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April 14, 2024

340: The Employee Oasis: Rethinking Employee Spaces w/ Billy Panagiotopoulos - Country Club Of Darien

Denny Corby chats with Billy Panagiotopoulos, General Manager of the Country Club of Darien, about transforming their employee lounge into a space that creates a community where every staff member feels valued. 
They discuss the lounge’s role in boosting team morale and member experiences through music, branding, and healthy eating options. The episode shares insights on enhancing workplace culture, balancing professional dedication with family life, and integrating club values into daily operations. It also highlights the strategic HR investments and empathetic understanding that have fueled a cultural renaissance within the club, alongside a personal story that redefines family and professional recognition.












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Chapters

00:00 - Employee Lounge Upgrade for Club Staff

14:40 - Creating Club Values and Employee Engagement

28:59 - Industry Recognition and Family Blessings

Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:11.714
all of our hourly employees were eating off of this like afterthought of small little buffet and our leaders were ordering off of the restaurant menus.

00:00:11.714 --> 00:00:24.551
So you have this person eating the eggs with the bacon wrapped scallops from like two days ago and you have this, the manager, walking in with a quinoa salad with a beautiful piece of salmon on top.

00:00:24.551 --> 00:00:29.609
It's like two classes of citizens, right, which I thought was totally wrong.

00:00:29.609 --> 00:00:32.984
So what I did was my second board meeting.

00:00:32.984 --> 00:00:34.932
I asked the president.

00:00:34.932 --> 00:00:38.862
I said I would like to have the board meeting in the employee lounge.

00:00:39.064 --> 00:00:46.222
Hey everyone, welcome back to this episode of Private Club Radio, your industry source for conversations, news, trends and updates.

00:00:46.222 --> 00:00:47.990
I'm your host, denny Corby.

00:00:47.990 --> 00:00:49.634
As always, welcome back.

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Thank you all so much for being here.

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It means the absolute world.

00:00:53.566 --> 00:00:56.981
This episode I have a chat with a new fun friend of mine.

00:00:56.981 --> 00:01:10.088
We've been LinkedIn buddies for a bit and connected more when we were at CMAA World Conference, billy Panagiotopoulos, general manager of the Country Club of Darien, over in Darien, connecticut.

00:01:10.088 --> 00:01:20.006
He was definitely one of the best dressed, some of the best suiting at World Conference and I'm not just saying that because he also wears suit supply suits, just like I do.

00:01:20.006 --> 00:01:22.581
Worst name in the world but love their suits and their tailoring.

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And I knew he was a suit supply guy.

00:01:24.465 --> 00:01:43.811
I saw it a mile away and I brought him on because I saw what he posted on social media and I thought it'd be a cool episode, cool content, because he was a very big advocate for a brand new employee lounge hangout, eat and workspace at his club.

00:01:43.811 --> 00:02:02.159
He's only been there a year and was a project that he saw and wanted to do almost immediately and was given the support and the ability to do it by his board and his club and I thought that was really great, really important.

00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:06.102
It's not just like they redid it, thought that was really great, really important.

00:02:06.102 --> 00:02:10.941
It's not just like they redid it, like it's not and because when I saw it, it's not like they just put in, you know, maybe some new floors and some new tables.

00:02:10.941 --> 00:02:18.742
He and the team, they went out of their way there is branding to it, there's, there's a, there's a music area where they put in a?

00:02:18.742 --> 00:02:29.467
Um, a keyboard and a guitar so people can, on their breaks, get a little creative and do what they love and what brings people together more than than music.

00:02:29.467 --> 00:02:31.772
It's great, uh, a great food area.

00:02:31.772 --> 00:02:37.229
It's very well cleaned, um, new paints, there's, encouragement, there's it's.

00:02:37.229 --> 00:02:53.610
It's amazing to see and hear and I love learning and hearing from the leaders and the people who know and want to take this serious and then also have a club that allows them to do things like this.

00:02:54.441 --> 00:03:04.759
In the conversation, what came up a lot is the importance of and how he helped develop core values in a very positive work culture.

00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:24.965
He helped develop core values and a very positive work culture and he also talks about some of the employee benefits and programs that he has implemented at his club in a very short time and also the recognition and awards given to outstanding employees, which is something that he also brought in as well.

00:03:24.965 --> 00:03:25.365
And this is more.

00:03:25.365 --> 00:03:44.430
It was more just about you know what it's like building and making a nice new employee area and what that means on morale and how that also affects the members as well, because now the staff feels a little bit more cared for and appreciated and that is definitely going to get past.

00:03:44.430 --> 00:03:57.288
You know that that emotion, in that caring that the staff gives the employees, is definitely going to translate to how the staff treats the members and hones that experience there.

00:03:57.288 --> 00:04:02.504
So before we get to the episode, a quick little word for some of our show partners.

00:04:02.645 --> 00:04:06.674
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00:04:55.134 --> 00:05:00.649
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00:05:00.649 --> 00:05:01.812
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00:05:01.812 --> 00:05:03.625
You're going to have a chat with Paul Dank.

00:05:03.625 --> 00:05:04.788
It's going to be good.

