Hiring an EM? What Superintendents Need to Know.
Transcript
Uh, my hell behind. It’ll keep it like shaded in the morning during the day. As soon as you open the doors, it just shoots through the roof and it gets hot. I’m like, I really should have many split in this cause like it would help. Yeah. Yep. I’ll put one in the garage. I don’t know, two years ago maybe. And yeah, it’s not in day difference. Yeah. I’ll actually go out there and do something from time to time. Where before this level you could forget it. You’re just sweating. All right. Well, I guess we’ll get started here and I’ll start with you, John. What, what do you look for, um, when you’re changing jobs, looking for a different course and what do you look for in the manager and what do you look for in the facility? Um, I guess easiest way to start off. It’s like, facility-wise. As I get older and benefits are a big, a big thing, you know, like, cause obviously healthcare and retirement are something you look for later on in life, even though you don’t think about it earlier in life. Um, so I mean like that’s a big key is like, especially when they, you see a job posting and it’s like very vague, it’s really hard to, to apply to something that has something that’s very vague as a description of everything. But, but, um, I mean beyond benefits wise, uh, definitely like cleanliness of the machines and like how they were taken care of previously is a big sign of like how the place is, I guess. Um, cause like it would be nice if everybody did, you know, five-year leases, but that’s just not even, it’s getting harder and harder. With everything going on to even think about doing that, it just gets a little expensive, but the walking into somewhere, sometimes it’s kind of, it’s scary if, if they left on bad terms because you don’t know what you’re walking into. If, if you, if you know, if they’re open about what happened and you know, you’re open about what you’re bringing to the table, I think it makes a lot easier, um, to get on the same page in that respect. But, um, definitely look for lifts, a lift, at least, uh, since I got one, like it was a year ago now, uh, I see the huge benefit in my workflow of just having a lift. It makes everything you do so much. Yeah, I would never go back. It’s it’s bad. It’s really bad. But I mean, like I did it for what, seven years without a lift. And like I say, even just checking reels, it’s, it’s just, you don’t realize how much harder it was. I mean, I knew it was a pain, but being able to actually do everything at like, you know, arms height, way different than actually be. I mean, you get way more quality out of your adjustments when you’re out there seeing them and, you know, it’s just makes even degrees and things that makes it so much easier, but yeah, lift a lift or them being open to putting a lift in, it would be a big, big thing you’re looking for, you know? Um, I mean, like. I can’t say why, like one grinder, I’m a fan of other over another, like, I can, I can work with whatever, like a shop has, as long as they have something, you know? Um, right. And even if it’s not your preference, you can deal with it until it’s time to change it out. And then maybe you go in a direction. Yeah. Cause I mean, it’s like, they all have their nuances of how, how to grind on them. But like, I mean, I kind of have a little feel for all of them at this point. So it’s a lot easier, I guess, for me to go into somewhere that he doesn’t have, like doesn’t have Foleys or, you know, cause I’ve had experience with sip. I’ve had experience with Barnhart, uh, like bed knife, grinders, like the real grinders I haven’t played with. I’m sure. I mean, I’ve seen videos on, they’re not that difficult to catch on to either, you know, Like I said, like being able to relieve grind is a big thing, but that’s personal preference. Uh, like, you know, but uh, definitely having like a dedicated shop space and not like a shared like storage slash shop space is a big thing for me. I like to be able to like, have like my work area, plus like, you know, like where the equipment store in another spot it’s, it makes work a lot easier because you’re not like playing musical equipment every day to get stuff around. I mean, like my current shop set up is like, we do store like our sprayer inside cause it’s heated and obviously we’re in the north, so it gets kind of cold. Um, keep that in our shot, like my shop and we had two of our greens mowers are in my shop, but that used to be because. Once it got below, like 50, our old ones wouldn’t start easily. We had a jump on the firearm off. So that’s how they ended up being in the shop. But the new ones were in the shop just because they’re new. And I have like, well, the one has on her 200 hours on it. The other one has under a hundred on it now. So it’s just, they’re just in there right now. But, um, trying to think shop wise, like definitely got an office own office is nice to do good know, keep, keep your records. So you’re not trying to do it like in the actual workshop, but I could see the benefit of having in the workshop too. But like management wise, like communication’s probably the biggest, biggest thing. Openly communicate with, you know, your super or your assistance or director of agronomy. Like, I mean, I’ve heard, I’ve talked to people and in the past, like the previous mechanic or whatever, like didn’t want to talk to them and it’s like, well, that’s kind of a red flag, but like you have to be open like, uh, on both sides of that management, you know, for sure. Um, yeah, definitely communications, uh, having a plan if they have a plan so I can have a plan. It’s definitely a, a big plus side. Um, I think you gotta, you gotta have a plan, even though it’s probably gonna go out the window, but you gotta, you gotta at least have an idea of what’s supposed to be happening that. Yeah, no, it’s not like, you know where a lot of times I walk in with a plan and let you know, your plan is not going to happen because seven other things happened the day before that you didn’t know about until you got in, in the morning. And it’s just like my, my, uh, where I’m at it kind of compounds really bad because it just, I don’t deal with just golf course. So it, it goes, it goes sideways real quick, but like I said, I try to get what I planned out done, but that doesn’t happen. But yeah, the, no, like I said, like me and my current superintendent, like, I mean, we’re like years down the road on equipment wise, we know what w w what’s coming up that we’re going to have to replace. So like, we try to keep, we have, we have an ongoing conversation all the time, and it’s like, honestly, with everything going on now, where equipment’s going to be really hard to get, uh, kind of setting priorities and hope it. Get those priorities within the next two years. Not like it was hopefully this year coming up, but the other thing going on that might be a hard, hard stretch, but yeah, I’m, I’m definitely a, a forward thinker on a lot of stuff. Like I try to look ahead at the long term equipment wise, what were you going to be doing? Like, I don’t like, I don’t like to hear, Hey, we’re going to air. Right. And tomorrow, like, you know, like say we plan on doing this like two months from now or, you know, what we’re planning on doing. And I like, I like to know that somewhat ahead of time so I can get my, like I know. Okay. We’re going to IRA. Like, you know, March 1st, I know I’m going to have everything ready to go well before then, so I don’t have any surprises coming up, but for