As I have aged and maybe gained some wisdom, I am amazed how much more my thinking has become more people oriented than dollar oriented. The reality is that both resources are critical to any organizations success, for-profit or non-profit.
If the ski industry invested as much effort in managing its people as it does it managing the money stream, I believe there would be a whole lot more cash to manage. I have never forgotten a comment made during a discussion I was in with a fellow staff member in the early days of my ski industry experience. We were discussing people leaving the resort and from where the replacements would come This person said it was great, these people, who were seasonal staff who had come back year after year and did their jobs very well, were leaving. I was sort of dumbfounded, saying we were losing experience, knowledge and those who know the system, he said it did not matter; we’d be able to hire people at a much lower cost to the company, and that was a more important point than losing valuable staff. Subsequently, I have heard that message repeated. Admittedly not so much in the current labor market, but I might contend that this is still a thought that exists today.
I strongly contend that the ski industry could shift many of its seasonal and management issues by managing our people more effectively and professionally. Not to overburden you with outside input, I ask you to read the following: What-if-companies-managed-people-as-carefully-as-they-manage-money. A recent article from the Harvard Business Review.
Don’t get me wrong; there are ski resorts that get it and have made considerable changes in a relatively short time span to address how they manage human resource capital. As you all know this is a resource that is becoming scarcer by the day. So, making the best of what you have is the sensible step to take.
