By Sean Jordan, T.Ag.
There is little doubt that a job in the turfgrass industry is one
filled with long hours working at the whim of Mother Nature and the end
user under various conditions. When a person willingly takes on a
career in turf, knowing the obstacles, then seasoned professionals help
that person, no matter how insane they may be.
The purpose of this article is to outline some of the roles and responsibilities of the supervisors and the intern or apprentice in the hopes that both can more fully benefit from this apprenticeship and ultimately shape the future of our industry. This article was originally slated for a fall issue of Turf and Recreation to help students with lining up internships for the following season. However, I chose to place this article in the spring issue instead to plant a seed in the minds of potential employers to mentally keep track of how they could fit teaching responsibilities into the day-to-day activities throughout the growing season and make the most of upcoming internships.
The discussion of roles begins with the supervisor, as this position comes with great responsibility that should not be taken lightly. The most important concept to understand is that the student we teach today will be a peer tomorrow and what they take from the working student experience will, in many ways, shape the type of turfgrass manager that they become. Although this task may seem monumental, the best way to handle it without it impeding on your job is by taking the appropriate amount of time to plan.
Plan to include the student in every part of the operation from short and long-term planning to carrying out as many tasks as possible. Regular meetings, even just morning coffee, to discuss jobs recently performed and points where the student has room for improvement can expedite the learning process. Keep in mind that this future manager doesn’t need to run the crew on the first day. Instead, progress to that role through the season by building gradually from learning the hows and whys to putting it all together. Hand over the reins for a morning or afternoon at first, then whole days once the comfort level is almost there.
Being a great manager and teacher means leading by good example rather than adopting a “do as I say, not as I do” philosophy. Our industry in Ontario is in one of the biggest transitional stages ever and as such, many of the up-and-coming managers don’t know the difference between turf management now vs. before the new pesticide regulations that essentially changed the game for everybody. Supervisors should see this as an excellent opportunity to create the next generation of manager who considers all of the available options to effectively manage turf.
Supervisors taking on a student must realize that their particular role is important and should only be taken on if confident that they can spend the time necessary to truly teach and not just direct. The time invested in developing an intern is returned in the form of an interested employee who is interested in the details and wants to do a good job because they receive something more than just a paycheck.
Next – for those of you looking to enter into the field of turfgrass management:
Most students are relatively new to the industry and as such will have to plan their working education carefully. Whether the student has an end goal of working for a municipality with unionized employees or a high-end golf course that hosts major tournaments, choosing a path that starts in a similar place is not a bad idea. If, however, the idea is just to work in the turf industry for the wide array of locations and job types that it allows, finding an internship or apprenticeship that helps to create a more well-rounded background could be the way to go.
Once a job is secured and a list of tasks to accomplish is created, then the student needs to work hard to ensure that those objectives are met. If goals on the checklist keep getting pushed off until later, it becomes comparable to waiting too long to mow grass; you end up with rushed experience and a mess to clean up.
No matter whether you are the supervisor or the student, it is imperative for all parties to communicate throughout the entire experience. Nobody that I have ever met in this industry is a mind reader, so an open and honest dialogue is necessary to make sure both the supervisor and the future manager in training are benefiting from the working relationship.
As was mentioned earlier, meetings as simple as a few minutes every morning can be effective ways to gauge the student’s progress and to determine if the lessons of the supervisor were understood.
Internships and apprenticeships can be incredibly beneficial experiences for both the student and the manager if proper thought and planning go into them.
Print this page