management. That way, they have many American GOs reporting to them –
and they can focus on learning to manage. If they have mostly European GOs
under them, their job becomes much more complex – the language, customs,
habits, and so forth are so much different. For example, we had a windsurf-
ing instructor; she was the world freestyle champion two years in a row –
for both men and women! Different village chiefs watched her closely during
her first few seasons as a GO to assess her potential to become a chief of
service.When she was promoted, I argued with Paris that she should stay in
the American zone for at least one season. But she was assigned to a village
in Israel, where the GOs reporting to her were from many countries and she
was in a foreign culture. This added great pressure to her job. But I under-
stand Paris’s reasons. They saw her as a great attraction for the village. The
world champion from America! The same is true of other Americans who
become chiefs of service.Recruiting in the American zone
In 1985 Club Med received about 10,000 résumés in response to ads for
American GOs placed in major magazines. Each ad resulted in a flood of
letters, often numbering 80 a day. Jacky’s office was responsible for screen-
ing the résumés and notifying those who would be given interviews (1,300
candidates per season, 2,600 per year).
“It is harder for us to assess the résumés here in America,” Jacky
explained, “because we cannot ask, for example, for a photo, or the
person’s age – because of the discrimination laws. In France, we don’t have
such laws, and recruitment is generally easier. Sometimes, we give inter-
views to people who really don’t fit the ideal Club Med profile. For
example,” he laughed, “I interviewed one man who wanted to be an enter-
tainer. The problem was, he had a horrible stutter. If I had hired him, it
would have been a terrible experience for him and the guests. Luckily, he
had ability in other areas and I was able to hire him to be a GO in another
department. However, I usually cannot switch people around so easily.”
Jacky paused for a moment. “In that sense, we interview many more
people here than we would in Europe, where we don’t have discrimination
laws.”
Jacky continued, “On the other hand, I have seen so many résumés that
I can usually tell the bad ones very quickly. It only takes five minutes to
read a résumé. And my assistants know what to look for,” Jacky continued,
“because it’s really not so difficult once you do it for a while.”
Comments from others indicated that accurate assessment of résumés
was problematic because North Americans’ résumés tended to be “cre-
ative”. Many were designed to attract attention; others overstated appli-
cants’ qualifications. One GO, a veteran of five seasons, stated:
344 Relationship Marketing