Learn about the Development and Management of Organisational policy

• Study planning and strategy

• Develop your management of staff

• Course duration: 100 hours of self paced study - the course can be taken as a stand alone subject or studied as part of a Certificate or higher qualification.

• Combine with Leisure Management I, II & III to round out your knowledge.

COURSE STRUCTURE

The course comprises eight lessons, as follows:

Development of Organisational Policy

• Areas to Be Considered Policy Development in Recreational Organisations
• Design of Fitness Equipment
• Managing Construction
• Control Systems
• Creating and Maintaining Information
• Creating and Maintaining Control Systems

Managing Organisational Policy

• Risks Associated with a Lack of Policies
• Quality Control
• Sales Control
• Labour Utilisation Control
• Materials Control
• Maintenance Control
• Financial Control

Staff Management

• Approaches to Management Theory
• A Scientific or Contingency Approach
• The Systems Approach to Management
• The Contingency Approach to Management
• The Neo-Human Relations Approach to Management
• Interviewing, Recruitment and Staff Induction
• Profiling Employees
• Management Styles & Supervision
• Communicating with Employees, Orders and Instruction
• Rules for Managers and Supervisors
• Delegating
• Motivating Employees and Negative Motivators
• Training
• Leaving Employment
  

Developing A Planning Process

• Policy Development
• Planning Parameters: Quality, Time and Strategy Framework
• Setting Standards and Corrective Action

 Managing The Planning Process

• Implementation
• Controlling Progress
• Applying Standards
• Dealing with Conflict
• Work Study
• Techniques of Work Study
• Organisation and Methods
• Quality Systems
  

Management Strategies For Conferences & Seminars

• Conferences and Seminars
• Meetings
• How to Make Meetings Most Effective

Managing Committee Meetings

• Meetings as a Tool for Management
• Committees
• Minutes
• Notes on Conducting a Committee Meeting
• Roles of Office Bearers
• Decisions

Managing Report Development

• report Writing
• Typical Parts of a Report
• Layout of Reports
  
  

What qualification will I achieve on completion of this course? 

This is an individual module course. The individual module courses require approximately 100 hours of study and can be taken on their own or as part of a larger program of study.

If you wish to take an individual module course as a stand alone course, you can elect to sit an optional exam at the end of it.

If you successfully pass the exam and all assignments, you will receive a Statement of Attainment. You can take examinations at a time and location to suit you. If you enrol, you will be sent further information on how to arrange examinations at the end of the course.

If you do not wish to take the exam, you will receive a Course Completion letter when you have passed all assignments.

There is an assignment at the end of each lesson. So for example, if an individual module course contains ten lessons, you will need to complete ten assignments. Assignments can be sent to us via email, post or fax.

Other qualifications, such as certificates, diplomas etc may require examinations to be taken as part of the overall assessment process.

Aims

• Influence the development of organisational policy.

• Manage organisational policy

• Manage the adherence of staff to operational procedures

• Develop a planning process which is well defined and appropriate.

• Manage the planning process.

• Develop management strategies to improve the success of a conference or seminar

• Manage the development of reports

The Right Policies and Procedures Result in Improved Productivity

Poorly controlled operations increase risks to any enterprise. Through this course, you will learn how to control manpower, financial  other resources, and increase productivity. 

Labour Utilisation Control

In a leisure and recreation facility you will need to manage your staff to ensure that you are utilising your labour force effectively. This will mean analysing staffing needs at any given time throughout the day, and creating staff rosters that reflect the facilities staffing needs – making sure there are not too many, or too few staff rostered on. Having too many staff on will result in higher costs to the facility, and may result in boredom if staff have nothing to do. Too few staff can result in stress, frustration from clients, and a higher risk of client harm (for example if there aren’t adequate lifeguards on duty).

For example, consider a swimming pool. Throughout the day there may be times when usage is high and times when usage is low. Consider staffing needs over these times – for example there may be a rush of people swimming in the morning, where you require reception staff, as well as adequate lifeguards. During the day it may quieten down, so the number of staff required may be reduced – however on some days you may have a school come and use the facilities, so on those days you will require extra staff. The afternoons may become busy again with children’s after school swimming lessons. You will need to make sure you have adequate staff to teach the lessons, serve at reception and be on lifeguard duty. You will need to make sure that your staff have the suitable training to complete the tasks they are required to do, and develop a roster accordingly. 