sure. I don’t know how everyone else’s days go by with that. Well, let me address the group here. Um, this is being recorded. If you have anything you want to say, just, uh, asked to speak and I’ll approve it. What about you, Michael? What do you look for in a facility? Uh, basically everything that, you know, he just said, but at the same time, I mean, location too. Um, how far is your gonna, you know, how far is your commute? Um, is it worth the commute? Is it in an area that you’re already familiar with or unfamiliar with? Um, like my new job, it’s actually closer now than my previous job. So, I mean, that’s a, that’s a huge benefit for me. You know what I mean? That’s, that’s gas savings and everything else. Um, You know, but at the same time, it’s also, what kind of input do you have to have or would you have, you know, with your super and all that stuff? I mean, do you get the, make help make some of the decisions on the equipment? Um, do you have any say so, and, you know, uh, you know, I want attachments go on the mowers and whatnot, but the biggest thing is probably, uh, the relationship, you know, how well do you get along with the new guy? Um, if it’s a new guy to the area, can you find out about the guy? You know what I mean? It’s a big, you’re going to be spending so much time with that guy, you know, with that super and those assistants and that crew, you know what I mean, learn a little bit, you know what I mean? Are you going to be able to click with them? To me. I think that’s one of the biggest things. I mean, there’s a lot of hurdles that you can get by, you know, with each shop is different, you know, but the people that’s there kind of make up what’s going on and okay. Yeah. That’s a hundred percent correct. And sometimes personalities just don’t jive together. Definitely. So, but that’s, um, you know, you can work on, you can get around as long as the person is approachable and you can communicate, uh, one thing that a good friend of mine, he worked for me for about three years and he was 22 years in the army and retired. But one thing he taught me was feed the bear and he won’t eat you. So he went and it was so good because every day, like if I wasn’t there, if I was there, it didn’t matter. He had sent me a text. He’d call me. And give me a set rep situational report. He was feeding the bear and I mean, sometimes it was information overload and I didn’t even really care, but he was constantly giving me that information no matter what happened that day, big, small, insignificant, significant, whatever it was. And I think that’s a really good process, especially if you’re not really comfortable or not familiar with who you’re working with. So, you know, if you’re in a new situation or something like that, I think that’s the perfect opportunity to do something like that. Yeah. I mean, again, it goes to the point to, I mean, how old is the shop as a shotgun to be brand new? Um, or if you are going into an older shop. Yeah. I mean, do they have, how old is the lift? I mean, is there going to be room for improvement? Um, you know, what’s the. Put a yearly plan together. You know, if the shop is only 20 years old, well, yeah, it might be fine, but if it’s pushing 30, 40, if there’s still a barn, you know, I mean, is there going to be any improvements later on down the road and you know, what kind of, what kind of budget do you have? Um, you know, I mean, golf course is going to have a main budget, but I mean, there’s always that one line item that’s dedicated to repairs the maintenance or the shop or something like that. You know what I mean? Do you have control over that, but you have to constantly ask your super, can I go spend a hundred dollars or can I spend a thousand dollars or do you have free reign over that? And, you know, having control over that or not have control over that? Probably. I mean, it’s not a deal breaker. Um, you know, but if you have full control over that, I mean, at the end of the year, If they, if you, if you spent a year there and there needs to be some improvements, then you got full control over your budget. Well then now’s your chance. And if you can make those inputs, you know, and having the super B for that really helps out. Yeah. Yeah. You want somebody that has your back. That’s the way I always look at it. And that’s no matter, you know, where you’re working, you want to work for somebody that, you know, has your back, um, I mean, like, I definitely feel like in, in the industry, it’s a, it’s a lot different than automotive. Cause like you’re pretty much just a number in a shop, but automotive to where at least the golf industry, you like, they, for the most part, uh, from what I’ve, I’ve seen, it definitely care. And like, you know, they’re, you’re all trying to do one thing, you know, put, get the best conditions out there with. You know, it’s, it seems like it’s a lot different in that respect. From what I’ve seen. Do you have something to say Wade? I know Chad has something to say. He’s always got something to say. I was just going to listen along. Well, you, you, you asked to speak, so hello. I know I did. I don’t know why I did that, but it’s all good. I, you know, I heard Shelton fricking running his mouth again, as usual. I was like, I gotta go in. It’s always the three of us in here anyway. I mean, you didn’t even get here on time and you’re already 15 minutes late. I had to get a shower, buddy. I was probably thinking. Yeah, I’m cleaning my basement as I’m listening. So I’m not too, uh, too much to say today. Okay. Well, all good. Well, Chad, what, what do you look for in a new shop? A new manager. I mean, that kind of look at everything, um, all around. Like I want somebody that’s involved, like, like I’m involved, you know what I mean? Like I care about what I do, you know, I want them to care as much about what they do is what, you know, I care about. Plus, you know, they have to support you and have your back, you know, and understand how hard the job is that we have to do, especially if you’re in, you know, a shop by yourself and there’s nobody else in there with you. Um, and I, you know, I also look at like the equipment. I mean, before I took my job where I was at, where I’m at now at the dunes, um, you know, I did a little research on steam before I started in, you know, one of the things I saw, he was a former president of the Carolina. But the GCSA and I was like, well, that’s exactly kind of what I was looking for. You know, that means right there to me, that he’s involved and cares about what he’s doing and the people around them. So you know that the equipment, the golf course, the budget, I mean the shop, obviously, although my shop, my shop’s not the greatest. I know you saw that it’s kind of small, but when he gets the job done. Yeah. And I don’t think it’s not always the size of the shop. Your shop is a little small, but you got adequate space to get done what you need to get done. Right. And you, you couldn’t have four other technicians in there, but for an 18 hole course, you probably don’t need that much help. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I mean, I could use a little bit sometimes, but it’s not bad. I mean, I always, like I said, I just look at it, you know, how much he cares by what he’s done, you know? And Steve is very involved in everything. Um, so I mean, that’s just automatic right there. And how long the people that are working there have been there for, I mean, you know, the employment, how long your fellow employees are there for? Like, when I started at the deans, I mean, heck the one guy in our crews there for 33 years, there was people in the office while there was guys 33, Steve’s been there 20, the other guy passed away. He was there almost 30 years. The people up in the office are there for almost 30 years. I mean, that’s, uh, you know, a good company to work for, in my opinion, it definitely shows that they care or at is a good place to work that much tenure. Right. If they had that much tenure there. Yeah. You know, and obviously pay, I mean, that’s all. That’s always going to be something, but like I said, like money isn’t everything all the time. No, no, definitely. Well, and I’m talking when I say pay, I’m talking like, when you work, like you, you, you get rewarded every year or, you know, you get a raise, whether it be three or 4%, you know, to me, that means that they appreciate what you’re doing, you know, by giving you a little bit of a raise, you know, whether you asked for it or not, like I’m not the kind of person that’s going to go knocking on the superintendent, the store every other week and be like, Hey man, you know, and even more money and that’s not me. I go in, I do my job, you know, I just, at the end of the year, if they feel I’m worthy of a raise, I’m going to get one. If I’m not, you know, then I won’t. And if I don’t get one for a certain amount of time, well then I’ll be looking for another job. You know, I’m not, I’m not that guy. That’s a big thing. Like, I guess, I mean, you expect to have a raise every year. Like, my situation is a lot different because we do get like cost of living raises just the, how with where I’m at. But like we’ve been behind for so long that like, we’re just right now getting to the point where kind of get us aligned with everybody else with pay was so at least they kind of started to do that. Finally. I guess they realized if they don’t, they’re going to start losing us. Yeah. Well, that’s, that’s the thing too. Like if you go to a golf course, you know, and the superintendent knows the mechanic, the equipment manager’s worth, I mean, that’s already, you’re taking a big step forward, which, you know, that was my case where I went at, where I’m at now. I mean, You know, he had tried to find a mechanic and how knew how hard it was to find one and, you know, saw all the stuff he had to do in between and the transition, you know, the amount of work that’s out there, you know? So he appreciates it. I know he does. How do you all feel about on the job description and people advertising for the job? Don’t we all agree that it needs to have the pay on there otherwise yeah. At least arrange, otherwise you’re just wasting everybody’s time. Well, sure. Depending on experience or, or commensurate to knowledge, I’m like, I’m not even going to why even I don’t even read it. Why? I mean, if they’re doing it, depending on my experience or, you know, another guy’s experience, I mean, they don’t, they’re not going to pay enough. Well, that’s the thing is like, when it says, you know, like based on experience or whatever it, well, W when you look at my resume and there’s all these certifications on it, what are you basing it off? You know, like w at what point you like, I don’t, I always, like I said, I always hate seeing that because it’s like, I feel they’re just trying to get somebody for the least amount as possible, no matter what field it is, whether it’s golf or automotive or anything. Cause like I’ve, you know, throughout my years, I’ve chopped shops when I was in automotive, because you have to chase the money there. And it’s like, anytime it said, you know, oh, you know, based on experience or like competitive, it really was never competitive. It was like low ball me. And I’m like, well, listen, like why would I come here for less money than I’m making already? And it’s like, right. If at least if you have a range, I know like, even like the lowest you’re going to go, at least I know where your stand to where it’s like, you know, when you don’t, you don’t put anything in there. It’s, it’s tough for someone to apply. And it’s like, you know, like I said, are you missing out because you’re not applying or you just wasting your time by applying and saying, it’s like, you know, whatever, $40,000. And it’s like, well, it’s not worth it just me. Or is he cutting in and out? Okay. This is just you, Chad. Yeah. It’s like, okay. It’s as I said, like a very descriptive, like job posting is very nice when you have like, at least feels like, say, oh yeah, 401k. Well, is it matching 401k? You know, you just saw a lot of places. Just kinda like throw out an ad with like the basics. And it’s like, how am I supposed to judge if I want to pursue that? If it’s just basic information on there. I mean, I honestly, you know, you’re not going to go into like, in-depth everything, but like, if you have health care, you know, is it a hundred. Employee paid. Is there like somewhat of a club pays style of it? You know, it’s, it makes a difference when you’re looking at a job. I think I agree. It’s it’s this day and age, it’s like, um, as much as you’re trying to sell yourself, they’re trying to sell the job and get the best person for it. So the more information you have, the, the better, the opportunity that you can provide, the better the candidate that you’re going to get. Yes, exactly. Like I said, like, you see, you’ll see someone like they’re really well wrote out like job descriptions or, you know, and then others are just like copy and pasted something and stuck it in there. And it’s like, okay, well it looks like seven other jobs I looked at. And then I didn’t apply to those because they didn’t have enough information sometimes though, when you look at. I mean, they’re all the basic thing. I must have, you know, hydraulics experience, grinding, you know, all that stuff. Always the same thing. I mean, if they would eliminate, you know, the basic stuff, the stuff that every mechanic needs to know, you know, and then put in the stuff like that, that would be better. Cause I mean, if I look at it and this like, you know, a whole four paragraphs of job description, I’m like, holy cow. So I’m not going to sit down and read all that the whole way through, you know, I’m busy like everybody else, and I’m not going to sit and read through the whole, well, I think that’s another good point too, is you gotta be, we want all the details as quickly as possible. This is like, when you put together a resume, you don’t put together a five page resume. You try to make it one page, maybe one and a half. So you got to get all that diff detailed information in there as best as you can. I don’t know about that though, because, uh, our industry is fairly small and I, when I was handing out resumes, I tried to put as much information as I could about them because that’s what made you stand out. And I really don’t feel like you’re going to get that many, uh, equipment manager resumes when you put out a job posting. So you may as well try to give them a really good, clear picture of yourself. Yeah. But I want you, I think you need to be clear and concise. Yes. Most definitely. You don’t need to write them along wishy washy story. You just, I’m not gonna, I’m not gonna tell anybody I can change all that should be assumed at this point. I welcome changeable. Tyler, you get, you got something to say? Uh, yeah, just, um, just that. So while I was, most of you guys know I’ve recently just, uh, gone through this whole process. So, um, most of you guys were pretty much hitting everything on the, on the head when it came