00:05:04.788 --> 00:05:10.461
He's a great guy.

00:05:10.461 --> 00:05:12.745
Also, be sure to check out our episodes of member vetting here on Private Club Radio.

00:05:12.766 --> 00:05:14.889
Concert Golf Partners is changing the game, one club at a time.

00:05:14.889 --> 00:05:22.721
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00:05:22.721 --> 00:05:24.225
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00:05:42.141 --> 00:05:52.127
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00:05:52.127 --> 00:05:57.567
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00:05:57.567 --> 00:06:12.309
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00:06:12.309 --> 00:06:13.771
Simple as that.

00:06:13.771 --> 00:06:20.103
Also, be sure to check out our episodes of Board Chats here on Private Club Radio, brought to you by our friends.

00:06:20.103 --> 00:06:22.230
You guessed it Concert Golf Partners.

00:06:22.230 --> 00:06:31.505
And now let's welcome some of the best suiting one of the best names in the club world Billy Patagiotopoulos.

00:06:31.505 --> 00:06:35.846
Do me a favor how do you pronounce your last name?

00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:42.488
Oh my gosh, it's painful right, so it's Patagiotopoulos.

00:06:44.261 --> 00:06:46.850
Okay, it looks more intimidating.

00:06:49.966 --> 00:06:52.072
OK, yeah, it definitely looks worse than it is for sure.

00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:59.966
You know how that must have been difficult growing up, oh my God, you know when I mean growing up.

00:07:00.007 --> 00:07:06.392
I don't know if the kids do it now, but essentially you have the little scantron where you had to fill in the letter and shade it.

00:07:06.473 --> 00:07:08.439
Oh my goodness, they never had enough.

00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:10.543
They never had enough bubbles for me, you know.

00:07:14.071 --> 00:07:16.033
Now wait, Never mind.

00:07:16.033 --> 00:07:18.803
I was like I'm not going to put your email, but is your email like?

00:07:18.803 --> 00:07:23.389
Can you imagine, Is your email like your first initial and your last name?

00:07:23.389 --> 00:07:24.250
It's unbelievable.

00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:26.463
I don't know why they would set it up.

00:07:26.463 --> 00:07:28.730
My last club, actually we had um.

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We had, like they shortened my name, it was b panagio.

00:07:31.939 --> 00:07:34.886
You know at, yeah, you know, sleepy hollow.

00:07:34.886 --> 00:07:36.550
You know that, yeah, but um.

00:07:36.550 --> 00:07:44.646
But they decided to use my uh, yeah, my full last name, which is, which means I have the most expensive business card in the industry.

00:07:44.646 --> 00:07:48.911
You got the most letters back.

00:07:49.271 --> 00:07:50.793
You're, you're, uh, married.

00:07:50.793 --> 00:07:52.855
Right, what's that are?

00:07:52.855 --> 00:07:54.677
Are you married?

00:07:54.677 --> 00:07:56.043
Yes, I'm married.

00:07:56.043 --> 00:07:59.250
Yeah, yeah, didn't they for like, like, like wedding stuff?

00:07:59.250 --> 00:08:04.733
They would, they would charge you per like letter exactly mr and mrs they saw you came in.

00:08:04.733 --> 00:08:08.363
They're like jackpot exactly exactly.

00:08:08.403 --> 00:08:16.608
Thankfully, you know, thankfully I'm in the industry, so I asked for favors, you know excuse me, can you get your per letter down?

00:08:17.168 --> 00:08:22.887
uh but no, I'm happy to be chatting with you, one of the best dressed club professionals in the industry.

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I must say I appreciate that.

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Always looking dapper, but I want to bring you on quick.

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I want to chat because I just saw what you and the club did for your staff and I absolutely love it.

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And now you, you did you build this employee area?

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Was it already there?

00:08:45.173 --> 00:08:46.605
Did you just upgrade it?

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What was the story behind it?

00:08:49.047 --> 00:08:50.270
Yeah, so I'll tell you.

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I mean, when I first started I started a little bit over a year ago.

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I started on Martin Luther King Day and it was a Monday I came in and I like my beverages either very, very cold or very hot.

00:09:03.513 --> 00:09:16.953
So my coffee's got to be like it's to the point where I'm not going to sue Starbucks, you know and I come in and I'm like okay, I want to got a heat of my coffee.

00:09:17.340 --> 00:09:19.288
And there was a gentleman here, one of the maintenance guys.

00:09:19.288 --> 00:09:26.423
He was putting my name on the door, which was pretty cool, and he said well, why don't you go up to the employee lounge?

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There's a microwave in there.

00:09:28.106 --> 00:09:40.159
So I go up, make my way up there, and I see a couple of people eating in there and the buffet was and this was in the morning, you know.

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They had some eggs and they had bacon wrapped scallops.

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This is this is at.

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You know, 10 am and I'm looking at, I'm like this is very odd buffet and I noticed that it didn't look great Right.

00:09:53.870 --> 00:10:05.245
Then I open up the microwave to put my coffee in there and if you've seen the movie Gremlins, when the gremlin blows up, that's what it looked like in there and I'm like, wow, this is terrible.

