By Ed Shanaphy, CMAA
As 2022 brings in a new breath of life to so many in our industry as we battle a virus, so too does the job market show even more signs of life and recovery.
As we look to either expand club offerings or find a new, dynamic club manager or department head, we must consider the pathway to success. Far too often, it's been years since a governing club board has had to fill a major role. This usually means these governing bodies are out of practice in terms of communication and out of the practice of hiring. And in these times, finding candidates can be an a seemingly impossible task.
As boards nominate search committees, and search committees nominate candidates and finalists, the pathway becomes cloudy. As a hiring force, search committees and hiring bodies should not only investigate the candidates thoroughly, but also look at the committee's own composition and desires and continually monitor that not one particular voice or objective becomes overbearing.
The five mistakes that committees can often make when hiring all lead back to just that: Maintain an objective viewpoint and listen to all the voices as you narrow the field of candidates to just that one, special person who fits the job. Easier said than done! Have a listen and find out where your five major pitfalls might darkly lurk.
Ed Shanaphy is President of BeyondTheBaselines.com which is a subsidiary of SBW Associates, Inc. With his experience in hiring internationally as Managing Director of two London-based conglomerates, he brings to the search committee a viewpoint gained from completing hundreds of searches for his own entities and, more recently, private members clubs.