Bishopswood Golf Club
It was an incident a couple of years ago – which resulted in the club having to pay out around £2000 to a member of staff – that convinced General Manager Kevin Pickett of Bishopswood Golf Club it was time to get an HR professional on board.
Not that he was against the idea. It was just that having worked with a huge and expensive London-based HR company in a past job; he didn’t quite see the necessity of spending such sums at the smaller club. It was with delight then that he was introduced to the idea of Golf HR’s more tailored pricing options.
“The particular incident I’m referring to got blown all out proportion,” said Kevin. “We attempted to deal with it in-house but at one point it all became very personal. It really shouldn’t have gotten to the stage it did.
Kevin was alerted to Carolyne and Golf HR via recommendations from a couple of personal contacts. He had also seen her present at a couple of GMCA meetings. Following a discussion, the team were hired on a monthly basis, around a year ago. Their first task was to review all staff contracts.
“There wasn’t an issue at the club at that time,” said Kevin. “It’s just I liked the idea of having them there as a security blanket. We’re a small company who are in a good place within the golfing sector and we’d really like to remain there.”
Bishopswood Golf Club currently employs two green keepers, three chefs, a front of house manager and a supervisor. The main revenue is from the busy conference and function side of the business (think weddings, birthday celebrations and big traditional Sunday lunches).
Meanwhile, the club’s nine-hole course meanders through natural woodland in the Hampshire/Berkshire border while there are also plenty of water hazards to challenge golfers of various abilities. There’s also a 12 bay floodlit driving range.
Kevin was delighted with the first piece of work Golf HR did for him. This involved changing the wording and phrasing in the contracts. They then updated the club handbook. “The contracts were far too vague,” said Kevin. “Carolyne and the team warned me they wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny in a court of law.
“The handbook involved putting quite a bit of information together but it was worth it as they’re now so much more straightforward. Now if a new member of staff comes on board all I have to do is simply email their details and we’re completely covered. That’s a nice feeling.”
Another reassuring aspect of the service as far as Kevin is concerned is the fact that whenever he emails the team he has usually received a response within four to five hours, and definitely, by the end of the day.
Kevin Pickett, General Manager