00:10:05.245 --> 00:10:10.270
And so you know, I see these guys kind of eating.

00:10:10.270 --> 00:10:26.493
And later in the day and later in the week, I noticed all of our hourly employees were eating off of this like afterthought of small little buffet and our leaders were ordering off of the restaurant menus.

00:10:26.493 --> 00:10:39.368
So you have this person eating the eggs with the bacon wrapped scallops from like two days ago and you have this, the manager, walking in with a quinoa salad with a beautiful piece of salmon on top.

00:10:39.368 --> 00:10:44.403
It's like two classes of citizens, right, which I thought was totally wrong.

00:10:45.046 --> 00:10:47.769
So what I did was my second board meeting.

00:10:47.769 --> 00:10:49.734
I asked the president.

00:10:49.734 --> 00:10:53.740
I said I would like to have the board meeting in the employee lounge.

00:10:53.740 --> 00:10:59.346
So he said to me he's like we must be busy then.

00:10:59.346 --> 00:11:01.888
Right, I mean, we must be busy.

00:11:01.888 --> 00:11:02.365
I told him.

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I said well, no, we're not busy.

00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:10.354
I think that it's important that for the board to see where the employees relax and eat, you know when they take their break.

00:11:10.354 --> 00:11:15.331
So he says to me, he says OK, that's, that's fine, billy, we'll do that.

00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:19.886
Next day pops up in my office and he says, hey, do you mind taking me up there?

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I've never been there before.

00:11:20.889 --> 00:11:37.341
So I said absolutely take him up there, looks around, and he says you prove your point, took the executive committee there the next day and then after that, you know, we looked at like capital budget.

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There was some reallocation of some funds to get it done.

00:11:40.659 --> 00:11:43.916
And then I designed it Essentially.

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I knocked down some walls, I, you know, just kind of set the whole thing up.

00:11:47.778 --> 00:11:53.721
And then I worked with a um, with a company that that actually built the kitchen area as well.

00:11:54.984 --> 00:11:55.530
Yeah, it's.

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I mean you did a fantastic job from the, from the signage to the uh to, to, to the actual details of putting, like the, the, the values and everything of the club and the club and what's expected of the staff and everybody.

00:12:09.763 --> 00:12:11.205
That's all up on the walls.

00:12:11.205 --> 00:12:14.576
So you didn't just do part of it, you took it and ran.

00:12:16.221 --> 00:12:30.475
Yeah, I mean, that whole setup was created from scratch, right, so what we said is we need to develop a vision and a mission and our core values, who we are, um, as a brand.

00:12:30.475 --> 00:12:32.941
We didn't have that here.

00:12:32.941 --> 00:12:42.313
Um, so, really from yeah, we didn't have any of that here, so this is all new, oh so, so, so this is way more than just, uh, just an employee area.

00:12:42.354 --> 00:12:46.322
This was, this was a slightly bigger thing going on, wow.

00:12:46.970 --> 00:13:04.523
Yeah, so this was, this was big and and you know, I think that you know, in clubs, you know there's some clubs that really do it well, and then there's some other clubs that really it's an afterthought, right, but I come from I come from luxury hotels, which I'm fortunate to have been a part of some really amazing cultures.

00:13:05.206 --> 00:13:22.124
I've also been a part of toxic cultures as well, so I've learned what to do and what not to do, and I've been a part of three employee space renovations in my career, but this one was the most important because I was the GM.

00:13:22.124 --> 00:13:34.260
My voice was the one that was able to push this narrative that we have to make sure that not only keep the employees we have, but we want to find new ones.

00:13:34.260 --> 00:13:39.738
Right, but in sales they teach you keep the customers you have before you find new ones.

00:13:39.738 --> 00:13:51.024
And you really got to look at it at your employee base that way as well, because people have options these days, right, and hospitality, like the labor market is, it's tough to deal with.

00:13:51.024 --> 00:13:57.511
Right, you're competing with everyone, right, so it's definitely difficult, so it's important to create that culture.

00:13:58.274 --> 00:14:08.211
Well, and I think people know people who aren't in the hospitality industry know to look at the hospitality industry for to for like their own.

00:14:08.211 --> 00:14:13.042
You know greedy, you know company reasons, so it's not just about having good people there.

00:14:13.042 --> 00:14:22.638
But so you know you, they don't get poached by, you know, like your, your, your members or somebody else or you know, whoever you're right, you're right, you're.

00:14:22.677 --> 00:14:23.659
You're in competition.

00:14:23.659 --> 00:14:28.551
You're in competition with everyone, especially people want hospitality facing people Right.

00:14:28.551 --> 00:14:33.009
I mean people that love what they do and and create great experiences.

00:14:33.009 --> 00:14:39.884
And there's no different in in the local deli Right, or or hotel Right, hospitality is everywhere.

00:14:40.649 --> 00:14:42.413
Yeah, and you guys have you put a little little music area there and you guys have.

00:14:42.413 --> 00:14:44.316
Do you put a little little music area there?

00:14:44.316 --> 00:14:45.778
What's that?

00:14:45.778 --> 00:14:50.184
Did you put like a little, like a little music area or like some musical instruments?

