The MAC's Employer of Choice Initiative

In the latest Missouri Athletic Club Connections Podcast, the MAC's HR team sat down with Director of Membership Rodney Stoyer to discuss their department's efforts in making the Club an employer of choice. Human Resources Assistant Cassidy Clark and Training Development Specialist Jenni Aremka highlighted the initiatives taking place to push the MAC in a positive direction from the employees' perspectives.

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Missouri Athletic Club Connections highlights the foremost private club in St. Louis known for attracting exceptional people and enriching lives for generations.

Transcript

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Hi, and welcome to Missouri Athletic Club Connections, a podcast highlighting Missouri's only premiere athletic club. The MAC is recognized as the foremost private club in Saint Louis. Known for attracting exceptional people and enriching lives for generations. I’m membership director, Rodney Stoyer. And today I have our human resource department with me. I've got Cassidy Clark and Jenni Aremka. Welcome, ladies. Thank you. So I'm glad you can join me today. And today we're going to talk about something that's very special to me. But the Employee, MAC’s Service Awards for Employees It honors the Club's extraordinary and exceptional employees as well as introducing a new member of the HR team. Jenni, we're going to talk a little bit about you and what you're doing here as well and how you fit into the mission of the Club, which is being the employer of choice here. So again, welcome again. So, Cassie, let's start with you. I think you know that the service awards matter a lot to me because you've heard that before, but they've been going on for a long time. Can you give us a brief overview and tell us a little bit about why the event is so important? Yeah. So every year in March, we do this event and it's honoring employees, jumping ahead to the question, but every five years you get celebrated. And so this year, guys, Rodney is celebrating. He is being honored, which is so cool. It feels like he's been here for like 20 years. So very happy. And so it's just a time for employees to come in. We’ll be in the Missouri room this year. There's a cocktail hour, some food, some drinks. And our very own Phillip Hughes will be on the keys, which I'm a super pumped about. I'm excited. I love watching Philip play. Yeah. Yeah. And then it's just a time where we have some good food and served by the best team. And then following dinner is the award ceremony where Chris does a great job talking about our awesome employees. I'm glad I don't have to stand up there and talk. I’m so glad she does that. But she does just great. She does. You know, you just have to do podcasts. Yeah, the podcast. And it’s just a really good time. It's cool to see the employees relaxed. They're all dressed up. Well and like I've always said, it's nice that they get to feel like a member for a night. You know, It's you know, there's most of times our employees are so busy serving the members, they don't get to enjoy the experience. And this is one night where they get to truly enjoy the experience. It's all about them. Yeah, absolutely. Love that. Absolutely love that. So you started to mention my big milestone, but what milestones do we hit in order to be singled out and called to the Employee Service Awards? Yes. So every five years of service, you get invited to come. And we have a lot of honorees this year. I'm super excited. One of the coolest parts is we have a 25 year club, and so this year we have four people. Are you kidding? Four new ones. Four people. And that's just encouraging as an employee, especially only being here less than two years. Yeah. To see staff that have been here and continue to just dedicate their time and serve this place well. So I'm excited to celebrate them as well. And then our employees of the quarters, our distinguished employees get invited to. And so, yeah, it's already great. Yeah, Well again, that longevity, when you talk about employer of choice that says a lot about the club. Yeah. So that those members have such long term tenure. So Jenni, again, welcome. Thank you. What does your role entail? What basics can you give us about this? Obviously, our members are seeing this is Jenni and, you know, she's doing training or something like that. Give us a brief overview. Yeah, absolutely. My nickname has kind of been the trainer, if you will, seems...That’s your superhero persona. I like that. So much more serious I think than it really is. Kind of feels like I have the weight of the club on my shoulders, but that's okay. My job entails, you know, designing, implementing and overseeing programs, enhancing the skills, knowledge and capabilities of our employees. Yeah. My primary goal is to ensure that employees have everything that they need, all the tools in their toolboxes to perform their job duties effectively. That way, we can better serve the members. Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, again, it's probably already showing. I know you're still really new. You're still learning the MAC, but it doesn't take a lot, you know, to really sort of show the members what we're doing and how we're acting differently. Right? Absolutely. And I think with Empowering the employees, showing them that we care about them, the MAC has their back just as much as we do the members, that gives them the ability to go out and serve each and every single day, make those special moments and connections with their members. Yeah, and so everyone's probably aware. Chip Misch, our new general manager of the club that we love so much, right, We're required to say that. But when he started, one of the first things he said was that we needed to be the employer of choice. And we've said it a few times, we're probably going to say it 20 more times today. But really, Jenni, how does that you know, how does your role assist in making that happen? Yeah. Training development plays a pivotal role in establishing an employer of choice within an organization. And there's so many different levels and details that we can get into. I'll just hit on a couple. Employee satisfaction engagement plays a huge role in employee satisfaction and establishing employer of choice. Well-designed training programs Show an employee that, you know, the MAC has their back we’re invested in their professional growth and development. And what better way to start out a career, you know, with a club that's already invested in my growth day one. skill enhancement career growth offering opportunities for skill development through training helps employees acquire new competencies. Competencies depending on where they want to flourish. You know, maybe they're in school right now for communication and they're reaching out. I’d love to get in touch with the communications department. I'd love to learn about internship. Right. Or they're one of our employees that have been here for 25 years, they’re a star bartender. They know it, they kill it, they rock it and they want to learn new skills, new competencies behind the