On the heels of the Korn Ferry Championship, Matthew Hagnauer, Assistant General Manager of the Dormie Network’s Victoria National Golf Club, learned an important lesson about self-care and teamwork.
Over the course of the Korn Ferry Championship, some of our F&B team members helped our agronomy team fill divots at the conclusion of play. Not only did this small gesture provide an opportunity for our departments to meet on the course, but it also gave me insight into opportunities to “fill divots” for my team both on and off the golf course.
All too often we ask our teams to work long hours, to take time away from their families and friends. There is a true sacrifice to what we do. That should not go unnoticed. That is why we as managers need to make sure we fill our team’s “divots” so that they can continue working hard for the collective good of the club. As most of our seasons are coming to an end and others are ramping up, I think this is a strategy we can all get behind.
What are we doing to help fill our teams’ divots? We offer days off, we focus on simple positive interactions and we do lots of team-building exercises. As I was running food to agronomy in the morning, our executive chef and I were helping that team in an important way that was really quite simple from our perspective. Too many times, leaders look to create 3-4 huge annual events to show our appreciation to our team for their hard work and time. But what if every day we made a sustained effort to show that same amount of appreciation on a one-to-one level?
I plan to still have those big annual events with my team, but I also plan to start doing the same types of things on a much smaller scale to make sure they know we are all here together and we appreciate everything they do for the success of this club and one another.
Just as when you’re playing golf, or fixing 18 greens, you can’t make it to all the divots, but if you filled your own you’d be surprised at how much it helps the greater good!