The pandemic roiled facilities’ staffs all across the country. We watched the data here as staffing concerns overwhelmingly became the top issue facing respondents to our Industry Report survey. While those numbers have settled over the past year, many facilities are still recovering, as new team members continue to get up to speed on how to keep things running smoothly.
Reading through this issue’s stories, I noticed a common thread of teamwork that continued to shine through. Multiple experts talked about the importance of having a well-trained and experienced team—for keeping on top of grounds management practices, for ensuring good water balance and air quality in aquatic facilities, and, in conjunction with the community you serve, for ensuring you can add new programs like pickleball without upsetting neighbors with noise or fans of other sports by taking away their favorite places to play. In all of these cases, teams of people must work together to ensure success.
Looking forward, we’ll be teaming up here on Oct. 1 with experts from NSF International and Westlake Water Solutions to bring you a timely webinar. Springing from our Industry Report research on the top concerns of aquatic facility operators, we’ll be mining the minds of these aquatic experts to help you approach construction wisely, work through staffing difficulties, keep up with equipment maintenance and more.
As we approach the cooler—and colder—months of the year, take a look around and see how your team’s doing. Now is a good time to plan for any education and training that needs to happen—with a whole raft of fall conferences to choose from, along with the regular certification trainings that occur throughout the year. Be sure to take advantage of all of these opportunities to get your team trained up and on the same page.
Cheers!
Emily Tipping
Editorial Director,
Recreation Management
[email protected]
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