of GMs who had stayed at his village and who ended up wanting to work
for Club Med.
There was also talk about opening up a GO training school at the Club’s
new Sandpiper village in Florida. “I spoke with Marc Tombez, the director
of training in Paris. He likes the idea of setting up a school where new GOs
would be trained for a week or two before they go to their first assign-
ment,” said Jacky.
Jacky wanted to take a more personal approach in tracking the best GOs
for advancement within the company. “I will make it a point to meet each
GO who is identified as having excellent potential during my visits to the
American zone villages. I believe my taking the time to talk to each of them
individually will give them a better sense of our interest and commitment
to them – leading to reduced turnover among the new GOs who are good.
Maybe I will miss some, but over time, this system will be an improve-
ment. GOs who leave now because they are looking for advancement will
see that the Club can be a career – and they will know that I know who they
are.”
Another of Jacky’s ideas on how to better manage the recruiting process
was to recruit and assign GOs to villages throughout the year, not on a sea-
sonal basis. Approximately 10% of GOs would rotate (or have their con-
The recruitment and internal market domains 349
●“They told me I could use the sports equipment, but who has time? All we do is work
and sleep.”
●“I met a GM from Connecticut who offered me a good job.”
●“Some of the European GOs had a condescending attitude – they thought we had no
idea of what the Club was all about. And we hardly got any positive feedback.”
●“How many times can you tell GMs how to sign up for snorkeling before you go
bonkers?”
●“No television, no radio, no magazines, no newspapers – I’m a college graduate, like
most of the American GOs. My mind was going to waste down here on ‘Gilligan’s
Island’.”
●“When I arrived they showed me my room and then told me to ‘go on stage’.What did
that mean? No one showed me what to do. So I took advantage of the Club Med life
and tried to live like a guest.Two weeks later, the chief canned me.”
●“The lifestyle just wasn’t for me, but I guess I had to experience it first-hand to know
that.”
●“I figured being an American in a French company wasn’t going to do much for my
career.”
●“The European GOs have such a double standard – I think they’re living in the eigh-
teenth century.”Note: No exit interviews were conducted.Figure 5.1.4 Comments from GOs who quit or were fired.