Here’s a statistic that should shock any employer - a mere 9 per cent of Australian employees (including gym employees) are engaged in their jobs, and 24 per cent are actively looking for new ones.
As a business owner, you know that poor staff engagement and retention rates mean trouble for your gym. The sooner you address these issues, the sooner you can turn things around.
Before we give you the tips and strategies needed to keep your team happy and engaged, it’s important you first understand why staff retention is so important.
It doesn’t matter if you just opened your gym or you’ve been running it for years. You need to make staff retention a priority. This includes all members of your staff, from the people who run the front desk to your personal trainers.
Here are some of the top reasons why retention rate matters to the success of your business:
Save money: It’s expensive to hire new employees; between the cost of publishing job ads and lost productivity while you train new hires, you might not be able to afford to regularly replace your current staff.
Save time: Don’t forget about the amount of time it takes to find and train new employees; if you don’t have room in your schedule to interview and hire new staff members — let alone train them — you need to focus on improving retention.
Improve member experience: Your staff plays a key role in creating a positive experience for your gym members; if you’re constantly replacing staff members, it can be hard for members to build relationships and feel loyal to your gym.
A high staff retention rate also makes your gym more appealing to future job seekers.
If someone finds out that your employees are consistently quitting and looking for new work opportunities, they’re going to wonder why. They might even assume that there’s something wrong with your work environment and decide to look for jobs elsewhere.
If you’re constantly replacing staff members, it can be hard for your members to build relationships and feel loyal to your gym.
Now that you know why keeping happy is important, it’s time to talk about how you can improve your retention rate. Here are seven essential tips to implement…
The way you advertise open positions has a big impact on your staff retention rates.
Put simply, if people don’t feel that you’ve been honest when describing a position, they might feel frustrated when they start the job. They may even quit when another opportunity becomes available.
One way to avoid this issue is to change the way you write your job ads. Be clear about the responsibilities each position entails and what you expect from your employees. That way, they won’t be taken by surprise after they’re hired.
Improving your onboarding process can also improve your staff retention rate. A key component of good onboarding is adequate training.
If you don’t give people the tools they need to do their job well, they’re going to have a hard time meeting your expectations. They’ll also be less engaged and more likely to look for work elsewhere.
If it’s been a while since you updated your onboarding process, now might be a good time to do so. Make sure new employees know how to use all the tools at your gym (including your lead management software and scheduling software) and are aware of the facility’s rules.
Sometimes, your staff needs a little extrinsic motivation. There are lots of ways to incentivise good performance at your gym.
For example, you could offer personal trainers a bonus if they sign on a certain number of new clients, or you could give your sales staff bonuses if they sell a certain number of memberships per month or quarter.
For other staff members, you can offer bonuses or rewards for non-sales-related things, like attendance.
If you want to improve your staff retention rates, you need to communicate with all members of your team.
Remember that communication works two ways, too. If you’re doing all the talking but aren’t listening to your staff, you’re not being a good communicator.
Let them know that your door is always open and you’re always ready to hear what they have to say.
You could offer personal trainers a bonus if they sign on a certain number of new clients, or you could give your sales staff bonuses if they sell a certain number of memberships per month or quarter.
In addition to incentivising specific performance-related aspects of their jobs, you can also improve retention by reconsidering the benefits and perks offered at your gym.
For example, do you offer a benefits package? Do you offer paid time off or regular opportunities for raises?
You may want to consider offering other perks like free fitness memberships or a well-stocked staff lounge as well.
People are more likely to stick with an employer if their employer is invested in their professional development. In other words, give your staff opportunities to expand their careers.
For your personal trainers, this might look like helping them earn new continuing education credits. For your sales staff, this might look like offering access to new sales training courses.
When employees decide to leave, conduct exit interviews to find out why they’re moving on.
This might be an awkward conversation, but it’s an important one. Conducting an exit interview helps you find out what you can do differently in the future to ensure new employees stick around longer.
You may want to consider conducting stay interviews as well. Stay interviews involve sitting down with current employees and asking them what kinds of changes they’d like to see that would encourage them to stay with you long-term.
Staff retention is a key component of running a successful gym or fitness studio. By following the tips listed above you can improve your work environment, keep your gym staff happy, and ensure they stick with you for the long haul.
It’s not just your gym staff you need to be working to retain, it’s important you also show this same level of care to your gym member retention. Check out this blog post today to learn how you can level up your member retention rate.
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