The Road Ahead: Developing An “Innovation Culture” at The Country Club of Virginia – Club + Resort Business
The Country Club of Virginia (CCV) in Richmond, Va. has always been at the forefront of implementing progressive and effective concepts for enhancing club operations and increasing member value and engagement. But 2020 brought a “new reality,” General Manager Phil Kiester says, that caused the management team to see the need for a new approach that “balances the incremental change of evolution with the bold creativity of innovation.” In this episode of C+RB’s video series, Kiester and Ryan Bender, CCV’s Food & Beverage Director, describe how the club is transitioning “to keep our dedication to innovation at a high level,” Bender says, “without the natural stress caused by the pandemic.”
“The Road Ahead” video series from Club + Resort Business highlights how clubs are moving forward to create successful new programs, events and amenities and enhance the member experience.
This episode features how the management team and staff at The Country Club of Virginia (CCV) in Richmond, Va. is adapting lessons learned from responding to the challenges of the pandemic to develop and sustain a new innovation culture that can now be incorporated into the club’s day-to-day operations as full activity resumes.
CCV has always been at the forefront of implementing progressive and effective concepts for enhancing club operations and increasing member value and engagement. But 2020 brought “a new reality,” says General Manager Phil Kiester, that caused the management team to realize that its usual approach of “evolving to excellence through continuous improvement” needed to give way to a faster-paced focus on innovation that “involves an entirely different mindset.”
“We need to create a culture that balances the incremental change of evolution with the bold creativity of innovation,” Kiester explains. “The most important thing is to carry the lessons we’ve learned forward, and fight the gravitational pull back to our old ways of ‘slow and steady wins the race.’ “
Kiester and Ryan Bender, CCV’s Food & Beverage Director, describe how the club is carefully developing and transitioning into its new approach by following four guiding principles:
“The biggest challenge we now face is learning how to keep our dedication to innovation at this new high level without the natural stress” caused by the pandemic, Bender notes.
“It’s easy to unite and act with urgency when faced with a common enemy of challenge,” Kiester adds. “But one of the greatest things we’ve learned during the past 14 months is what we are capable of doing, creating and accomplishing together—and I have every confidence those lessons will not be forgotten as we ramp up [to full activity].”
(Viewing time: 11 minutes)
Previous episodes of “The Road Ahead” can be viewed at https://clubandresortbusiness.com/category/the-road-back/
Upcoming episodes will feature how a club turned the disappointment of having to close its driving range during the shutdown into a “winning moment” by creating a popular new temporary and safe short-course alternative. Also, we’ll look at how the new Quicksands short course at Gamble Sands Golf Club in Brewster, Wash. is joining the property’s popular David McLay Kidd championship layout and Cascade Putting Course to form a trifecta of golf options.
If you have a great idea or success story you’d like to see featured on a future episode of “The Road Back,” contact [email protected].