Time and again you will hear how helpful Carolyne Wahlen and the team at Golf HR truly are, striving to provide excellent professional advice – and this was how she came to represent Temple Golf Club:
“There was an email debate going back and forth between golf club secretaries on some HR issue,” explained Temple Golf Club Secretary Keith Adderley, “And Carolyne joined the conversation with some excellent advice and I asked to meet her.
“I’ve been at this Berkshire course near Maidenhead for 18 years and I have seen a lot of changes in HR. When I began I was 80% Club Secretary and 20% Company Secretary; today that has been completely reversed and while members still want you to be 80% there is an enormous burden of time consuming legislation and compliance issues that have to be dealt with. That was until Carolyne came to see me!
“Now I’m sure we are like most golf clubs; fair and reasonable employers and we had never really had any contractual issues, but like most club secretaries it was always in the back of my mind that something could go wrong and we wouldn’t be ready.
“Most niggling was the Employee Handbook which had been at the bottom of my pile and so too was bringing contracts up to date for the 18 to 25 staff we have here, depending on the time of year and now Golf HR has taken this over.
“She is now professionally dealing with matters that I would never have gotten too even working 60 to 70 hours each week – and all this for very reasonable fees and this is important when you have to weigh up every discretionary spend. Of course I say discretionary, the cost if we got it wrong would be huge!
“She has worked on the Employee Handbook from scratch and has brought each and every contract up to date and deftly dealt with all queries in a friendly and professional manner. Most employees have been with us for over 10 years so their contracts needed updating.
“You might argue that we could simply use a solicitor, but I would rather use someone who is used to the golf club environment and its unique issues, rather than some solicitor used to general HR. Also Carolyne is regularly in touch and can deal with matter from the moment they arise, whereas how long would you leave it before bringing in a solicitor?
“I also don’t think you should use members for HR either, even if you have the skills within your membership I think most members come here to relax and play golf, not to go to work. Also you have to consider the importance of having a professional relationship with any supplier.
“Going forward there is more updating to do with the records and everything will be constantly updated to reflect changes in the law; I feel confident I could deal with any issue that might arise and know where I could get sound advice and professional support.
“What I really like about Carolyne is that she is on my wavelength when dealing with things and I invited her to a meeting of the Golf Club Management Association where she got on well with other club secretaries and gave a really helpful presentation on steps clubs could take and at no time did she mention the bad things that might happen if you don’t use her!
“I very warmly recommend Carolyne to other golf clubs and often do, without hesitation. She understands our issues and genuinely wants to help – and she is always getting in touch with nice ideas from sending a cookie and suggesting I take a break, or sending an interesting book and then following up with how it could be useful for the club. She is an invaluable part of the team at Temple.”
Keith Adderley, Club Manager, Temple Golf Club, 01628 824795