What happened to lift ops wearing uniforms?and being ignored because a liftie is on his phone at the load station is setting us up to fail our guests.
First of all, Meadows is amazing and I do not want to sound ungrateful in anyway. I've been here for a couple of seasons and every year is better, and it's one of the better resorts I've worked at. Something that I wanted to discuss is not Meadows fault, but just a standard from the outdoor/ski industry that I think is a topic worthy of discussion and deserves attention.
I feel like the outdoor/ski industry has gotten away with paying lower wages and justifying it with the industry "Stoke". You make $10 when you should be making $12-$14... but you work at a resort!! You get a free pass!! You get pro deals!! (that you still can't afford). Meadows does an amazing job of providing opportunities for a lot for employees, and these are incredible benefits to working at a resort that I am incredibly grateful for! But, I feel like that industry "Stoke" should not replace living wages. I mean, I love snowboarding as much as the next, but a seasons pass can't buy groceries or pay rent. No one here works here for the money, but because they love their job. But is loving your job a reason to be paid less?
Again, this is not meadows fault. More of a discussion that I find important, and would eventually love to see happen across the board in the outdoor/ski industry. I love my job, and no, I do not do it for the money. I just feel like this aspect does not match the rest of the standards and beliefs that the outdoor/ski industry adhere too.
You don't sound ungrateful at all. There is nothing wrong for wanting to make your mountain home better and saying so in a professional, reasoned manner. You pose a struggle that many people experience which has existed for a while. I don't have a fast, easy answer and won't go into the balancing act of growing the company, keeping it profitable and reinvesting in the team. You have heard that from Jake in orientation and other places; I trust you will find an Exec Team person if you want more. We designed the compression tables (to address rising minimum wage) and wage matrix processes (to recognize gaining competency) with the aim of moving the needle on wages as well as creating a fair, clear and transparent process for calculating them. Now that we have what I think is better procedural justice, we are not resting there. Know that we are continuing to work on the aforementioned balancing act for how we can make working here more sustainable. I don't think anybody goes into the ski biz with the plan of becoming a millionaire, but I do think we have to strive to make it at least a little easier to hope you could do this job as more than just a hobby or a passing phase. Thank you for speaking up.
- Matt Troskey, VP for People & Learning (x1312)
It would be nice if the other food locations, especially fresh tracks, were open at night. The food in the Shuss is tasty but sometimes it’s a little much and it would be nice to get a sandwich or noodle bowl for dinner instead of a burger or chicken strips. Most of the time the night crew doesn’t have a chance to get something until later in the afternoon when everything is closed. Maybe something as simple as offering premade cold sandwiches from the Shuss.
It would also be nice to have some one in HR at night. It doesn’t seem fair that a night employee should have to wait until the next day to talk to HR about an issue in their workspace or ask questions, pick up w2’s or request exchange letters in the brief window when they start their shift.
It feels like the night employees don’t get very much support or access to benefits and it would be nice to see some changes there.
The mountain is always improving and changing, let’s not forget to include everyone in positive change.
The photos in ski school have not been updated from last year. I am not in ski school, but I find it pretty ridiculous that no one has swapped these out. I can imagine that having your photo on the wall helps with both customer and coworker recognition and it seems time for those recognized last year with awards should be put up immediately seeing as it is already almost mid February.
Thank you for mentioning this again. Swapping the photos is easy. We need to send out the name plates for engraving. We'll get those name plates engraved and the photos updated. - Tyler Barnes, Learning Center Operations Manager
I am getting quite weary from doing my snow dance. I need a break, I need some fresh snow. I am so very hopeful, yet very skeptical that we will actually get a dump of snow this weekend. Seems every weekend, the forecast disappoints. Can you please do something about that? 🙂
Looks like all those snow dances paid off!
-Jeremy Riss
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my job at MHM! And giving the cookies to guests (and maybe a Team Member or two...wink-wink) is probably my favorite part of the job. Many guests have said "Really? These are free? Wow - cool!" Telling them "Thank you for coming up today" and "We hope to see you again soon!" with a smile makes my day, and hopefully helps make their day a little better, too! Let the POW dances begin!
Thank you so much for sharing, I'm sure you are making the day better for many guests which is awesome!
-Jeremy Riss
I work weekdays as a server. Every shift a few servers are sacrificed to dud stations that will only fill up once if at all over a six to eight hour shift. On these days there are also team members that would happily take off and go ride. I sure do wish we could find a way to match the riders with the snow and the people jazzed to serve with customers.
Further more I am unhappy that I was asked to sign away my right to a break. The explanation was that we are too busy for all of that break stuff. In my experience the restaurant and the team members that want to eat or just rest are not too busy. The only one too busy for breaks is the manager, because they probably have the only busy section.
So I'm not as stoked as I once was. I want to be engaged in the work I signed on for and receive basic consideration on shift.
I appreciate the opportunity to leave this feedback and also the hard work put in by the restaurant management staff, I know it's not easy. Thanks!