Why staff retention is important for us and for you?

Holding on to our staff is very important to us.

As 2019 fast approaches, we all prepare to clock another year employed at Skern Lodge. For all our staff, it’s a great place to work. Although like any job it has its highs and lows. Sometimes the sun doesn’t always shine at Skern and the sea temperature isn’t constantly warm.

As I myself head towards my 30th year at Skern Lodge next February, it's a time to reflect back at the many staff that have come and gone over the years and appreciate their contribution to Skern's developed. No one more so than Andy Milne, who hangs up his Skern fleece next year and will execute his planned retirement.

Andy joined Martin Robinson back in 1976 and helped move Skern Lodge to its current geographical location and created something amazing. It has been Andy’s vision and ethos in creating a centre that grew in size but stayed close in nature. Providing an environment where employees wanted to work hard and continually strive for perfection.

But we'll leave our blog about Andy's impact at Skern to nearer that retirement date.

The family friendly approach of Skern Lodge has ensured that those employees that joined us over the years have thrived and developed. We know we can’t keep everyone for ever, and of course preparing staff for bigger opportunities, means that sometimes those bigger opportunities may be elsewhere.

As some very clever person once said, is it a risk to train someone because they might leave, or regret not training them, because they may stay?

Staff development and a supportive environment have been key to our staff retention. A place where people feel and are valued, has helped to create a culture where employees are happy and wanting to give that little bit extra, and our customers notice the difference.

As the end of the season approaches and our seasonal staff head off to sunnier or colder climates for their winter break, we take time to reflect on how the year has gone and prepare to recruit the few staff we need to meet next year’s busy schedule and new challenges.

Although we prefer to retain staff, actually getting new youthful faces into the centre with fresh ideas and heaps of enthusiasm is something we look forward to every year. Next year, we will be looking for just five instructional staff, to bring us up to our required levels. They will be joining our very supportive and skilled team, who of course will be bringing that mature influential approach to everything they do. I am always impressed with how quickly our younger team members adapt and mature during those early few months with us.

We will also be joined by new employees in the catering and cleaning teams who continuously work hard behind the scenes making everyone's stay an enjoyable and comfortable one.

But for many of our customers returning next year, there will be plenty of the familiar faces around throughout the whole team. Take a look around your own team; how many years experience does your team have in your organisation. This year our total for 59 staff was 450 Skern years. You know you are in safe hands with that much knowledge and experience behind every course.

If you know someone who is looking for their next residential experience, please pass on our name. Over 75% of our residential enquiries come through word of mouth, based on the great experience received.

Alternatively, if you, or someone you know, would like to work for Skern Lodge, look out on our careers page on our website, where we will promote our current vacancies.

I would like to thank those few staff who have left us this year, to head off to new challenges and look forward to what the new year will bring to Skern Lodge in 2019.