00:14:50.184 --> 00:14:52.809
Yes, yeah, we put like an eat and play area.

00:14:52.970 --> 00:15:05.575
So we put a a keyboard, we put a guitar and you know just a little kind of fun area there that people can go up there play a little music if they'd like Tickle the ivories.

00:15:06.410 --> 00:15:08.931
Yeah, well, you know we're doing.

00:15:08.931 --> 00:15:19.011
We're doing things like we do this other thing called swap and drop, where if there's something that you have that you know some people like hold onto things constantly, they're not really using it.

00:15:19.011 --> 00:15:21.378
They may get a gift that they they don't use.

00:15:21.378 --> 00:15:28.721
You bring it in, you put it in this swap and drop area and then someone else picks it up and takes it and kind of goes from there.

00:15:29.971 --> 00:15:31.197
We use this lounge.

00:15:31.197 --> 00:15:50.177
This lounge is going to be the hub and the energy of where the employees eat too right, and where they just get to know one another, because you're dealing with seasonal employees as well, so it's their breaking bread together and that's huge, I think, for the camaraderie when you get out on the floor.

00:15:50.177 --> 00:15:56.951
We're going to be doing lunch and learns in there, so we're rolling out some employee benefits like medical benefits and things that we're doing.

00:15:56.951 --> 00:16:07.202
So we have representatives from the companies come in yesterday in the cafeteria and kind of walk them through what the benefit packages are and what the renewals are.

00:16:07.202 --> 00:16:11.440
So there's a lot of things that you can do out of that lounge.

00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:14.778
It's not just going there and having a meal.

00:16:16.892 --> 00:16:18.235
How about?

00:16:18.235 --> 00:16:19.821
How much did the whole project cost?

00:16:21.552 --> 00:16:24.240
It cost close to close to six figures.

00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:28.801
I mean, the kitchen equipment alone was half that.

00:16:28.801 --> 00:16:36.476
We have hot and cold stations, we have coffee stations, fridges, so you have snacks there all day.

00:16:36.476 --> 00:16:39.116
Summertime there'll be ice cream, you know.

00:16:39.116 --> 00:16:40.754
So it's almost.

00:16:40.754 --> 00:16:42.320
You know it's one of those places.

00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:52.909
We also have residents here that live on property, so we have employees that live here, so they have a place to go and get a meal throughout the entire day Gotcha.

00:16:53.692 --> 00:16:54.697
How many employees do you have?

00:16:54.697 --> 00:16:54.957
Total?

00:16:56.009 --> 00:16:59.177
So we get in season, we'll get about 230.

00:17:00.580 --> 00:17:03.937
Oh snap, yeah, and then how many do you have now?

00:17:03.937 --> 00:17:05.736
Now we have about 100.

00:17:06.730 --> 00:17:07.473
That's still a healthy number.

00:17:07.473 --> 00:17:08.397
Yeah, and then, how many do you do you have now?

00:17:08.397 --> 00:17:09.000
Now, we have about a hundred.

00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:09.722
That's still still a healthy number.

00:17:09.722 --> 00:17:14.093
Yeah, we, a lot of our members live in the area, so our club never closes.

00:17:14.093 --> 00:17:16.917
So we are, we're always open.

00:17:16.917 --> 00:17:24.336
You know, mondays is is one of the days that we do close, but we don't close for a long period of time.

00:17:24.336 --> 00:17:29.904
A lot of clubs do close for routine maintenance just to give the staff a break.

00:17:29.904 --> 00:17:36.099
We're one of those clubs where our members live in the area, so we're constantly keeping our F&B outlets open, our gym open.

00:17:36.099 --> 00:17:42.130
Paddle right now is very popular, so we have a separate paddle area.

00:17:42.130 --> 00:17:44.919
So there's a lot of member activities still all year round here.

00:17:47.790 --> 00:17:48.633
What was it like?

00:17:48.633 --> 00:17:53.522
So you've been at the club a year, yeah, a little over a year.

00:17:53.522 --> 00:18:02.666
What's it like going into a new club and helping develop its core values?

00:18:02.666 --> 00:18:04.311
What was that process like?

00:18:04.311 --> 00:18:08.576
Because that's got to be a slight bit challenging because you probably have employees who've been there for years.

00:18:08.576 --> 00:18:16.471
You know how do you come in as this newcomer and, you know, change all this stuff up and then how do you create these core values?

00:18:17.492 --> 00:18:21.722
Well, you know, the challenge is when you come in to a place new, no one knows you.

00:18:21.722 --> 00:18:22.758
You're not proven.

00:18:22.758 --> 00:18:24.013
They don't trust you.

00:18:24.013 --> 00:18:25.905
They're not sure what you're going to do.

00:18:25.905 --> 00:18:26.267
Knows you right?

00:18:26.267 --> 00:18:28.113
You're not proven, they don't trust you, they're not sure what you're going to do.

00:18:28.133 --> 00:18:38.279
I had a position that when I first got here there was an open position for communications role, and when I got here I kind of looked at the HR concept.

