As Australian golf clubs continue to navigate their way around the pandemic, electronic voting specialists Vero Voting have come to the party with a platform to make important member decisions stress-free.
Ask any golf club secretary-manager what’s the least favourite part of their job and they’ll more than likely tell you it’s annual general meetings and board elections.
“The reliance clubs put on volunteers to be scrutineers creates an enormous amount of angst to a process that is already heavily criticised and politicised,” says one industry insider with years of general manager experience in club land. “The traditional process of counting votes for crucial club office positions and decisions is completely redundant in today’s modern world.”
Such stresses could now be a thing of the past if electronic voting management company Vero Voting ramps up its crusade in Australian golf.
Branded as ‘Australia’s trusted, innovative leader in voting management’, Vero’s bespoke voting solutions are designed to save businesses time and resources, and ensure their vote is conducted to meet any governance requirements.
“Traditionally speaking, golf clubs have always been paper-based when it comes to their voting process,” says Vero Voting director Greg Mitchell. “Clubs always get together and get volunteers or officers within their membership to co-ordinate their elections manually on paper. And in today’s environment, with lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions, that process has been very sporadic. But with an online voting system, it makes everything more engaging and allows companies like us to communicate in real time to members, and they can cast their vote in the privacy of their own home.”
With major national clients, including the big banks and leading electronic brands, Mitchell said Vero Voting was tailor-made for the traditional golf club, which can often be political by nature and open to internal conjecture when it comes to the ballot.
“The beauty of using external companies for important decision-making processes is we are totally independent of everyone involved in the actual vote,” adds Mitchell. “When the club completes its nomination process, that’s when we take over and prepare all the documentation, prepare the actual notice of election with instructions on how to vote and e-mail that out to all members. We store all this information privately on our system and generate unique credentials for every single member to ensure they can only vote once. And because this system works on 100-percent anonymity and easy-to-use functionality, it ensures a higher rate of voter turnout compared to traditional methods. Members simply follow the how-to guide on their hand-held device or computer and lodge their vote.”
Imagine a world where there’s no more pinning notices on locker room walls or to-ing and fro-ing around a boardroom table. That world is here now, and it’s free of social distancing and masks. And with some monumental decisions looming for clubs post-lockdown, Mitchell expects a steady influx of enquiries from clubs looking to fast-track changes to their constitution.
“What COVID-19 has proved is government restrictions are allowing clubs to change their constitution more easily by conducting meetings online,” says Mitchell, confirming Vero also manages the online meeting requirements of clubs and businesses across the country.
“All clubs want to find a better way, not just to get people on the golf course, but to actually engage and communicate with them. This is definitely the way.
“What’s really struck me is how Australia’s golf membership has been so adaptive to new technology. The sport’s ageing population has really embraced technology because they’ve had no choice but to. Which is why it’s such a great time to change the way they vote, use our technology to their benefit and get those changes done.”
Mitchell said Vero’s recent dealings have shown that 1,000-member clubs that previously could muster only 100 members to a vote were now attracting upwards of 400 people to the ballot.
The turnaround time for the result had vastly improved too. Clubs that were previously spending days counting and waiting for ballots to come through were now getting results almost instantly.
“There’s less administration and a lot less conjecture among members because club officials can now completely wipe their hands of the process. We take that contention out of it because we deliver a true and fair result every time. It’s just a no-brainer for clubs,” Mitchell says.
Whether it’s preferential voting, first past the post or an online AGM with a point of difference, Mitchell said Vero Voting catered for everything, offering a level of flexibility that put the power firmly back in the hands of clubs.
“Every club is different. We simply customise a system to suit their needs,” he said.
They say every election is determined by the people who show up. Now, Australian golfers don’t even have to do that.
For more information on Vero Voting and how it can help your club move forward, check out verovoting.com.au