to what we were, what we would be looking for to make a change and things like that. And, uh, and yeah, just that, um, to have that support and again, trying to kind of go way back to have a support from the super and know that you’re going to be, uh, uh, have a program and, and have somebody go to bat for you goes a long way, for sure. Well, I’m like one of the things I like too is how, you know, like where I’m at. They don’t come in. He’s like, well, I’ve never really had a superintendent really hover over you and be like, you know, what are you doing today? Or what’s this? Or what’s. You know, I’d rather have it be like on my own boss and, you know, you take care of the stuff that needed to be taken care of. I don’t want somebody that wants to micromanage, you know, everything. And I guess one of the other things I would look at is trying to see how many mechanics were there previous to me, you know, like the guy that I took, his position, he retired, he was there for 22 years. You know, I think there was only like maybe four superintendents at the golf course over his whole time since 1948, you know? So I don’t know, stuff like that. I look at, I just want to go to a place where it’s a good place to work and it’s like family atmosphere. Oh yeah, for sure. And since, uh, Tim Krieger’s in the house, I’ll, I’ll tell the story. I’ve told him the other day. So the course I’m at director of agronomy. He was the grow in superintendent. He’s been there 33 years. He’s had three mechanics including myself, and this is my second tour there at that club. So a lot, a lot of longevity there, but I’m very, very loyal to him because of the manager he is. And I know he has my back, no matter what, and if I need something, I get it. And I mean, obviously I don’t ask for stupid stuff, but if I can justify what we need for the club, we get it. And I think that’s the way it should be. You’re definitely like it. If they don’t have your back, you don’t have their back. It’s kinda, it’s kinda hard sometimes, you know, to, to go forward. Because like I said, like, like with my me and my super, like my, my situation’s a little different because like how we’re structured, I got more bosses than I needed to have, but, um, like me and my super, like, like I always say to people, like if I did everything, I was told that. I would do nothing because no one really tells me what to do. I just do, do what needs to be done. And like I said, I we’re always looking forward, like at least in our little world of like, what’s coming up, what needs done and where like, we, we, we, we get along real well. And, uh, like I said, I he’ll, he’ll ask me questions about the equipment and like, I’ll start talking. And it’s like, you know, he looks at me like I have three heads, but I also try to explain to him why I do what I do. You know? It’s like, I don’t expect him to understand what I do like down to like, you know, the sub level systems that I’m working on, but I try to let him at least have an idea of why I do what I do. And like what I’m trying different things on reels. You know, like, Hey, I’m trying this, you know, we’re going to see if it works out, you know, if it doesn’t, you know, we’ll, we’ll go back to how it was, but we’re going to try this. And like, he’s very open to doing that. You know, he’s never said no, don’t do that. Yeah. I think that’s a really good point too, because we’re trying most of us anyway, to get better every day and trying different things, you know, whether you’re playing with bed, knife, angles, or attitude adjustments, or whatever it is, we’re trying to produce the best product we can. And it’s nice to have that flexibility and somebody that wants to get better too. So having people, you know, with the same mindset, working with each other, instead of against each other, definitely a big thing there. Uh, Ben beard, you got anything you want to say. Yeah, cool. Sorry, if you hear some of the bad guy, my, uh, like three kids are all sick right now, so I’m kind of, okay. I can get back with a whole listing, the, the, the, uh, the job posting and the experience and all that, or not the, you know, based on experience compensation and whatnot. Um, I get it on one point, but for the most part they’ve, as I found, um, there’s gotta be something to help in there. The guys that just list that and then nothing else in there. Um, there’s gotta be something like, for instance, like, like the job that I took, actually, not even posted yet, but, um, you know, it was, uh, uh, bill, uh, Nicholas design, uh, grow it. So it’s, you know, it’s something that, you know, is something that’s appealing other than if they can’t compensate. It’s a feeling like that also, um, serious. How much recruiting is in your guys’ area. Cause, um, you know, be honest with you, that’s kind of, I mean, most of the jobs that I’ve opportunities that I’ve had or have, you know, either turned down, it’s usually not me looking for a job, it’s a job looking for me. I’m wondering how much of that is going on in all the other parts of the, in the industry I know up here in Michigan, it’s, it’s, it’s really scarce. Um, I just had a, um, I mean an hour long conversation with a former assistant superintendent of mine and, uh, him and I will talk extensively and he’s just like I told them, I said, Michael, you’re doing everything right. I just don’t know, you know, that those scares, he’s got to have that one factor, um, to do it. So, uh, so there’s a couple of things. There is a, how much is the recruiting? And then what is that? That if you are recruiting and try to find that one guy, what does that all factor you can offer? Yeah. What is that all factor? It’s different. It’s, you know what I mean? It’s different than every, every place, you know what I mean? Kind of, you know, like it’s like the place I’m at now is different. I mean, the Nicholas, but they also kinda got me. I had my job interview 15 minutes after I signed on closing on a house and I was moving to the west side of the, this kind of was that kind of played to their factor as well. But the other places, you know, um, I know Medina country club there in Chicago, Brian, I know Stu saw Brian on there. I know when Steve lifted that, you know, what the salary was, the compensation was, was very appealing. Um, and also as I know, Steve was going to put some money into the job. So it’s things like that, you know, it could be, you just got to find that all factor that and find that right guy and find that all factor. That’s going to bring them in. Anybody else want to speak to that? What the off factor was? How about you? Yeah. Yeah. The, so to Ben’s point to, uh, uh, elaborate part of the appeal to come to the London hunt club was, um, they’re doing we’re, we’re, we’re gonna, we’re planning major renovations, uh, starting probably next fall with, uh, with the herds and, uh, group. And, and that’s something that, uh, that really stoked my fire to be part of that. Um, not to mention that, uh, uh, Jason, our superintendent here is, uh, really keen with, uh, wanting to know more about grinding and setups and specific angles attitudes. Um, like we were, we were in a discussion with. With some Toro guys and, and some, some Michigan state guys on Friday there. And, uh, and that’s kind of where the whole talk was centered around. So, um, having, having those certain aspects was, was really appealing, uh, for me. And, and, and one, if anybody, maybe some of you guys might’ve met Jason or seen him on Twitter, but, uh, he’s got a great passion, um, for, for the industry and