00:18:38.279 --> 00:19:00.836
We didn't have human resources and I felt that, hey, I'm going to be able to live without a communications person for a year, but I'm going to add a director of human resources because it's important Not only for you know knowing the rules, not only for accountability and being able to build those types of things, but also helping me push culture change.

00:19:00.836 --> 00:19:03.880
Now what happens is it goes both ways, though.

00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:16.633
Right, because in one sense, you are setting up these metrics of accountability You're putting in, we're doing annual reviews.

00:19:16.633 --> 00:19:21.922
There's a little bit more of the structure to the organization where people fear that.

00:19:21.922 --> 00:19:22.683
Now you're new.

00:19:22.683 --> 00:19:24.953
My first hire is hr.

00:19:24.953 --> 00:19:31.137
If you don't understand what hr is your initial thought at least long tenure employees.

00:19:31.137 --> 00:19:34.769
Oh, this guy's gonna clean house, he's gonna fire everybody.

00:19:34.769 --> 00:19:36.693
That's why he's bringing the hr directorate.

00:19:36.693 --> 00:19:45.372
So it kind of the narrative was was was switched up because I really thought you know what is human resources are pretty simple, right, you break down the word.

00:19:45.372 --> 00:19:47.314
Human is all about human capital.

00:19:47.314 --> 00:19:48.780
It's all about the people, right?

00:19:48.780 --> 00:19:57.344
Resources is having a resource and a neutral area that you can go to and, you know, just talk about whatever issues you may have.

00:19:57.344 --> 00:19:59.032
Right, that we can remedy.

00:19:59.554 --> 00:20:02.961
But I think the challenge was initially was okay.

00:20:02.961 --> 00:20:15.253
Well, they took it the opposite way where it was going to be a negative impact on them and that's because they didn't understand what human resources really means in an organization.

00:20:15.253 --> 00:20:25.123
The only thing that fixes that is time where they start to see the programs that are coming, the benefits for employees and developing the core values.

00:20:25.123 --> 00:20:40.240
For me and the vision and the mission of the club is talking to the executive leaders and getting a feel of what this club has been, and then that's also composed with hey, what's our mission and what's our vision?

00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:41.190
Where do we want to go?

00:20:42.590 --> 00:20:46.273
First thing, if I ask you right now, denny, jump in the car.

00:20:46.273 --> 00:20:48.236
First thing you're going to ask me is where we're going.

00:20:48.236 --> 00:20:52.338
Right, I have to be transparent and let you know where you go, where we're going.

00:20:52.338 --> 00:20:55.442
So you have the opportunity to either come with me or jump out.

00:20:55.442 --> 00:21:08.172
And I think that organizations have to develop a standard and say, hey, this is the standard, here's the benchmark.

00:21:08.172 --> 00:21:08.753
It's going to be up here.

00:21:08.753 --> 00:21:12.990
I will put you on my back and carry you up to that benchmark, but I will not take a step down for anyone.

00:21:12.990 --> 00:21:20.815
And I think the core values, while they're personalized to this organization, they can bode well in any organization.

00:21:22.578 --> 00:21:29.502
Engaging new members is a breeze with the award-winning new member onboarding program by our friends over at Members First.

00:21:29.502 --> 00:21:39.585
Now this is a unique welcome center and customized microsite aligned with carefully curated emails that make your new members feel appreciated and engaged.

00:21:39.585 --> 00:21:50.439
This program delivers a consistent process of familiarizing your new members with their club's amenities and programs to ensure that they're engaged by your club early and often.

00:21:50.439 --> 00:21:52.810
And this whole thing is custom and done in-house.

00:21:52.810 --> 00:21:55.739
There isn't any templates, there aren't any stock procedures.

00:21:55.739 --> 00:21:59.034
This is to ensure the right voice and tone for your club.

00:21:59.034 --> 00:21:59.875
The members first.

00:21:59.875 --> 00:22:05.538
New member onboarding program is the real deal and not a big time commitment for you or your club.

00:22:05.538 --> 00:22:13.015
How, what was your process of finding the core values?

00:22:13.015 --> 00:22:15.746
I'm sure there was probably a bunch of interviewing the staff and the members and all of that stuff, right?

00:22:16.691 --> 00:22:21.078
I kept this more staff centric and member centric right.

00:22:21.078 --> 00:22:31.183
Obviously, you know, you know not really getting member feedback, so to speak, but obviously just knowing myself what the member expectation is going to be.

00:22:31.183 --> 00:22:49.553
But sitting down with my core leaders, getting to know the staff, getting to know the culture of this club Every culture obviously is slightly different as you go, whether it's state to state or club this club, every culture obviously is slightly different as you go, whether it's state to state or club to club.

00:22:49.553 --> 00:22:56.105
But you also want to have your hand on what do you want it to be?

00:22:56.105 --> 00:22:57.051
What's our identity?

00:22:57.051 --> 00:23:02.943
And you know, honestly, I think we had a little bit of an identity crisis.

00:23:02.943 --> 00:23:13.363
So I felt it was my responsibility to kind of bring it all together and lead the way of where we're going with their input.

00:23:15.971 --> 00:23:17.695
And where did you get the line?

