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1. Rob Bishop

   There were times, years ago, when we preferred to hire trainers or instructors with a lot of experience. One of our managers, our Personal Training Director, changed our thinking on that. Two years ago, we promoted her to the position of PT Director. We trusted her implicitly and gave her free reign to run the program as she pleased. We discussed ideas on a daily basis and I tried to be more of a sounding board. We had always struggled trying to grow the program so I figured–let’s try anything you think might work. She wanted to do things that we never did before (coupons, specials, contests, etc.). Most of it worked, some of it didn’t. We would never have found the things that worked if hadn’t tried new things. The key, for us, was to track what worked and what didn’t and to discuss both. Then repeat the successes!

   One of the things she did was to hire several young trainers with limited or no experience but a great deal of enthusiasm and energy. She worked with them closely, mentoring, teaching, goal setting, talking, and encouraging. They have all done a tremendous job. There is a learning curve and they have made mistakes along the way. We ENCOURAGE them to take chances and make mistakes. How else can we differentiate ourselves–how can we be better than other clubs? When we hire a new employee, it is sometimes difficult to get them to make decisions, they want to “check with someone” on everything. Make decisions and try to solve problems. If we think you handled it well, we’ll tell you. If not, we’ll discuss other options for next time–learn new skills and get better at your job. Otherwise, I’ll never be able to take a day off!

   On October 1, 2009 at 11:47 am • Reply