Recognizing the staff members who make your success possible
Last Thursday I caught up on the phone, separately, with 2 longtime group fitness professionals who, quite transparently, are my real-friends in addition to being colleagues, and who do not know one another.
Both are multi-format instructors, who have leaned-into the Master Trainer track of working for a number of years with companies of whose format certifications you're likely familiar.
Both have lead instructor trainings in the mainstream-traditional-convention-space AND internal trainings at boutique studios.
I was expecting to hear about each of their lives both personally and at work, the roses & thorns; a proper catch-up free from glossing-over disappointments.
I didn't expect to engage in two nearly identical conversations within hours of one another.
The focal-point of both conversations was, very very simply, that both of these tenured, intelligent, caring & responsible instructors felt completely unimportant, unrecognized & not properly compensated (1 shared there had been no bonus structure & the other was not reimbursed for travel expenses to certify fitpros) for the efforts they've put into their work.
Given they both are in a select few “faces of the company” for which they've worked, this is especially not good.
They simply feel like their years of dedication & work have been for nothing & are beginning to think strongly what else they may want to do for their occupation.
So, what are the shifts & how can we better ensure our talent feels cared-for?
Here are a few I recommend:
❤️ Quarterly bonuses for consistent class occupancy
❤️ C-suite verbalizing in a meeting, an email, a event keynote speech, on a podcast interview, on a LinkedIn Brag-Status-Update, wherever….the names of the team members responsible for major wins (💸…)
❤️Annual automatic cost-of-living-raises & brief mention to the team that they'll be taking affect on x date (If you're in the USA, here is the link to COLA)
❤️If you have a larger multi-location business…ESOP
What have you implemented at your studio to good success? One of the above or something else? Click reply - I would LOVE to hear.