00:23:17.695 --> 00:23:20.201
Hospitality is not a skill, it's a spirit.

00:23:21.130 --> 00:23:21.912
You know I don't it.

00:23:21.912 --> 00:23:31.816
Just I feel that every day I wake up I had an old boss that said, bill, you wake up determined, you go to bed satisfied.

00:23:31.816 --> 00:23:33.817
That's the only way you do it right.

00:23:33.817 --> 00:23:37.657
And I've done every job in a hotel.

00:23:37.657 --> 00:23:46.723
I started, I was a doorman, I was front desk, I was concierge, I made beds, I was housekeeping, I worked in F&B, I worked in sales.

00:23:46.723 --> 00:24:01.837
And all the people across the board whether it was someone washing dishes alongside me or a general manager who's speaking to over 100 leaders they all had a spirit.

00:24:01.837 --> 00:24:10.646
They all had this energy and this positivity that pushed what hospitality was.

00:24:11.130 --> 00:24:13.615
Skill can always be taught right.

00:24:13.615 --> 00:24:21.381
I meet people all the time and maybe they don't have the experience on a resume, but they have a great attitude and they're willing to help.

00:24:21.381 --> 00:24:24.097
They see a piece of paper on the ground, they it up.

00:24:24.097 --> 00:24:34.652
You know, even when you're not looking, and and that to me is a spirit like you're there, you're, you're just wanting to take care of things and take care of people.

00:24:34.652 --> 00:24:37.960
And then the skill of the trade and the trade of the job.

00:24:37.960 --> 00:24:53.972
We can teach you and and kind of put those together and that's and that's where uh, where that little tagline came from no, I like that because you have it and super nice, nice and big on the on the wall of your new uh yes area.

00:24:54.153 --> 00:24:55.896
So yeah, that was my hr director.

00:24:55.896 --> 00:24:56.357
I don't want to.

00:24:56.357 --> 00:24:57.922
I don't want to be too narcissistic.

00:24:57.981 --> 00:25:06.160
Right, putting my own name up on the wall and what type of stuff do you put up on your wall of fame?

00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:12.333
Is that all just a bunch of different awards, is it?

00:25:12.333 --> 00:25:14.619
What type of stuff would you put up there?

00:25:15.250 --> 00:25:17.117
So essentially what we did we started at.

00:25:17.117 --> 00:25:34.093
You know, a lot of hotels and a lot of clubs have this established, but we do an employee of the quarter we started this year employee of the quarter, leader of the quarter and those for those employees that go above and beyond.

00:25:34.093 --> 00:25:48.464
It's not about just doing your job, it's going that extra mile, doing those extraordinary things that make an experience special or make the business better, and we look at that, celebrate that on a employee level, also on a leadership level.

00:25:48.464 --> 00:26:12.354
So we do it four quarters and whoever wins either leader of the quarter or employee of the quarter at the end of the year wins could win leader of the year or employee of the year or employee of the year, and they get a $5,000 vacation.

00:26:12.374 --> 00:26:12.954
So we pay for their flight.

00:26:12.974 --> 00:26:14.357
Okay, put that out there.

00:26:14.357 --> 00:26:28.798
Um, and you know, it just gives people motivation, gives them, you know, and I think that the the club is, you know, is happy to do it right, because they know that you push these great employee programs.

00:26:28.798 --> 00:26:32.988
Their member experience is going to be better because you just have happy employees.

00:26:32.988 --> 00:26:34.935
And then at that point.

00:26:34.996 --> 00:26:40.019
they're going to have great stories and, of course, the the the members are going to want to hear you know.

00:26:40.019 --> 00:26:59.055
To try to take it to another level Right.

00:26:59.115 --> 00:27:18.288
So I took a new, I created a newsletter, I call it the Herd H-E-R-D, and in the Herd we put a, we put a letter in there that's called the heart of the house, and we focus on an employee here and we, we, we basically let the employee tell their story.

00:27:18.288 --> 00:27:19.855
How do they get here today?

00:27:19.855 --> 00:27:22.721
Right, and uh, there's some fantastic stories.

00:27:23.383 --> 00:27:27.018
Obviously they are, they are, they are very moving.

00:27:27.858 --> 00:27:28.800
Yeah, moving there you go.

00:27:28.800 --> 00:27:30.806
I like that, I like that I have.

00:27:30.806 --> 00:27:33.257
It's funny, I I've got a food truck.

00:27:33.257 --> 00:27:35.801
I've got a food truck here that I purchased.

00:27:35.801 --> 00:27:39.888
It's called the Moo Bar and it's by our halfway house.

00:27:39.888 --> 00:27:52.740
Everything's black and white, the branding is all cowhide, but you know, kind of going on that theme, but that heart of the house essentially focuses and highlights one employee and their story, because everybody has a story.

00:27:52.740 --> 00:27:57.174
Everybody does you know how they got here today and everybody's story is different.

00:27:57.174 --> 00:28:03.729
So it's great for the members to to really get to know employees on that level.

00:28:04.557 --> 00:28:06.815
Yeah that, that, that's, that's amazing.

