Aquatics Guide - 2023 - 6

and inclusion initiatives in place
(19 percent); lack of connection
to the company's mission (18 percent),
and concerns over coronavirus
(COVID-19) vaccine requirements
(17 percent) (tinyurl.com/ymtrjttf).
These statistics are from a national
study and are not tailored to parks
and recreation, but many of the
themes have been reiterated by those
interviewed for this story.
" Burned out. I worked between 60
and 80 hours a week with a limited
budget, seasonal staff, lack of employees,
[staff] with poor work ethics,
and little support from ownership
who never responded to my concerns
or frustrations and rarely gave positive
feedback or fair pay on the work
I did, " says P. Pillsbury, former general
manager of a pool management
company for seven-and-a-half years.
Adjusting Pay
Part of keeping aquatics professionals
in the field is going to involve
changing how much they are paid.
Most aquatics professionals work in
on-call positions. This can make it
difficult for them to supplement income
with a second job. Instead of
Aquatics professionals should be
treated like valued members of the
organizations for which they work.
looking at what other organizations
are paying for the same position, human
resource professionals should
consider how much it costs to live
in the area where the organization is
located. Paying someone too little to
survive in your area will force them
to work somewhere else that will offer
them enough to live off.
Additionally, job-hopping is not
only encouraged, but strongly recommended
to current generations. Most
companies are willing to pay more
to hire a new person than to retain
a great person. In many park and
recreation departments, the aquatics
department is one of the larger, if not
the largest, department. However,
aquatics management staff are routinely
paid less than other full-time
staff members. Many aquatics professionals
began working as a lifeguard
at the age of 15, or sometimes,
even teaching swim lessons at a
younger age. Most have hundreds of
hours in training to obtain and keep
their certifications by the time they
are in their early 20s. Most organizations
do not consider all of that when
hiring new aquatics professionals. If
you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
" At this point, the industry is just
full of volunteers. They get paid,
but not enough for the work they're
doing, and people under-value their
own time, " says R. Schmidt, former
aquatics director for six months.
Addressing Work Culture
Toxic work culture often is a big
factor in employees' decision to
leave. Many aquatics professionals
who are full-time staff members are
viewed as glorified summer hires. In
most cases, these individuals know
more about their subject matter than
their supervisors. They should be
treated like valued members of the
organizations for which they work.
This includes having other departments
help your aquatics management
when they need help. Often,
departments perpetuate the idea that
aquatics managers should be willing
to help other departments, but in
return, they are unable to find help
when they need it.
Another aspect of creating a better
work environment for aquatics
professionals includes upward mobility.
Many aquatics
professionals
find themselves quickly promoted to
director or head of their department,
where their career advancement
stops. It's not unusual for an aquatics
programmer to run more classes
than those in other departments. That
same programmer is then not hired
for the head of programmers position,
because they " only work with
aquatics. " Toxic work culture is probably
the hardest to fix, but it is the
most likely to lead to best results. Often,
people will accept a lower-paying
position to work at a location that has
a good work culture. There are hundreds
of books, training classes, YouTube
videos, TED Talks and other resources
about improving work culture
that can help to get you started.
6 Parks & Recreation | A QU AT IC S GUIDE 2 0 2 3
| PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
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Aquatics Guide - 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Aquatics Guide - 2023
