Bike Haul Pass/Swifty Construction/Wage Thoughts
from Christine Baker
Hi Mountain Sport School,
Quick Updates:
Bike Haul Pass
If you’re interested in a summer bike haul pass, let me know and I’ll get you on a list for the winter employee rate of $149 + tax. Passes will be available to pick up at the Mountain Services ticket windows starting June 12. Bring your winter pass and it will be loaded to it. If you don’t have your winter pass it will be an additional $5 charge.
Swift Current Deconstruction as of 5/27/21
Wage and Bonus Structure
We need to grow in a way which prioritizes instructor and guest experience. We are dedicated to improving the instructor experience. One piece to that is a sustainable wage structure. We see you as trusted professionals and want you at a wage that reflects your contribution.
Starting Wage
We are happy to say that our starting wage for instructors has increased from $11.50 to $12.50 and we plan to carry that increase up for everyone. Each returning instructor will receive their regular performance raise plus $1.
Bonus Structure
Another piece of the puzzle is our bonus structure. Currently, we have these bonuses:
Product Bonuses $ Comments:
Private Request $15.00
Private Assigned $6.00
Specialty Private (SF, Family, Guide, Training) $12.00
Yellow Dino and Small Fry Camp $4.00 Per student per hour
Group Student (mini) $3.00 Per student per hour
Group Student Bonus (Adult, SC, SB) $1.50 Per student per hour
We are considering increasing base wage by $6 to include all bonuses, except request private. This would give us a standard teaching rate and a request rate.
How would these changes impact instructors? If we made both of these changes:
Our FT new hires this past year, on average:
· Worked 435 hours
· Earned $7500 for the season
· Averaged $17.20/hr
With an average of 435hr and $18.50 ($12.50/no cert/bonus included) = $8048 which is a 7.3% increase
Base Wage into the Future
As we grow, complexities naturally increase. We want to be simplifiers, not complexifiers. We look at what we do and consider how additive something is. Is there a simpler way to do it that creates the same or better results?
In our current system, wage is a combination of objective (certifications and accreditations) and subjective (performance). Currently, we have individual wages for instructors - 312 instructors and 67 different rates of pay.
Going forward we could continue with that same strategy, or we could adjust. We could go with a more objective pay structure based on specific criteria (potentially certification and experience). Instructor performance, rather than influencing your raise each season, would be the way you maintain a spot on the team. One benefit to this is creating more transparency in pay and showing a direct, reasonably objective, path for pay increases.
Whichever direction we go, we want it to encourage instructors to work together and see each other as collaborators and resources. We don’t want our systems to create unhealthy competition between team members. You’re the reason we are making these changes. We want you involved in the process and your feedback is a key part of the process. Here is a quick survey to give your input. The first 4 questions pertain to the bonus plan. The last one is for the future wage structure.
Thank you for your thoughts and if you like a longer format, you’re emails or phone calls are always welcome.
Be Well,
Christine
Christine Baker
Pronouns: she, her, hers
Director of Mountain Sports | Big Sky Resort
(P) 406.995.5736 | www.bigskyresort.com