00:28:07.435 --> 00:28:12.728
Um, so I I've gotten, I've gotten clubs from all over asking me to come see it.

00:28:12.728 --> 00:28:14.740
Um, ask me how I did it.

00:28:16.038 --> 00:28:18.925
Ask me which is great, which is really nice.

00:28:18.925 --> 00:28:37.548
It's moving for people to reach out and say you know, I was recently at a trade show and a lot of people were stopping me and I had one of my employees, my director of F&B, come to me and said you know, someone looked, they would look at her name tag and they would see the Country Club of Darien.

00:28:37.548 --> 00:28:42.825
They're like you guys are crushing it over there and that lounge is amazing, which was nice to hear.

00:28:42.825 --> 00:28:49.888
I think she felt she felt spectacular because people were noticing her and then she worked there, right.

00:28:49.888 --> 00:28:52.181
So it's, that's, that's always.

00:28:52.181 --> 00:28:53.424
You know, that's the payback.

00:28:54.556 --> 00:28:59.714
It's, it's, it's, it's one of those Like.

00:28:59.714 --> 00:29:04.125
So for me, you know, from the entertainment standpoint, you know when the audience goes, you know like the muggles go like oh good job.

00:29:04.125 --> 00:29:17.426
But when somebody in your industry goes like yo good set or something you're like, thank you thank you like it's like when like, like like one of your own like game, a recognized game, you're like okay, good thanks, thank you, yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah, well, you know that's what, it is right, you're?

00:29:17.446 --> 00:29:19.978
like, okay, good, thanks, yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah, well, you know that's what it is right.

00:29:19.978 --> 00:29:40.336
If you're, if your peers are saying to you I love what you're doing, you're doing great and and you know, like I'll go to when you go to conference, right, I'll talk to these guys and I and I look at what they do and they're long tenured and they're so smart and they they're so successful and they'll come over to me and say I love, I love all the stuff you're doing.

00:29:40.336 --> 00:29:41.382
Keep doing what you're doing.

00:29:41.382 --> 00:30:07.776
You know, and you know that like obviously motivates me, makes me feel great, right, um, but it's, it's nice to hear that there's people watch, you know there, and that's why I push marketing yourself, because I live, I, I live the brand right, like wherever I go, like you know it's behind me right now, it's, it's when I come in, my jacket has the logo what every brand that I've worked.

00:30:08.336 --> 00:30:13.788
Did you put the antlers on the on the front of your vehicle, like the the?

00:30:13.807 --> 00:30:16.878
horns, yeah, and you know.

00:30:16.878 --> 00:30:48.174
But any brand that I work for, I feel that you got to live, eat, breathe and that's the brand right that you represent and I always tell people you market that and what happens is, yes, you're marketing the brand but you're also marketing yourself, because people see that and say this guy's a company guy, this is a guy who, if he's leading my club or leading my organization, he's going to push out whatever is positive about the organization.

00:30:48.174 --> 00:30:53.520
So everybody knows about it, which I think is which is big in an industry that doesn't really promote much.

00:30:54.563 --> 00:30:57.249
Yeah, no, it's true, that's true.

00:30:57.249 --> 00:31:01.940
That's good stuff, you're having a good hair day today, buddy.

00:31:01.940 --> 00:31:03.505
I finally had to get it cut.

00:31:03.505 --> 00:31:05.872
Uh, it was getting out of it, was.

00:31:05.872 --> 00:31:13.388
It's still a little little too long, but uh, but, yeah, it's all good what uh, what, what, what suit you are in there bud?

00:31:13.388 --> 00:31:15.380
What's that I said?

00:31:15.380 --> 00:31:17.465
What, what suit are you wearing there, bud?

00:31:18.288 --> 00:31:26.465
oh, this is suit, suit supply, buddy, oh three piece I, I love three like a good.

00:31:27.227 --> 00:31:27.606
I try.

00:31:27.606 --> 00:31:32.121
I try to get most suits three, three piece it's just something.

00:31:33.203 --> 00:31:34.425
It's just I don't know three piece.

00:31:34.425 --> 00:31:40.007
A lot of people don't wear them anymore, though um, which which makes it more enjoyable to wear.

00:31:40.115 --> 00:31:42.759
People are like oh shit, yes, yes, yes.

00:31:44.159 --> 00:31:44.982
I love three-piece.

00:31:44.982 --> 00:31:46.882
I do love double-breasted too.

00:31:46.882 --> 00:31:49.701
I like a good double-breasted suit.

00:31:51.176 --> 00:31:53.384
I have not ventured into the double-breast.

00:31:53.384 --> 00:31:56.505
I have a double-breasted vest.

00:31:56.505 --> 00:32:00.444
I haven't done a full double-breasted suit.

00:32:00.464 --> 00:32:00.704
They're nice.

00:32:00.704 --> 00:32:05.884
I mean listen, not for all the time, but I feel like the double-breasted is a good.

00:32:05.884 --> 00:32:07.509
You know it's good.

00:32:07.509 --> 00:32:12.227
It was much better when I was 30 pounds lighter, but you know listen.

00:32:12.575 --> 00:32:13.837
Stay out of the employee lounge.