with what he’s doing and just how much data he collects. Um, whether it’s sun angles, shading angles, um, you know, any, if he can measure it and, and get data from it, he’s, he’s all for it. So to have that, um, you know, precision on that side of things, Again, Stokes my fire. And then that was a big draw to get me here as well. Yeah, I totally get that because you can feed off each other. Another thing I’ve noticed about your superintendent is how excited he is to have you on board. Cause he keeps posting that on Twitter over and over again. And every time I say it, I was like, this is just so amazing because we all want to be appreciated. And I mean, any employee wants to be appreciated and that’s got to make you feel good. I would think, oh yeah, a hundred percent. And uh, and I gotta say, you know, everybody, uh, everybody here has been really, really welcome and it’s, and you can tell it’s a deep rooted culture here. Um, To, you know, the mechanic I’m replacing, he was here for 34 years. So you can not just go in on point with, uh, with what kind of everybody’s been looking for, um, in that stability, in that, uh, in that appreciation, uh, not only for the club with the person, but also the person for the club. Right, right, right, right. Well, it, um, let’s see, it took 38 minutes before Mike Rowan ended to say something. So once he got mine, it’s a new record. Thanks for coming on, man. You know? Oh, of course, man. I was li I was literally gonna stay muted too. I wasn’t even gonna have a request, but I’ve heard bed knives and bed night ankles twice now. So I just had to say hi, say, hi, the itch was getting too strong. I’m going to mute myself. You kicked me off. I’m gonna keep listening because the conversation has been great. Awesome. So you guys will all add to the, uh, you know, my new job. We’re actually building a brand new golf from the ground up. And that was my field. Um, I heard through the grapevine that there was going to be a new course being built down the road. So I seek that out. Uh, I gave him a call and talked to him and all that. And just that right there is they’re not building that many golf courses. So actually having a grow in experience like that, that piqued my interest from the start of every here, you know, I mean, there’s going to be challenges, you know, with all that, but I mean, some of y’all that have been around for awhile and y’all experienced that, like I’ve never experienced that. I’ve always heard stories and whatnot, but it’s like, I want. And having this job opportunity. Now it gives me that chance to actually do that. Yeah, that’s awesome. And that experience doing the construction stuff is you’ll keep that for the rest of your career, knowing how to work on dozers and yeah. Put tracks back on, uh, mini excavators and all that fun stuff that happens all the time. Well, you know what I mean? I already have experience, you know, with a Greensboro in and a brand new irrigation system and stuff like that, but I actually seen it from the ground up. Like, you can get more exciting than that. Are you, uh, pouring the car pass and concrete? No, we’re actually doing a natural cart path. There is no concrete asphalt, nothing, all pine straw. Very cool. Anybody else got anything they want? We got quite a few in here. Any superintendents got questions they want to ask. We got a heck of a group of people in here. Um, we should add up the years of knowledge right quick, but there’s got to be at least over a hundred, maybe 200 years of knowledge right here. Yes, sir. What’s up Joe? What’s going on? Hey, everybody, everybody. Um, so I don’t know if I, I dunno if I missed it or anything, but any anybody say anything about like work-life balance? Um, for me that’s a big one. When I go into looking at other jobs or something like that, uh, first thing I ask is, you know, you know, what’s the schedules, like normally it’s always the same, but I’ve found a couple of different ones where, you know, mechanic never works on a weekend or, uh, you know, you have to come in just in season. Sunday, um, maybe late Friday or something, uh, or Saturdays, whatever, um, stuff like that. Um, and that work balance for me is super important. I’ve luckily never had to work on a Saturday and I’ve always just put in my Sundays if I had to, um, Saturday is usually where me and my family go to church and stuff. So that’s a big one for me is work-life balance. And then knowing one of his other things that I first come out with is them knowing that I want to be involved in everything. If, if, I mean any kind of training, John Deere Toro. Whatever’s out there. I want to be there. Um, you know, I’m trying right now to fight for going to California. Uh, cause I wanna, I want to be there, whether it’s California or wherever it’s going to be. Um, I’ve tried to, uh, you know, I’ve talked to a couple of guys, uh, well I want to go to Canada. I want to see what’s up there. You know, w I want to be involved in all that stuff. And, uh, luckily, like I said before, talks away does that for me. Um, but I want to be involved as much as, as, as, as I can possibly be involved in. Um, so those two things for me is definitely like top priority for, for what I look for. Yeah. I think it’s a great point. And you know, when I was growing up and coming through the industry, there was no such thing as work-life balance. It was a work work balance. You were doing what you had to do to support your family and all that stuff. But I think it is definitely a positive move that we’re moving in that direction. And I think that’s a critical aspect of the job is having some work life balance, and no employer should expect you to put in the hours that we used to put in, in the nineties, Tim Krieger, what you got, buddy. Well, Hey, uh, proud of you guys for pulling this off, um, for what you’re doing to kind of bring this side of the industry together. It’s amazing. You guys always should be applauded at all times. Um, I’m just listening in and I see that Ms. Kelly’s on here from GCSA. And just wondering if you guys, as a group couldn’t put together and I hate to use the word SOP for lack of a better term, though, on how to write a. Uh, potential job posting and maybe that’s a service that’s provided through your EMR membership, right. Or to the clubs or the supers that are members of GCSA, that they would have access to something to get them started in the right direction and include all those things that you guys just mentioned such as making salary a requirement on a posting, some things like that. So, anyhow, it’s just thought, man, I’m proud of you guys Merry Christmas, everybody, and I’ll be quiet now. That’s awesome. Um, I think it was a great idea. So yeah, I think we should try to make that happen and I’m assure that GCSA would not turn it down. If we come up with a document like that and send it their way and I’m sure they would be able to help. I’m not going to speak for Kelly, but if she wants to speak, she can request anybody else wanna add on to. I mean, I can kind of, I just have a question for everybody that’s already been, uh, miked up or whatever. Um, when you guys go into these interviews, uh, how big or how important is the topic of, you know, the director, um, or the superintendent, just the agronomist in general, um, or whomever you’re going to interview with, or the person you want to go work with the most? I mean, how vital is it that you guys bring up? You know, well, what’s your plan? Where are you going? Because you guys have to, you might have to move out of state. You