bar to better serve our members and then retention. If someone feels truly like we have their back, that that they trust that we care for them, they're going to stick around and they're going to continue to develop and help us change the member's day. Absolutely. Absolutely. And again, wonderful, wonderful way to become that employer of choice. But again, why is it so important? I mean, we can ask both of you this one, why is it important to be the MAC employer of choice? How about the retention side of things? That's got to be a big piece, correct? Yeah, And I think that's like a part of the service awards. Celebrating our employees. So they do feel like their work is valued and they're coming here every day. I mean, I say this all the time. You spend so much time at work, sometimes I feel like I'm here more than I am at home. So that relationship you have with your coworkers is really important. So if you feel known like Rodney, we should know your kids. You should know. Sure. We want to know about you. Yeah. And that just makes you feel seen. And so part of retention is like investing and being intentional with everything that we do so that they feel comfortable here and this is their home away from home. Yeah, anything to add to that Jenni? Yeah, I think humans, we like to continue doing things that we excel at and that we enjoy doing. And what better way to excel in your career than doing something you enjoy by working at the MAC. You build these long lasting relationships. Talking about retention and I am thrilled to come to work every day and see Junada And wave hi to Chris and see Cassidy, and I've been here for a month and a half. I've already started building these long lasting relationships and I think us being so focused on that, so focused that the employers, employees, when they come to work, they feel safe and heard and valued, it’s just going to continue to grow our our pilot for employer of choice starting with the employee feeling that they are heard and their concerns are brought forth and we're taking action. I think that's how we gain trust in our employees. Wonderful, wonderful. And again, there are some of our positions, right? Servers, things like that, where yeah, come on, just get in the door. We need ten more of you. Just come on. You know, and there's a little too much of that. So to start them off right, and make them feel welcome to the club is. That's immense, right? So what other initiatives, what things are being put in place to move that needle forward and to make the MAC employer choice? And I got to say, number one is obviously, Jenni, it's why she's here. Right? That's number one. But what other things? Yeah, I think this is top secret, but no one told us we can't talk about it. So we should. Yeah. Yeah. We got hot dish on the podcast today. We do. The recording just stops. Right. Mic drop. Yeah. There's going to be.... What's the little screen that comes out that says, you know, stay tuned. We'll be right back. Yeah. Static. Yeah. We are starting to assemble a task force of employees of the MAC. We are going to roundtable. We are going to get to know them and we're going to figure out what they are also looking for as well. It's really easy for me to sit in my office. Sure. You know, think about all the things that our employees would want, but what better to hear from than our actual employees? You know what What would make coming to work a little bit easier for you tomorrow? Yeah, And can we accomplish that? And I think we've really taken a stance to, you know, let's try to say yes, let's try to say yes to what they come up with. So we've got the task force coming down the pipeline which we’re very excited about. We have revamped our orientation to be more inclusive, to include people who can only attend at night. Right. We're really trying to involve both clubhouses at every level and aspect that we can. So we've got some really great things coming down the pipeline. But I think it's also important to talk about the pillars that already create our employee program. Yeah, absolutely. Because there's a ton, you know, starting with service awards, it's fantastic. Yeah, You know, I don't know a whole lot of companies that say, stop the press, stop what you're doing. Let's get together and let's celebrate these employees that have spent so much time and energy with us. Not only that, but the distinguished employees as well, which is separate. And I got to partake in that this month, which was phenomenal. Once again, everyone stopped what they're doing, everything stops right. Gathered in the art lounge. We had some cookies, some refreshments, and we celebrated the distinguished employees. The employees that show up every day and they go above and beyond. Right. We have a fabulous benefits program that we're looking at, you know, with 401k, we offer vacation time. We offer our employees as well, which, you know, I think we're really going to go after this year, really try to wrap our arms around it is every employee gets paid volunteer time off. Yeah So let's get some employees together. Let's go out. Let's make you know, a change some together. Yeah, yeah. Let's, let's build up St Louis together. Yeah. So there's already some fantastic pillars. We just want to continue to grow on that we don't want to get stagnant. We want to make sure that we're keeping up with the times and we're keeping up with the needs of our employees. Wonderful. Well, I love love that idea. I like the little scoop there that we're going to have this task force. Sorry Rodney, you're not on it. Of course not. Well, see, but I don't need to be on it, because what they're going to tell you is have Rodney give out more chocolate during the day. That's what they're going to tell you. Yeah. All it takes to make employees happy is let Rodney walk around with a handful of chocolate passing out. The special chocolates. Not just any chocolates. The special MAC chocolate. See everybody watching the podcast, unless you're a newer employee, you don't even know what we're talking about. But trust us, it's special chocolate. You're going to have an influx of people visiting you. asking about the special chocolate. Where's this chocolate? Yeah. No one pops by HR just to say hello. You know. Exactly. Membership. Well, and, hey, I got to tell you, you know, seriously, ladies, thank you both so much for joining us. But here's the nice part about this is I'm having a conversation with HR, and it was all positive. Great stuff. This is great. Yeah. Like, who knew when I saw I had an H.R. meeting today? You know, this is wonderful. I love this. We're actually a pretty good time. It is another reason the MAC should be the employer of choice. The HR team is phenomenal, So. Yeah. Yeah. Four wonderful women who are just incredible to work with. So kudos to all of you. You’re too sweet, Rodney. It's all that chocolate. Yeah, that's it. That's it. Well, anyway, thank you, everyone, for tuning in to another amazing episode of Missouri Athletic Club Connections. Stay connected with us through the events calendar, the MAC website and social media, and we'll see you again soon. Thank you, ladies. Thank you.