00:32:14.460 --> 00:32:15.121
I don't have to.

00:32:15.121 --> 00:32:17.607
Yeah, exactly, I don't have to.

00:32:17.607 --> 00:32:19.048
I got nobody to impress I got.

00:32:19.048 --> 00:32:21.258
I got a beautiful wife and I got seven kids.

00:32:21.258 --> 00:32:23.142
So, no, you don't.

00:32:23.142 --> 00:32:28.173
Yeah, I got seven wait, are you serious?

00:32:28.513 --> 00:32:36.544
yeah, seriously, dude, you're a jackrabbit seven listen yeah, don't take this any offense.

00:32:36.785 --> 00:32:41.770
Same woman same, yeah, same woman, damn crazy.

00:32:41.770 --> 00:32:42.154
You know.

00:32:42.154 --> 00:32:45.523
The crazy thing is and listen, I, I shook your hand out there.

00:32:45.523 --> 00:32:46.747
You, you know I would get tested.

00:32:46.747 --> 00:33:00.301
You may be pregnant, so uh, but but my, my wife the other day, my wife the other day, she's like she's in the mirror and she's like, she's like, oh, she, oh, look.

00:33:00.301 --> 00:33:06.165
I'm getting my abs back and I'm saying to myself I'm looking at her and I'm like I look like I delivered the kids.

00:33:06.165 --> 00:33:09.442
I'm the one that carried them for nine months.

00:33:09.442 --> 00:33:10.707
It's incredible.

00:33:14.281 --> 00:33:15.826
Now that just blew me away.

00:33:15.826 --> 00:33:17.741
Wow, I don't think I had any clue.

00:33:17.741 --> 00:33:18.829
I know, wow, I don't think I had any clue.

00:33:18.829 --> 00:33:21.820
I know, wow, what are the age range?

00:33:21.820 --> 00:33:22.522
What's the?

00:33:24.817 --> 00:33:27.803
My oldest is 12 and my youngest is seven months.

00:33:27.803 --> 00:33:32.811
And you're, how old, what's that?

00:33:32.811 --> 00:33:33.593
I'm 44.

00:33:34.335 --> 00:33:37.051
Okay, I thought you were right around there.

00:33:37.051 --> 00:33:39.117
I thought you were a little bit younger, okay.

00:33:40.019 --> 00:33:42.224
Thank God, right, I look thank God, I look younger.

00:33:42.506 --> 00:33:44.396
That's because I don't stay home with the kids.

00:33:44.396 --> 00:33:53.220
I, I'm always working, I don't have the my, my poor wife, you know, like I leave and she's looking at me like don't leave.

00:33:53.220 --> 00:33:55.824
I need your help, you know, um.

00:33:55.824 --> 00:33:57.426
But yeah, it's a challenge.

00:33:57.426 --> 00:33:58.990
But listen, kids are a blessing, you know.

00:33:58.990 --> 00:34:09.215
And the crazy, the crazy thing is when I was dating my wife, I remember picking her up one day and she was, she was, she was crying Right.

00:34:09.215 --> 00:34:11.202
And I said to her what's wrong?

00:34:11.202 --> 00:34:11.744
Is everything OK?

00:34:11.744 --> 00:34:13.255
And she said well, went to the doctor.

00:34:13.255 --> 00:34:15.418
Doctor said that is not a good chance I'm going to be able to have children.

00:34:15.418 --> 00:34:15.719
The doctor.

00:34:15.719 --> 00:34:18.221
The doctor said that there is not a good chance I'm going to be able to have children.

00:34:18.221 --> 00:34:23.465
And I know that you want a family and I can't do that to you.

00:34:23.465 --> 00:34:28.590
And I said to her I said look, we're in love, like if we got to adopt a kid, we'll adopt a kid.

00:34:28.590 --> 00:34:29.351
It's whatever.

00:34:29.351 --> 00:34:29.992
It is Right.

00:34:44.934 --> 00:34:45.356
Yeah and fast forward.

00:34:45.356 --> 00:34:46.079
I got seven all natural Wrong, wrong.

00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:46.280
You know.

00:34:46.280 --> 00:34:47.865
Side note, that dr pointman never happened, she was just seeing how you went.

00:34:47.865 --> 00:34:48.628
It was just a test and you passed.

00:34:48.648 --> 00:34:52.858
Yeah, my superintendent loves me though, my superintendent, because any kind of dead brush or anything I walk by it, it blooms.

00:34:52.858 --> 00:34:55.621
That's like you know I.

00:34:55.621 --> 00:34:57.884
I got that, you know I have.

00:35:02.568 --> 00:35:03.971
I hope you all enjoyed that.

00:35:03.971 --> 00:35:07.985
Billy, thank you so much for being on and sharing all of that information.

00:35:07.985 --> 00:35:15.123
If you enjoyed that episode, you know what I always ask if you can like, share, subscribe to the content, to the information.

00:35:15.123 --> 00:35:17.577
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00:35:19.637 --> 00:35:21.278
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00:35:21.278 --> 00:35:22.423
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00:35:22.423 --> 00:35:25.697
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