Operators Reveal What They’re Doing To Recruit & Retain Staff...

A recent YouGov poll revealed 57% of British workers would like the autonomy to work from home or on a hybrid basis.

With some workers opting to change sectors and careers that favour a flexible way of working, what is the fitness industry doing to retain and recruit new staff? We spoke to industry professionals including LFX network members from the private, public and independent sectors to get their opinions. It’s not just attracting new faces into the fitness industry that is becoming increasingly difficult, but also ensuring current staff feel content and appreciated at work.

Public/Third Sector Chief Executive at OCL Stuart Lockwood told LFX: “It’s tough to recruit and it feels harder to retain, particularly around supervisor/middle management level. Departures tend to be to different industries rather than other leisure businesses.” Stuart and his team made subtle changes to the OCL recruitment process - looking for the ‘’right’’ people for the job, not the most qualified, using more inclusive imagery on marketing materials to appeal and flexible working hours to fit around the school run to appeal to people who would usually apply for a role. To add extra value for staff, OCL are also working on implementing an enhanced reward programme and investing in more training.

LFX members also said it’s important to promote the benefits a career in the industry can bring to potential employees and showcase the opportunities available for further training, learning new skills, job satisfaction and progressing through the ranks. Kevin Forester, Commercial Director at Livewire, agrees. He added: “In all my time working in the industry, I’ve never seen it so threadbare in terms of staff. “We can’t always be the most competitive when it comes to packages, but what we can offer is working in an environment you are passionate about and a development pathway.

“When we come into work, we know it’s meaningful and that what we’re doing here is making a difference to people’s lives. “You can see the exhilaration from members leaving classes and the impact of being more fit and healthy.”

Long waiting times between interview and job offer can sometimes create uncertainty for candidates, causing them to lose interest or look elsewhere, at Livewire work has been done to streamline and speed up recruitment. The team are also working on a scheme for aspiring PTs, working with a local training provider to offer all students who pass the qualification a job interview.

Leisure trust Barnsley Premier Leisure has been working hard to ensure its sites are an attractive place to work and encourage staff engagement and loyalty. BPL has developed an Employee Value Proposition to realign the trust’s core and brand values and make sure employees know what’s expected of them. A BPL spokesperson explained: “The process began in November 2021 where we worked with our employees to co-create a framework that clearly communicates our values and the promises we make as a company to our employees in return for their efforts and loyalty.

“It became clear our staff wanted appreciation, development opportunities, benefits and they loved the fun and friendly culture that exists within BPL. “The process highlighted several areas where we could make improvements that would have a major impact on our employees, such as staff rooms, training provision and a better onboarding procedure to make everyone feel like they are ‘part of the BPL family.”

Independent sector Many independent gym owners, work with much smaller teams, generally, they aren’t having the same challenges with staff recruitment or retention as some of the bigger operators. We spoke with independent gym owners whose experiences and difficulties were very different from industry colleagues in the public sector.

Chris Kirkby who manages Vibes Gym in Shefford, Bedfordshire has an entirely different recruitment process because he is able to eliminate long-winded procedures. He told LFX: “We simply have an initial 45-60 minute interview with a group of candidates then we make a decision, the process is different because we don’t have all the red tape.”

James Formby, owner of Ironworks gym in Maidstone agrees, stating that his recruitment process isn’t really a ‘process’, it’s a lot more organic. He said: “Pretty much all staff including ex staff have been members, if we like someone and have the hours available, we ask them or they ask us, that’s it. “We are fortunate enough to have an AMAZING team at the Ironworks, and even more fortunate to have an incredible staff retention rate, our gym manager has been with us for over 10 years.”

Chris believes a key part of ensuring your staff are happy and performing well is leading by example and ensuring you’re passionate about what you’re doing. He said: “When a gym owner isn’t passionate about their job how can they expect their staff to be, paying well and offering staff incentives always helps but showing your passion for fitness to your staff really helps them thrive.”

James thinks the key to ensuring staff are happy in their job is treating them with respect and doing your best as a manager to support their development. He added: “Pay your staff well and make them feel welcome and valued, I will ALWAYS shake the hands of every member of staff everyday I come in and whenever I leave, they get thanked for their work daily.

“Gym work isn’t really a long term job for the younger staff members (18-21) so we actively encourage further and other career progression and provide advice and references when they find their chosen full time career path.” Chris also thinks it's important to be transparent about exactly what a job in fitness entails, so expectations are realistic.

He said: “Fitness sounds glamorous but the reality is sometimes you have the responsibility of looking after the entire business. “From cleaning toilets, painting walls, reorganising the gym floor and dealing with complaints.

“You need to be very self-motivated to really stick at a job in fitness, nobody is going to hold your hand.”

Essentially independent gym owners are able to chop and change all aspects of their business more quickly - from recruitment to memberships without having to follow specific protocols and regulations.

Final thoughts…

Take notes from other industries If ever there was a time for our industry to look at other industries and observe what they’re doing and how they work when it comes to recruitment and staff retention that time is now.

Cherish current employees We need to love and cherish our staff in order to retain them, we can do this by listening to what they want and be accommodating where we can. This could mean hybrid working, employee benefits packages or flexi-time. If these simple changes make staff happier at work business will run smoother.

Cut out recruitment red tape We must also remove recruitment red tape, if you interview someone who you know would be brilliant at the job the turnaround should be quick and seamless, not long and drawn out. I am always eager to hear your thoughts and opinions on all aspects of our industry!

Get in touch: graeme@mylfx.com