Chances are the managers who serve under you have risen to their respective positions from within the club environment, which means they are familiar with the club’s various capacities. They’ve been loyal to the club on their journey to be a manager, unlike a Hilton...

It is likely every GM of every Club in Southern California watched in horror as wildfires ravished through Altadena, leaving in it fiery wake rubble that once was the Altadena Town & Country Club. The fire displaced 120 employees, but the collateral damage was...

How NOT to Let the Club Holiday Party Become an HR Nightmare By Toni Shibayama A quick check of the calendar and we can see it’s time to discuss the dreaded 2023 Country Club Party Season, an event that very often can make or break any employee and have HR Directors...

For Clubs, Reducing Liability and Controlling Insurance Costs is the Name of the Game By Toni Shibayama "I recall once seeing a quote that read: You can never protect yourself 100 percent. What you do is protect yourself as much as possible and mitigate risk to an...

Top 5 Things to do in 2025 to Create Happy Members By Toni Shibayama Happy team members will make it easier to produce a happy experience for your members. Here are the Top 5 ways to accomplish this:1. Focus on Mental Health and WellbeingMore than a third of...

7 Important Employee Benefits Trends in 2024 By Toni Shibayama 1. Managing Health Care CostsAccording to several industry surveys and reports, employers anticipate health care costs to grow between 6% and 8.5% in 2024, the largest increase in more than a decade. Many...

Sexual Harassment: a Nightmare No Club GM Wants to Sleep Through By Toni Shibayama A Country Club GM wakes up one morning, grabs a cup of coffee, and logs on to his computer. As he does his morning search for sports scores, stock prices, and new book releases on...

Avoiding Employee Lawsuits Should Be Priority One for All Employers By Toni Shibayama A survey of CEOs revealed their biggest challenge was not in the manufacturing or distribution of their products or services, but rather in hiring, managing and keeping quality...

Top 5 Reasons to Update Your Job Descriptions Now By Toni Shibayama No law requires an employer to have or maintain job descriptions. However, there are several benefits to having detailed job descriptions for each position in your organization.Recruitment: Having a...

Imagine you’re a Club General Manager and it’s Friday evening and you are just sitting down to dinner after a long week. You get a call from your HR department, and the conversation starts like this “Our members are calling and they are telling me their personal...

  The Myth of the Bad Employee  By Toni Shibayama Many employers believe that bad or fraudulent employees drive up Workers’ Compensation costs. When an employee is off on Workers’ Comp for an extended period of time, it’s not uncommon for an employer to say, “Tom was...

Curing WorkCompitis By David R. Leng You might not be familiar with the disease named WorkCompitis, but as a business owner you may be suffering from its symptoms. According to the Institute of WorkComp Professionals’ (IWCP) employer surveys, 75% of employers suffer...

Employers Can’t Just “Phone it in” with Workers’ Comp When it Comes to Remote Workers  By Toni Shibayama Many things about our daily lives have returned to normal as we have come out of the pandemic. But there is one change that is likely never to go back to the old...

What Can You Expect From Your 2023 Insurance Renewals? By Toni Shibayama Why bury the lead? Rate increases are likely given current market forecasts. According to 2023 Market forecasts, the consensus is that 2023 will present some challenges for businesses in the...

A GM wakes from a terrible dream; a nightmare that his Club had just been levied a whopping $15 million lawsuit for sexual harassment.It was no dream for the Old Ranch Country Club in Seal Beach, California, where a female beverage cart attendant is suing the club for...

1. Increased employee engagement Organizational culture is driven by purpose and clear expectations. This motivates and inspires employees to be more engaged and interact with others. It also leads to high levels of workforce engagement, which drives productivity. 2....

20 Most Costly & Common Mistakes Employers Make When Dealing with Employees  By Toni Shibayama As we head into the fall season, now is the time to take a look at what we have found to be the most common mistakes employers make when dealing with their...

The Rolling Stones famously sang about how “Time Is On My Side,” and that’s pretty much the case, unless you fail to record and maintain accurate time records for your employees under California law. As an employer, it’s on you to make sure your workers aren’t abusing...

    “Hello. I’m from OSHA and I am here to help you.”     If you own or operate a private club, chances are very good you’ve heard these dreaded words before. Next to, “Hello. I’m from the Internal Revenue Service,” there are few greetings more inclined to make your...

Don’t Let an Insurance Disaster Put Your Club in a Hole Private Club GMs certainly have enough on their minds to keep them up at night; what with staffing issues, grounds maintenance; HR challenges, etc. But probably the one thing they don’t think about—but certainly...

Wildfire: Is Your Club in Harm’s Way? By Toni Shibayama Wildfires are a global issue, with new record-setting events occurring over the last several years. The growth in frequency and severity of wildfires can be attributed in part to an ever-increasing population and...

Commercial Insurance Challenges in a Pandemic Environment By Clint Clemet As the coronavirus quarantine begins to lift state by state and businesses are allowed to reopen, they will be faced with an unprecedented business environment. And not to be over-looked is the...

        Employment Practices Audit By Toni Shibayama Happy New Year! It’s perfect time for companies to conduct a California employment law practices audit to ensure that policies are compliant, managers are properly trained, and the company is maintaining the...

  Legal & Risk Management Update Webinar Replay  By Toni Shibayama This is a webinar to discuss the changing legal and risk landscape for employers surrounding COVID-19.We discuss the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, Essential Industries, the Warn Act,...

Communicating a Layoff By Toni Shibayama As more and more companies in the wake of the coronavirus find themselves forced to make the hard decision to let valuable employees go, there is definitely a right way and a wrong way to implement these changes. Good...

Being Leadership Driven is All About Job Safety By Toni Shibayama “Leadership driven” goes beyond showing interest in a safety initiative. It means that company leadership is actively educating and communicating. This is critical because if employees don't see a...

Finding the right GM to run your country club can keep your business "in the green." By Toni Shibayama According to the Club Management Association of America (CMAA), there are more than 2,500 country, golf, athletic, city, faculty, military, town and yacht clubs...

Take the Necessary Steps to Prevent a Disgruntled Employee's Retribution By Toni Shibayama Allow me to paint an unpleasant but no less unlikely picture.  You fire an employee for violating a Club policy. Maybe that employee was drinking on the job, or stealing money,...