Amstel Club

As an organisation that has been in operation since 1936, you may think that Amstel Club are set in their ways, but their ambitious goals, some which are even counter-productive to each other, prove otherwise. They may be Amstel by name, but they’re ambitious by nature.   

This financial year, they set and achieved some incredibly lofty goals, especially considering the shifting business landscape we find ourselves in.

They set a goal to become a hospitality employer of choice in Cranbourne – they increased their hospitality staff by more than one third.

They wanted to increase their food and beverage sales, while decreasing their costs – they almost doubled their sales, and decreased their costs thanks to supplier partnerships, many of whom are local.

If that wasn’t enough, they also sought to make golf more accessible for female, junior and all-abilities players, which they did through the introduction of golf clinics - which have consistently sold out.

Throughout this period, they note that staffing – a vital piece to the hospitality puzzle – has been their biggest challenge. To ensure they maintained an adequate roster of staff, they introduced a number of smart initiatives to retain staff:

• Flexible hours and remote work where possible
• Free meals for staff and discounts for their friends and family
• Ongoing use of facilities
• Mental support with open communication

Ensuring that their staff all felt like an equal part of the team, they participated in Council’s Break the Bias campaign and Changing Perceptions in Employment program - through the latter program, they even employed a further seven people!  

To recruit new staff, they worked with the City of Casey and Victorian Government to place staff from a variety of backgrounds and further offered industry specific training both in-house and using TAFE based training programs.

Daniel Muir, the Club’s CEO, also hosted a visit from a local young capacity building program for indigenous job seekers who had undergone entry level training via Council training initiatives and offered them employment at the club.

The club works to ensure staff don’t just have a job, but can instead develop a long-standing career in hospitality.