In any industry, including our clubs, a vacancy hurts. When a key leader departs or a department runs short-handed, the pressure is immediate and personal. Service strain becomes visible. Teams feel stretched.Members notice. In those moments, the instinct to “just get someone in the seat” is understandable, but also dangerous.

Reactive hiring solves today’s pain while quietly setting up tomorrow’s problems.

Across clubs of all sizes and segments, we see a consistent pattern: roles filled quickly under pressure often result in cultural misalignment, leadership friction, and eventual turnover. The position may be filled, but stability is not restored. In fact, the organization often finds itself right back in search mode, but this time with more fatigue, less trust, and a team that is increasingly skeptical of leadership decisions.

The lesson is simple, but not easy: longevity comes from alignment, not speed.

Why Urgent Hiring Creates Long-Term Instability

When urgency leads the search, the evaluation lens narrows. The focus shifts almost entirely to tactical competence: Can they run the dining room? Can they manage a tee sheet? Can they step in tomorrow and “handle it”?

What gets overlooked are the elements that actually determine success in a club environment:

• Cultural alignment
• Leadership style and emotional intelligence
• Attitude toward service, standards, and accountability
• Flexibility and adaptability within a living organization
• Ability to earn trust and not just authority

Clubs are not transactional workplaces. They are ecosystems built on relationships, tradition, and shared expectations. A technically capable leader who cannot align with the club’s values, pace, or communication norms will create friction quickly, often in subtle ways that compound overtime.

At the line level, the same risk applies. A server or cart attendant hired “just to cover shifts” who lacks hospitality instinct, coach-ability, or team orientation can undermine standards faster than a short-handed schedule ever could. Culture erosion almost always starts with one compromised hire that becomes tolerated behavior.

The False Economy of Speed

Hiring quickly often feels like the fiscally responsible choice. Vacancies cost money, after all. Overtime increases. Service suffers.Managers stretch themselves thin.

But speed-driven hires carry hidden costs:

• Re-recruitment and retraining within 6–18 months
• Lost credibility with existing team members
• Inconsistent service delivery during repeated transitions
• Leadership time spent managing performance issues instead of advancing the operation
• Member dissatisfaction tied to instability

The reality is this: the wrong hire is more expensive than the vacancy it was meant to fix.

Strong organizations understand that the goal is not to fill roles, but rather to build teams that stay, grow, and elevate standards overtime.

Hiring Is a Cultural Decision, Not a Staffing Task

Every hire reinforces, or erodes, culture.

For leadership roles, this means evaluating how a candidate leads, not just what they know. We encourage clubs to look closely at:

• How the individual builds accountability without fear
• How they communicate expectations under pressure
• Whether their leadership style aligns with the club’s governance and management structure
• Their willingness to adapt rather than impose
• Their respect for institutional knowledge and tradition

A leader who is successful elsewhere but misaligned with the club’s culture will struggle, no matter how strong their résumé appears.

At the line level, cultural hiring means identifying individuals who demonstrate:

• Genuine service orientation
• Pride in consistency and standards
• Coachability and responsiveness to feedback
• Emotional maturity in member-facing situations

Skills can be taught. Attitude rarely can.

The Role of Patience and Structure in Better Hiring

Hiring for longevity does not mean dragging out a search unnecessarily. It means being intentional.

Well-run searches have structure, clarity, and discipline, even under pressure. They define:

• What success looks like in this club, not a generic version of the role
• The behaviors and values that are non-negotiable
• The leadership gaps the role is meant to fill, not just the tasks it must perform
• The support and expectations that will shape long-term success

When clubs take time upfront to align on these elements, they make faster, better decisions later. Candidates self-select more accurately. Interviews become more revealing. Onboarding becomes more effective.

Most importantly, teams feel the difference.

Choosing Stability Over Relief

Vacancies test leadership resolve. The temptation to hire for immediate relief is strong, but clubs that consistently perform at a high level resist that impulse.

They hire for who the organization is becoming, not just what it needs today.

They understand that every hire sends a message to the team about standards, priorities, and patience.

And they recognize that true stability comes not from filling roles quickly, but from building a workforce at every level that is aligned, committed, and prepared to grow with the club.

Hiring for longevity is not a luxury. It is a discipline. And in today’s environment, it may be one of the most important leadership decisions a club can make.

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About the Author:  Paige Frazier
A performance-driven thought leader and transformational manager, Paige began her career in private clubs in 2001. Her progressive development has provided extensive and comprehensive training in Club operations and in team leadership. She has fostered her passion for hospitality and leading with a servant’s heart, beginning with food and beverage operations, continuing through to her most recent position as a General Manager. She continues to seek opportunities to learn and grow every day. She has demonstrated an ability to streamline operations, identify and correct inefficiencies, and deliver strategic direction and initiatives.