Gog Magog Golf Club
Things Can Easily Go Wrong…….
One of the first items on James Fuller’s to-do list, when he became general manager of Gog Magog Golf Club in Cambridge, was to look at how HR was being handled. What he discovered was not reassuring.
“I found the HR to be pretty substandard. The company we were using for HR was not up to date and hadn’t been very proactive in being up to date. For example, the staff handbook hadn’t been updated and so it was way out of date with regards to legislation.
“When this was pointed out to them, they reacted. Well, I want a company that is proactive, so I phoned Carolyne who had helped me at my last club. I said we need to get you in here and promptly we did.”
“The first job we needed to do was make sure the staff handbook was up to date so all the staff were comfortable with their rights as employees but equally the employer was protected. This also led to updating the contracts. Some of them were thirty years old and hadn’t been updated.”
Golf HR also helped James and Gog Magog Golf Club with a difficult issue regarding an employee claiming stress leave.
“It was a very tricky case that came out of left field. There’s not much I can say about it, but I’ve been here before, so I knew what to expect, as did Carolyne and her team.
This person had employed a lawyer who was using threating letters for a quick resolution. Golf HR was brilliant because they weren’t intimidated by the letters and because they used very simple employment law to bat back and defend our position. “
The matter was resolved without resort to an employment tribunal. In this and in all aspects of HR, James greatly values the support and specialist knowledge and expertise of Carolyne and her colleagues.
“I remember meeting Carolyne four or five years ago and what impressed me at the time was that she is experienced in golf and we’re an individual industry with unique issues. When you have an amateur board of directors, people who are volunteering it can so easily go wrong.
“If you haven’t got HR at your golf club you’re exposing yourself wildly. And then if you’ve taken the decision to take on HR and you don’t use an experienced golf specific HR company, I think that’s your second big mistake. So, in summary, I would say to other clubs get HR and get specific HR. It is utter peace of mind.“
James Fuller
Club Manager