might have to move four hours, six hours, whatever 20 hours away from your family, by a car. Um, it’s a big move and you’re moving to work with somebody or another teammate or crew member. Um, and then two years later, they’re moving on to the next big, you know, course of the next big project. Is that something you guys really think of when you go into interviews? Yeah, definitely. No, I wouldn’t want to make that commitment. Um, one for my family, but also myself. And then, you know, you have that, you’re building that relationship with that person then for them to all kind of, all of a sudden, uh, back out of it is, is a bit frustrating. Right. Cause it’s, uh, you know, for sure the super and, and, you know, the mechanic, you know, there’s there it’s, uh, you know, again, with, with them, they can compare it to an assistant, to it’s a, it’s like a marriage almost, right? Like, um, you really got to get along and for, uh, for some, it’s hard to find meshing personalities as well. So to find someone you can, um, get on with and then for them to, uh, move on would, uh, would certainly be a blow, especially if, like you said, you’re, you’re maybe moving significant distance. You should be interviewing them just as much as they’re interviewing you, to be honest with ya agreement, you know, you know, I, I, it’s all fine and daring to sell yourself, but you need to make sure you’re a right fit for them as well, um, to make sure that they’re a right fit for you as well. So, you know, that’s a huge thing to make sure you, you, you know, you get where their heads are at, make sure that, that, uh, their process and their head’s in the right spot of what they want to, where the direction that you guys are heading. And that’s, they’re taking the club as the same direction that you want to be. Um, you know, you can offer all the money in the world and a nice, clean, beautiful shop, but if they’re not going to, you know, they’re not heading the same direction and not going to give you your freedoms and whatnot. So, you know, might as well. Yeah, great point. Um, before anybody else doesn’t think to, I mean, uh, speaking to that, like visions, right? I mean, what’s your guy, like all of you guys that have Mike’s on or whatever. I mean, what’s the main vision you’re looking for. What’s the main philosophical thing or whatever, like, is it cutting units? Is it, you know, like fairway mowers, what’s your most important priority as you go in there? I mean, obviously budget is a big support and you know, like freedom or, or maybe some guys do want that push that, not micromanaged, you know, style or, uh, of, uh, management, but, um, just like, you know, what’s your priority going in? Is it cutting units? Is it mowers? Is it, do you want to be all Toro? Do you want to be all to all deer? Things like that? I find it, uh, Uh, totally on the talk before that mic, it’s just as much like, as your interviewing, you’re being interviewed, you’re interviewing them, but I’m sure that most of us take the time to talk to sales guys, other superintendents, other Em’s and find out about the person you’re going to interview with you. Uh, definitely want to make sure that the relationship that’s going to work out for both of you and on the club. It’s, uh, like you said, it is almost like a marriage, so it’s worth the time to talk to people and ask around. That’s an excellent point. Wait, and I think everybody, I mean, does that, you know, they always want to find out what the superintendents like or what the course is. Like maybe, you know, what kind of budget they have and, and that kind of stuff, because like you’re saying it is like a marriage and you spend more time with those people than you do with your family sometimes. Yeah, I try not to, but yeah, some days I do. Yeah. That also to doing your research like that also is going to determine how, where you’re going to, like, if you do a 90% of the time in this industry, the way it is is if there’s a job opening, usually because the super and you know, there’s been a change and there’s a reason and the club is not heading the right direction where they want. So that’s one thing too, is if you need to know why, you know, why there’s a change being made and what direction they want to go. So it could be, you know, you know, one club could be quality cutting equipment. The other side could be the shop is in shambles and, um, pretty Morales bad. Uh, like I said, it’s, it’s, uh, you gotta do your research and talk to everybody around and, and make sure you’re not only know, not only to know what you’re getting into, but know what you can sell yourself on to get in there. It’s also a good reason to maintain good relations with your salespeople, because the people doing sales, they get to just about every shop out there. They’ve talked to everybody, they’ve seen it all. They’ve looked through the shops, they’ve talked to the superintendents, the assistants, the equipment managers. They have a really good ear for what’s going on around in the industry and who you want to work for and who you don’t. And so that’s a, it’s another reason to maintain a really good relationship with your salespeople. That’s right. Well, another thing when I interviewed with my boss, I told him, um, sometimes brutally honest and maybe too honest, I don’t know. It’s hard for me to lie about stuff. That was one of the things when I started I’m like, look, just tell me if I’m going to be stuck at, you know, what you’re starting me at for five years, you know, let me know now, at least I’d go into it. If I accept the job, I know what I’m calling in. You know, if it’s going to be, I’m going to get a raise every year. Of course, you always have the chance that, you know, economy and stuff like with COVID and whatever, you know, you never know what happens, you know, and that’s expected, but just be honest, you know, tell me, tell me, like, it is Tony, you know, Hey, you know, you’re working too much. You’re not working enough. You know, whatever. That’s not just one of the things that I look for. That’s good advice in anything in life. Just be honest, it’s, uh, it sure saves you a lot of hassle and makes the relationships a lot easier. Yeah. Another thing that I’m really big on, and I’m sure a lot of y’all are too, but if I’ve done something wrong or you don’t like something I’m doing, just come talk to me, we will work it out. I promise. But don’t go to somebody else and tell him that you don’t like how I’m doing something. Come tell me, we’ll work it out. Agreed. No. The most of the time for us, I mean, I’m sure all of you are pretty much the same way as Ron met over there. I mean, we were kind of left alone in the shop to do is what needs to be done. And, you know, so it’s not really too much about that stuff, but yeah, like I said, you know, Steve Hamilton over the news, he’s, he’s one of the most forward honest guys you’ll ever meet. So I don’t really ever have to worry about that. But I know when I interviewed with them, that was one of the things my two previous jobs were not that way. And it was like, I don’t want to have to deal with that. Just tell me, like, that’s all I want to hear when to follow up on why I said that I’ve had superintendents, DME, I’ve had superintendents call me and text me and asked them if their mechanic was doing things the right way. And I’m not getting into that. That’s not what I’m here for. And. Because I don’t know his situation. I don’t know, you know, his budget. I don’t know what he’s doing. So there’s, you know, there’s no way I had a guy asked