Recruiting/Retaining Workers

[Laura Cole]

Greetings,

I work in the North East, primarily at Loudon, NH for the US Marshalls.  We have been suffering a little bit for last year and this year from burnout of experienced workers.  

What do other areas of the country do to help prevent burnout?

Also, we are going to be attending several local expos to get the word out about corner working.  Do other clubs to this?  Does it seem to work?

Laura
Ass't Race Control/Trainer
www.usmarshalls.org

[Will]

I have been very involved with MARRC for the last 3 years.  Worker retention is a very big topic with us all the time.  We are always trying to keep workers once they join.  We do things like worker incentives depending on how many days worked(ie a nice winter jacket embroidered with their name for working more than 12 days) and 3 or 4 race weekends we'll collect items from different vendors for a raffle on Saturday night.  All the workers there put their name in a hat and then when they're called they get to pick something off the table.
  We also provide lots of clothes(hats, tshirts,polo shirts) depending on how many days they've worked. for example a worker would get a new MARRC safety crew baseball cap every 8 or 12 days worked.  
   Meals are also a very important perk.  I am the food committee chairman this year and we have a large food budget to prepare three meals a weekend.  Lunch and dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.  Also we provide drink/snack runs about 3pm on Saturday and Sunday to give the workers something other than water out on the turns.  These are especially welcomed during extreme hot or cold race weekends.
   MARRC also provides worker training on Saturday morning of each event.  The new workers go to the classroom on Saturday morning, eat lunch with the crew and then get assigned to a captain to watch how it's done and then back to the classroom in the afternoon.  
   MARRC attends several open houses and one major convention each year.  We usually do the Baltimore International Bike Show each year.  This exposes us to alot of people that haven't heard of MARRC and/or Summit Point.  Last year we were lucky enough to get about 10 workers from the convention and a few this year.  At the very least it generates interest in track.  We have also done open houses and cycle shop grand opening before.  These are great if you have members who can spend a day or a couple hours at the event.  For the convention we usually schedule volunteers in 2 hour shifts and get a 'hospitality room' at the adjoining hotel.

All in all MARRC has the attitude that we have to make it worthwhile for the person to come out and volunteer their time.  We have to make them want to come back.  Let's face it, who's going to want to come back if they arent having fun?  We don't get paid enough money to "do it and hate it".

Please feel free to email me if you'd like to discuss it more offline.

[LauraCole]

Will - - Do you do outside fund raising /sponsorship to get the money for those perks?  Generally the money we get in, we pay out to the workers for events.  We do give jackets during the racing banquet, T-shirts for several events during the year, and we only do lunch (no Saturday dinner).  We also offer training on Saturday mornings for new people and in addition we offer "advanced" courses for people with some experience but looking to become a captain on Sundays.

my email is lauracole3221@hotmail.com

[Dave_Alexander]

I'm not sure if it's still true, but I've heard in the past that in the SW region the students at Motorcycle Mechanics Institute in Phoenix received class credits for cornerworking.  I believe at one time most of our cornerworkers were from MMI.  You might look for something similarly creative to bring poeple out who have some vested interest in being there to receive external benefits that don't directly cost CCS any money.

Another step you can take is to make the cornerworking as bearable as possible.  Many of the tracks in the SW region have no cover over the flag stations.  Within the past year one of our racers took it upon himself to organize a fund raising effort to purchase a bunch of mobile tents and umbrellas that can be set up in just a few minutes.  I know that had to make cornerworking a lot more bearable in the 110+ degree heat or in the cold rain.  Look to the racers for help.  It's in our best interest to help the cornerworkers where we can.

I've never been a cornerworker but as a racer I might be willing to pitch in to help cut my costs.  How about if CCS gave discounts on race entries for people willing to do some cornerworking?  For example, how about one or two free races for each half-day worked?  This wouldn't really be a direct out-of-pocket expense for CCS and could help some racers keep the expenses in check.

Likewise, how many cornerworkers would actually like to be out there riding?  Obviously they can't if they're stuck at the flag station all weekend.  Give them the opportunity join the fun with a break on the fees for having worked the corners.

[Will]

Laura,

We don't pay our cornerworkers to work.  All the money collected from the sanctioning body is put towards expenses.  

We also do a newsletter and I believe we do charge for advertising space(I think)..but other than that I don't believe that there's any outside sponsorship.

I would be happy to compare any notes if it would help.

[sportbikepete]

I donated items from my biz to the MARRC cornerworkers raffle and I know it was greatly appreciated and I was thanked 10 times over. Those people do a great job and are always the first blamed for problems. So anytime I can help I will.

[Will]

What company Pete?  I walked around with Roger Lyle a bit begging for stuff..lol...

too bad I didn't get to meet ya.  I made sure I hit the spam mobile..did u? lol...

Are you coming down to Summit next weekend?

[sportbikepete]

I actually donated stuff at Summit during the monsoon. They made an announcement over the Pa and I brought Bridgestone hats and stickers over. Had I known they were doing it at Pocono I would have gotten something together. Will be at Summit but most likely on the 7th and not the 8th. I've got a small internet site to pay for racing, well try to anyway. And no Spam for me I was forced enough when I was younger.

[Will]

Well if you can make it up to the cafe I'll be cooking outside the cafe all day Saturday.  Look for the big guy in the pepper chef's pants and chef's coat..

Sat night will be our big steak dinner.  We always cook steak dinner on the last race weekend.  

Will

[sportbikepete]

Hmm maybe I can bring some donated food for the guys this time.

[Will]

That would be cool Pete.  As an example a rider donated 50.00 last race weekend so we could have ice cream sandwiches at lunch.

Another rider donated 60.00 so we could have coffee and hot chocolate one cold race weekend early in the season.  Hell we needed hot chocolate on Saturday after sitting in the rain and fog all day...

of course Yuengling is always welcome...smirk..

Will

[sportbikepete]

oooooooooh Yuengling  :o