Go ahead: try not thinking about your smart phone and its activities for a few hours. Hard, isn’t it? Indeed, humans may have evolved into a species that seems to include two arms, two legs, and a handheld device in eye range and buzzing at all times.

Handhelds have been a blessing to resorts in so many ways from ticket checking to all sorts of data acquisition and processing. And mobile apps increasingly provide resorts a way to communicate with guests on the mountain and off. But as employees, just like customers, grow more and more attached, dependent and, yes, perhaps addicted to their smart phones, resort management is in a quandary: how to respect employees’ needs and habits while still maintaining the integrity and safety of the entire mountain resort? It’s not easy. And in recent years, the job of figuring out what the rules are and then how to enforce them has been a struggle for management. Because in some circumstances, smart phones help. But in others, they hinder. Finding the balance between the conflicting benefits and drawbacks, and creating rules to maintain that balance, is a struggle.

And a relatively new one. “Only a few years ago, this wasn’t the issue it is today,” says Wally Shank of Wells Fargo Special Risks, and a board member of the National Ski Patrol. Until recently, he notes, “You got in the mountains and you pretty much lost your signal. Now, with cell towers, you can get a signal almost anywhere.”

Add to that the fact that everyone—and particularly the younger generation coming into resort work now—lives in a state of almost constant “connection,” and you’ve got a challenge. And while it would be easier for resorts to just look the other way, they simply cannot.


SAFETY FIRST
The issue comes down, in most cases, to safety. That’s why, for the most part, resorts ban the use of cells and handhelds of any type while operating a lift and while driving any kind of vehicle.

That’s just common sense. At the top and bottom lift terminals, of course, “Things happen very quickly,” says Shank. “You have a chair coming every six seconds or so, and that means you have the potential for something to happen ever six seconds or so. It’s unacceptable to be distracted in any way while there.”

Which seems like a no brainer. Except, it’s easier said than done. Smart phones have a powerful pull on most of us today. Employees used to constantly checking in on things may have a hard time turning that off. And things like smaller phones and voice-activated services like Siri (which allows an employee to troll the web by voice rather than fingers) can make it easier to stay both connected and undetected.

At Wildcat Mountain in Jackson, N.H., general manager Josh Boyd has thought over this issue for some time. And while his resort has a hard and firm “do not use” policy in the winter, the policy often gets bent a bit in the less-busy summer season.

It all depends on what is practical. “In the summer, we’ve put it back on the staff,” Boyd says, as there is less guest traffic and more time of inactivity. “I expect them to act as grown adults. They should know when to use or not use a Kindle or when to send or not send a text.”

He notes that in summer, for instance, the lift to the disc golf and zip line only runs every half hour. In between those moments of operation, the lift operators may find themselves with some down time. If they wanted to surf the web or read on a Kindle, that would not pose a problem, he says. But customers must always come first, and employees simply should know when to be using a handheld and when not to be.

Winter operations, he says, are different. “The lift is always running, and there is almost always someone on it,” he says. “Therefore, there is no downtime, and they should be paying complete attention to the guests and the lift.”

Many other employees in positions away from lifts also need to be aware of what is going on around them at all times in the winter, he says. “Ski school and patrol? There is always something they can be doing,” he says; their responsibilities include watching out for guests’ needs and safety at all times. “And every person working on the mountain when there are guests around—and there are always guests around in the winter—they need to be engaged with them.”


CUSTOMER SERVICE ISSUES
In other words, it’s not just about safety. Shank agrees, and says that while safety is his main concern, he’s also concerned at what smart phone usage by on-duty employees can do to the industry as a whole.

“We are a service industry,” he says. “We have obligations to our guests, and we must be very attentive to their needs. What I’ve seen too many times is less-than-good customer relations.” For example, he recalls being at a resort and seeing a busboy texting while out on the floor. “The ski industry prides itself on service. There’s a PR element to this too, and we need to think of that,” he says.

The ultimate challenge is policing the policy, whatever it might be. Management has much to do, and watching for rule breakers can get in the way of the other aspects of the job. For many employees who are not under immediate or constant supervision—lifties and cat drivers, say—it comes down to trust. And, Boyd says, not all employees handle that level of trust well.

“We had a couple of employees we noticed using cell phones quite a few times (last season),” he says. “They won’t be coming back.”


EXCEPTIONS & EDUCATION
Of course, there are situations in which a smart phone becomes a necessity, especially for managers and supervisors. Sometimes, even with excellent radios, communications need to happen over the air, and in a more private way. Says Pam Fletcher of Nashoba Valley, “Sometimes a text or a quick call is exactly what needs to happen to keep things working well.” And speaking of communications: members of the PR and communications staff are often required to carry and use their cell phones all the time.

All this means that employees might see their managers or colleagues using their phones on the job and feel resentful. That, says Fletcher, requires education and employee management. “They just need to understand the reasons and the times when use is right. And there are times.”

Fletcher also points out that, in this modern age, sometimes an employee might need to have his phone on. A sick child; a family emergency; there are myriad reasons why an employee might need to be available by cell phone. Sure, she says, in the good old days such employees would have to rely on other means, but today, it’s different. She says that at Nashoba, they try to accommodate employees in situations like that.

Both Shank and Boyd agree. All three point out that for a liftie at his post working a lift, constant communication with the outside world is just not feasible. But in other situations, it’s not so cut and dried. For many employees, it’s important for managers to train employees to let someone know what issues might require them to have a phone handy, and to make sure employees follow an established procedure—step away from a public position before taking or making a call so customers do not feel ignored, for example.

All that is not easy on a manager, though. This winter, with the continuing growth of smartphone use and so many resorts offering apps and the world more and more connected via handheld, this is sure to be a top issue.

Shank points out that resorts are not alone in all this. “Wells Fargo has policies now, too,” he says. “For instance, we are absolutely not allowed to use a phone while driving. Period. Most companies have restrictive rules like this, and most have to police them. It’s not easy, but it’s the right thing to do,” he says. “Because it’s about safety.”