February 22, 2011, 11:28:39 PM »
Because the guy telling the super to maintain it that way may not want it the same way you want the super to maintain it.

???

I have no idea what that means.

Does it mean that super is maintaining it in a way that the GM wants instead of what super wants?

If that is the case, so what? You know how you want your course to be maintained, you know this guy can do exactly what you want. Who cares if it is not necessarily what the super wants? It is actually preferable since he can do what you want and not the kind of guy who can only do what he wants.

GM or membership/green committee. Judging a superintendent's ability by one blind visit without a notion of how the golf course operates is foolhardy, IMO. I think the best superintendents are adaptable to the needs of many types of managers.

I figured you meant that you visit a course to see how the golf course is maintained. While the superintendent is responsible for the maintenance - he is not always completely responsible for the level of maintenance or even the quality as other decision makers and factors are in the mix, as well.
« Last Edit: February 22, 2011, 11:31:10 PM by Kyle Harris »

John Kavanaugh

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Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #19 on: February 22, 2011, 11:34:21 PM »
Why did the old super leave?  Are you going to pay the new guy less?

Richard Choi

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Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #20 on: February 22, 2011, 11:34:54 PM »
GM or membership/green committee. Judging a superintendent's ability by one blind visit without a notion of how the golf course operates is foolhardy, IMO. I think the best superintendents are adaptable to the needs of many types of managers.

Who said anything about one blind visit? Go visit the course as many times as you can. Preferably after different weather/climate conditions. Even better during some sort of stress conditions. That way you know exactly what you are getting.

But even one blind visit is going to be more enlightening than interviewing. All of the studies done on interview says the person hiring makes the decision within the first five minutes. To me, relying on an interview is foolhardy.

When I am hiring someone, I go by this priority:

1. Actual examples/work of what the person has done
2. Feedback from colleagues
3. Interview (mostly just to see if I want to work next to this person)

Don_Mahaffey

Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #21 on: February 22, 2011, 11:35:39 PM »
I rest my case

John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #22 on: February 22, 2011, 11:42:34 PM »
I rarely hire anyone because I find that once people leave they were not that vital to the organization anyway.  Why even hire a super when the guys you have now can get the work done with limited supervision.  Put the pro in charge, get him some training and pay a nearby super a consulting fee for chemical applications.  Go old school.

Ben Sims

  • Karma: +1/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #23 on: February 23, 2011, 01:24:38 AM »
Rich,

No way you hire someone just because they are maintaining it the way you want it maintained.  You have to know that guy's budget, his logistics, staff, soil qualities, etc. before you can make an assumption like that.  Just because someone has a record of success in one place doesn't equate to success at another.  There is much more to being a sup than growing grass the way you want it. 

In my line of work, you hire a guy because he knows his stuff, no matter what his background is.  Just because a guy is already flying airplane X and I am flying airplane Y, doesn't mean that I can't come in and fly his jet better than he can.  Take a dude that has flown in in multiple aircraft, seen combat, and also instructed; I can safely say that person will fly well in most any aircraft.  It takes knowledge and patience to find the guy that is good.  Hiring a "specialist" rarely makes anything special.

Richard Choi

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Hiring a Super
« Reply #24 on: February 23, 2011, 01:37:30 AM »
Ben, that is why I mentioned that you should be looking for a similar club with similar budget and similar conditioning.

If I know you were a good 747 pilot for United, I know you can fly 747 for Continental.