me, he says, how long does it take to ground a Jake triplex? You know? So I threw out the, the BS, you know, a lot of variables there. Did you replace any bay? Erin’s, you know, was all the rollers good? You know, throwing all this stuff out because I don’t know how long it took his mechanic to ground the triplex. And everybody’s like applying a fungicide it’s uh, how often do you apply to fungicide? It all depends. I’ve had that. I’ve had that happen too. When I was in Pennsylvania, the superintendent came over and he was asking me about how his mechanic was doing this and that I’m like, look, everywhere is different. You know? I mean, I’m the mechanic down the street from me. Even, he never grind his bed. He just backslash backlash. I’m like, yes, And I told him, I said, well, I said, Hey man. I said, if your superintendent’s happy with what you’re putting out, that’s all that matters. It doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks. You know, I would personally would never do it, but that’s how you do it. And he’s happy with him. So it’s okay. I mean, if you ask someone what’s the right way to do something, like we all have our ways of doing it. It doesn’t ways to skin a cat. Yeah. Especially in like, you know, when you’re doing reels, like yeah. Yeah. You’re sharpening your, you know, but there’s, it’s how far down that rabbit hole you go in. I mean, like if, if you’re just throwing a bed knife on and throw nothing out there, backlash on it. Yeah. It shouldn’t take him that long, but if you’re actually grinding and you’re playing angles and you’re going for down and set up your real. I only have two golf courses. What I do is completely different from the guy of north does and like even came to me cause like I was off earlier this year for surgery and uh, he came down to adjust my reels and my super told him, he’s like, listen, he’s running like very low contact. So like, he’s like, don’t try to tighten them down too much. So he usually, he was amazed at like, you know, I’m still cutting paper with like no contact. He’s like, you need to show me what you’re doing. I’m like, I can show you how to do it. It’s just, the thing is you have to understand is you have to keep on top of this. You have to check them every day. Because if you don’t, you’re going to be so far behind. You’re gonna have to re grind. It’s like you can’t, you can’t overcompensate tightening the pipe, tying them down because they’re not cutting now. Like there’s a fine line, but like, I go honestly set my reels up different than he does. It may take any longer than it takes him. It’s just how it is. Well it’s sure. And if the superintendents coming to another mechanic at a different course and asking him about what his mechanics doing, there was a deeper problem than his mechanic. It’s the relationship. The relationship between them is broken. And I mean, you shouldn’t have never go behind your mechanics back. And he like, like Trent said, if you got a question, come to me and say, Hey, why is it, you know, why is it taking so long to grind real well, let’s go and I’ll show you right here. This is what I got to do. You know, this is my process. Yeah. And I mean, that, that was my point to any superintendents or assistance out there. Listening. If you got an issue with your EAM mechanic, technician, whatever, you’re calling him, just go talk to him and you can probably work it out. And if he can’t, you know, some times you can’t work out stuff and maybe it’s time to move. Definitely. And back to Mike’s question about if you want Toro John Deere, Jake. I, to me, it doesn’t matter what the course has. I just go with what I got. I’ve had to do that, like so far in my place we’ve had, I’ve had a John Deere have a Jake and I have a Toro. I just, uh, I don’t favor one. The other right now, Toros better support my area. So that’s who we go with. But do you look at like the age of the equipment? Like, I mean, obviously a newer or a lease of equipment is going to be better in my opinion than going in a place that has 15 year old. Yeah. I mean, if, if, if I’m looking like ideal situation is they have either one, whether it be four year leases or. Buying every four years, five years and turning stuff over. Like I said, within the, like, that would be ideal for me. Uh, it doesn’t matter, like manufacturer wise who it is. Right. Um, because like, I mean, I know, like I said, I got like 20 year old fairway units and let me tell you, they are, it doesn’t matter what you do. Something’s going to break. They’re tough. They’re 20 years old. Yeah. I also, I don’t feel it’s necessarily the age of equipment either. Like if you’re on a good program, it shouldn’t matter whether that pieces is 20 years old or five years old. Like, look, look at some of the stuff that, uh, Chad Braun posts, like he’s got all the amazing equipment and it’s just cause he’s on a program. Right. So. Again, though, if that, if that new job still has older equipment, but it’s been well taken care of that goes a long way to bringing up that question was like, yeah. Um, you know, when you go into the interview and you’re talking to the agronomist and like, how much do you bring that up? Cause I’ve been to places where they go in the equipment manager goes in, in the interview and like, I’d like to change this, that and the other. And I’d like to buy this new green stuff, this new red stuff there. Um, and the agronomist works really well with them on that, uh, regardless of age, right? I’ve seen brand new stuff, swapped out immediately. Um, and the team, they’re a team, they make that decision together. Um, and then I’ve seen other places where they’ll go in and they’ll ask, you know, like, Hey, am I going to be allowed to change this, that or the other? Um, and the agronomist or the director or the superintendent, whatever their title is, is like, no part, no we’re running this. This is what you have to work. Um, and the, the most efficient, uh, productive or successful places I’ve been in my personal experience, you know, when I go out and do tournaments and things like that, um, the teams that are a team, right, where if you could see my hands, I’m enclosing my fingers together on both hands. You know, that’s the team, that’s the superintendent and the equipment manager together. Um, those places run really, really well. And it’s actually a ton of fun to work with work-life balance is really, really strong. Um, and so that’s why I was asking that was the question, I guess I should have worded it better. It was like, you know, how much do you bring that up? You know, how open is the director or the superintendent about that? Uh, because those are obviously big factors. Yeah. I think it should definitely be a team decision or a partnership between the director or superintendent and the M uh, I definitely want my input on equipment. Right at my operation. And if a superintendent is not willing to listen to his technician for input on a piece of equipment, I mean, I know what I’ve gone in for. We lose you, John. Yeah. I lost him too. Okay. I wasn’t going to say anything. Good. Last time I asked, I said it was me. Sorry, I’ll be quiet while I’ll continue what I’ve said to Mike and trying to answer his question. If, if the am and I’m still here, superintendent can’t get on the same page with the purchases. Right. And I’ve seen him, right? Like I’ve been to places where it’s a hard, no, like this is we’re running red or we’re running orange and that’s it. You got to deal with it. And, and sometimes that conversation might not even come up