Materials Control

This is concerned with stock control in every sense.   It involves ensuring that the right quantity and quality of material is available when and where required.   In a leisure and recreation facility, the materials concerned may include food and drinks available for purchase, goggles, drink bottles and so on available to purchase, as well as equipment used for activities. 

You may need to conduct inventory audits to determine what stock is present at any given time. There is often one person who is responsible to ensure that stock is maintained at a suitable level – a suitable level is one that ensures that there is always stock available, but not too much stock in storage at any one time. Too much stock being stored can lead to several issues:

• Too much money is unduly tied up in the stock

• There is risk of damage to the stock so it becomes unusable

• It will take up storage space that could be used for something else

• … and so on.

Maintenance Control

The objective of a well maintained facility is to keep total maintenance costs to a minimum.   The total cost is composed of the following:

• The total cost of the maintenance function, that is labour and materials.

• The cost of lost income through downtime, for example rooms out of commission.

• The cost of replacing worn-out equipment. That is the price of new equipment less the value of the old equipment.

There are several types of maintenance which should be considered. These are:

• Maintenance prevention - the avoidance of large scale maintenance by planned servicing, cleaning etc.   

• Preventative maintenance - through planned inspections, followed, if necessary, by repairs. These are all planned and scheduled to avoid loss of usage time.

• Scheduled maintenance - this covers periodic major overhauls and upgrades.

• Breakdown maintenance - this is undertaken only after a breakdown occurs.   

• General maintenance - this covers all types of maintenance.

Generally, these categories cover two broad areas:

1. Related maintenance - this is directly related to the provision of services.

2. Unrelated maintenance - the maintenance of buildings, facilities, roadways etc.

The basic records which aid this type of control are:

• Equipment utilisation records - these show the cumulative production hours.

• Equipment history records - these are especially important when the question of replacement occurs.

Standard times for planned maintenance can be set against whichever actual time can be taken and measured.

Policy Risks

Work place policies should be looked at as a guideline for staff and management, not a set of rules. While breach of a policy should be taken as a serious matter, using it as a "big stick" to control how and what employees do defeats the purpose of the policy. Policies should be a framework on which employees can build and expand. Otherwise, staff will learn to lack initiative and simply "follow the rules" rather than try to improve services and find new, more efficient ways of doing things.

Policies should also be reviewed with some regularity. Some policies will not be popular with customers and staff. This is not a valid reason to change a policy. However, many inconsistencies and problems with policies can only be identified once they are put into practice. If a policy does not seem to be working, try to identify what part is not working, why it is not working and in what way it can be changed and improved. This should be done in consultation with customers and staff, as those working at floor level are often the ones who can best identify the strengths and weaknesses of a policy. Try to look for positive and negative feedback. If complaints are made, then always look to that party to suggest ways changes can be made. 

Policies, however, are a very necessary part of business and the lack of policies can cause the following problems:

• Inconsistency in actions taken by both management and general staff (lack of direction!).

• The need for a consistent approach in the way customers and staff alike are dealt with is paramount to the success of a business.

• Increased possibility of conflict between staff and management, and staff and clients. If different rules apply to different people, all sorts of problems can occur within the business. While a policy should always have flexibility, they do provide a safety net as to why things must be done in a "certain way." It is important to note here that management should always be aware of WHY the policies are what they are. The ability to explain a company policy is just as vital as having one in place. (Most people has experienced the frustration of being told "It's company policy" in lieu of a real explanation!).

• Inefficiencies and inconsistency in dealing with problems.

• Failure to properly/adequately service customers/clients. The lack of policies can often make it difficult on employees who need to make a decision in regard to customer requests. A policy is not a substitute for good customer service, but it will help employees make sound decisions in regard to customer requests.

• Increased likelihood of legal actions taken against the organisation. Policies on issues such as equal employment opportunities, equal use of facilities by all parties, or why a certain facility may be appointed as gender or age specific at a particular time, is important, should those things ever face any legal challenge.

• Increased likelihood of accidents/workplace injuries. Again, making everyone aware of the expectations in regard to safety is important. While employers and employees are bound by the Occupational Health & Safety Act in each state, a code of practice, to instruct all staff and clients on how they can meet their responsibilities is needed. 

So... Why should I take this course?

• Learn to better manage a leisure or recreational facility

• Learn about the development and management of policies

• Study strategy development and reporting

• Be able to contribute more confidently to and manage meetings

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