in the interview. So that’s why I wanted to bring that up. I’ve just, I’ve heard so many different scenarios. Uh, I just, like I said, personal experience, the best ones have been where that comes up. And that’s an open conversation between the entire team and everybody’s on the same page. Um, and then they just become incredibly efficient and productive as a, as a crew. Might he be surprised on how many guys that I talked to? Um, And equipment managers alike that, um, where the stupor, um, they make a decision and in the either aid equipment or is not, or doesn’t want a part of it or doesn’t, you know, isn’t pushing towards it or just doesn’t own up to it. And doesn’t want that responsibility of, you know, putting their input and doing the research and Hey, if it goes wrong and then it’s on them. Um, that to me is shocking because, you know, that’s, that’s not how we roll. Um, for the most part, you know, I handle most of that and give my professional opinion on all three manufacturers. You know, I usually do three different quotes on. So, um, yeah, you’d be surprised at how many, how many EMS out there that they just don’t want to do that, you know, it’s, it’s shocking, but yeah. Especially if you’re in the north, scarce, there’s a lot of guys that are just in, you know, during their petty. Sorry, steady. Hold on. Um, anyways. Yeah, I just got to hop high out the oven. So anyways, um, to be aware, you know what I said, um, this, the guys that don’t want them don’t even want to have any that responsibility. So that might be, you know, that’s why the supers don’t, they just keep it away from them. Then in the past, their mechanic doesn’t want anything to do with. Yeah, I’m, I’m sure like, I, my wife always yells at me for generalizing and she’s justified in doing that. So like not all places are like that. I’m sure there are places where, you know, the equipment manager. Yeah. Just doesn’t want to know he’s he’s good enough in the shop where no matter what color they get, he’s going to be able to maintain it and, uh, cutting units, you know, whatever it drive systems, whatever. He’s totally fine. And he’s happy with that. Cause he wants to punch out at 2 33 o’clock and you know, he’s done, he doesn’t want to take the work home with him kind of thing. And they can run perfectly fine. Right. That’s a well-oiled machine. So I hope that didn’t come off that way. I didn’t mean it that way, but I just mean as far as, you know, guys going, getting surprised like, oh, he didn’t give me any input. It’s like, well, you know, did you guys have that conversation up front? I’m a big proponent of communication in any walk of life, whether it’s professional or personal. So, um, that’s why I brought it up was as far as equipment managers, you know, communicating with the person, doing the hiring or whatever that title is, I think is just, is only beneficial for everybody involved. I agree. I mean, I think you, you know, w whether you have any kind of input or not, I mean, you, you need to at least know what you’re getting, and yeah. Sometimes it boils down to price and you’re going to go one color or another, just because of the price. But I don’t know. I feel like we should be putting our input in there and, you know, telling our supervisor something, go ahead. Even, even when, uh, like we were looking at greens mowers, like I said, we’re kind of, we’re kind of all in the red because that’s, who’s in the area, but like I wanted the, the demo, the all like the hybrid true hybrid. So. And Toro finally came out with one I’m like, I need to see this thing. I want it, we were running Jake eclipses hybrids for years, and I wanted to see what Toro had. And uh, like even like my superintendent, you know, he’s like, he was like, well, should we go with this? Or should we go with the, uh, like, cause we have, what are those 33 twenties throw them away. They call them a hybrid, but they’re not really a hybrid because you sell the hydraulics in them to where my 33 sixties or true hybrid. It’s all electric with a, you know, a gas engine run, a generator soar like our eclipses were because only thing that the engine did was run a generator. And uh, cause obviously if we would’ve went with the hydraulic hybrids, that it would have been way cheaper, but just. Like, obviously the cut was the same, really other than the fact that they will slow them down. They do a lot of other stuff, but I’m like, I think we should go with the true hybrid, your maintenance costs going to be way less than having to deal with hydraulics. And we’ve dealt with all electrics before. So it’s not like that big of a change for us in a way, because we already had like the Jacobson’s, but like, he took my input. Like we, like I said, in my situation, we are very open on the equipment. If I, if he is thinking about getting something and I know like it’s going to be a problem from either like, you know, the groups or we’re now just talking to other people, or even like our sales guy telling me y’all off the, off the record, like, Hey, you don’t want to get that. We have had a lot of problems with it. Like, I’m going to give that information to him, just like, you know, to have him rethink it. I’m not going to push him either way cause I could fix it. But. You asked me, I got a good balance on your input to them, their input to you, like what their feelings on what they want to get and use how them, Hey, well, this is a bad idea, or this is a good idea. Or it’s, you know, wash either way. Well, well, yeah, to also, if you’re a superintendent or a director of a ground, he’s spending time on equipment needs and he’s not spending time out on the course, you know, the weight of his expertise. That’s so you’re gonna give and take you shouldn’t be in the shop, you know, going over equipment quotes and all that. I know that was one big thing that I really, really liked about the last course I was at. Um, my last equipment package deal was I, you know, I talked to the, uh, controller. He told us just to what we are approved by the finance committee. I went through, talked to all my salesman, got everything, took the, took the quote, you got the quote. It was a little high because the things out when we had to cut and took it to the superintendent, Hey, the star next equipment package. And he said, oh, okay. That’s it. Awesome. And just wait, let him focus on package deals and all that. Oh, shoot. Hello? Yeah, my earpiece fellow, I got, I got two boys without pants on run around the house. um, all right guys. Thank you. And gals and the chat, um, for being in here, I’m going to wrap it up cause it’s, uh, we’ve been going an hour and eight minutes and it’s almost time to get ready for yellow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that’s fine. But thank you all for coming on. If y’all are cuddled with this, we’re going to keep doing it every Sunday and we’ll come up with a different topic. If, uh, nobody has a topic they want to talk about, we’ll talk about fishing. Um, and that works for me. And so there you go. If I’m down, bro, let’s go on Devo seven, man. I know it’s going to kill us cause we’re delaying this, but yeah, I think I’m going to bring the inserts in four out of the San Diego and bring it to the food to a golden Knights tournament. So I recorded this. I’m going to figure out what day I’m going to release it, but I’ll put it out on the podcast. RSS. And I’m not really, I’m not doing any editing. Sorry guys, but, uh, we’ll get it out there one day this week. Sounds good. Thanks. Thanks everybody. Thanks for having us.