6 Things to Keep in Mind When Training Your New Gym Staff

Time to build an all-star team? Recognizing that training is the way to set your new gym staff up for success is the first step! Your staff is a reflection of your vision and your business, so making sure they’re the best of the best will get you to the top of the game.

You know training your gym staff is important, but do you know why? From operational consistency to better qualified employees, the list of the benefits are vast! In fact, studies show that 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if that company invested in the employees’ development. So not only do you get great staff, but you also get to keep them!

Sounds like a recipe for success to us.

Investing in your staff is investing in the growth of your business! Now that you’ve committed to training your gym staff, how do you get started?

1. Develop a Gym Staff Training Plan

One of the benefits of training your team is that it provides consistency in your customers’ experience. But to be able to provide consistent, excellent service—you need a plan!

Get started by taking a look your end game. In order to start off on the right course, you need to know where you’d like to end up. What core principles are the most important to you? What experience do you want to deliver?

Get a handle on your priorities and then follow up by implementing the rules and policies you think will get you where you want to go!

Consider formalizing your gym staff training plan by offering an employee handbook. Sometimes putting it in writing can help keep you on track. Plus, that provides a guarantee that all of your staff gets the same information. Include things like procedural instructions, important policies, and tools for measuring success.

Don’t look at it so much as a rule book, but as a tool to get your team performing at their best, consistently. Formalizing your training will give staff the 3 C’s: clarity, confidence and consistency. And on the plus side, it means they’ll have something they can refer to if they need a refresher!

2. Offer Them a Warm Welcome

New staff on board? Welcome them right from the start! Making them feel like they are a part of your family will set them up for success. You want them in the best frame of mind when learning about your culture and how to best represent your gym.

Statistics show that 33% of employees quit their jobs within 90 days of their start date and 32% of those employees cite company culture as the cause for their unhappiness.

What can you do? Make your new gym staff comfortable by setting them up for success from the start!

Begin to welcome your newest addition by reaching out before their start date. You might be surprised to know that a simple welcome email can go a long way in making an employee look forward to their first day at your gym. Is there any company swag you can offer them as a welcome gift? Can you take them to lunch to celebrate their first day?

The key to getting your new staff on board is to make them feel like they’re already a part of the team.

By making your new gym staff feel welcome, you start their training on the right foot. They will be excited and motivated to work hard to impress you and that’s exactly what you need to get your team performing at their best.

3. Use Your Current Staff as Trainers

Why not let your current superstars help train the next generation of superstars? Handing the training reigns over to your most qualified staffers offers a multitude of benefits.

Giving your current team this responsibility shows you trust them, you value their work ethic, and you want new employees to learn from their experience and wisdom. So this is a benefit for both brand new additions and seasoned members of your team!

By trusting your staff to represent you, you also give the news staffers something to look forward to. The added bonus here? This practice might give the new team a goal to work towards for when they’re experienced enough to graduate from trainee to trainer.

Also consider the fact that it might be less intimidating for new employees to train with your staff. It can be distracting for a new team member to try to make a good impression on the boss, while learning everything they can about your business and policies.

Put new team members at ease and make their transition as smooth as possible by taking any anxiety out of the equation. In order to make your team’s expansion as seamless as possible, make ease of transition a priority in your gym staff training.

This will also get your new team members to start building rapport with the rest of your team as soon as their training begins. Think of this as the ‘buddy system,’ where an experienced member of your staff takes the newest addition under their wing.

This will help to develop a relationship between these two employees right off the bat, and the quicker they bond with the rest of your team, the faster you’ll see results when your all-star cast performs at the top of their game.

4. Look Beyond Official Policies

Training for a new position can be intense, but your gym staff training doesn’t have to be! Focusing on rules and policies is important yes, but as we’ve eluded to—culture is key.

Be sure your gym staff training emphasizes more than just the handbook. Make it clear why your gym is a great place to work! Do you offer any unique perks? Do you encourage promotions from within? Do you reward employees for loyalty?

Not only is a new team member making an impression, but so are you! Fit is important, so be sure to make company culture a key part of your gym staff training to get your team all on the same page.

5. Promote the Team

Teams are made to be built! And while your team will bond and connect organically over time, why not give them a little help? Show your staff that team-building is important to you by making an effort to incorporate that into your culture.

Do you have a budget for events you can all participate in together? Can you celebrate your staff members’ birthdays in some way? Could you even incorporate team-building activities into your new employee training day? These are all simple ways to make team building a priority without breaking the bank.

Making team-building part of your new staff training will show your staff that no matter how long they’ve been an employee, you’ve considered them a part of your team right day one.

6. Get the Tools you Need

Do you have the tools you need to maximize your team’s performance? Are there ways you could streamline your processes to lighten the load and increase efficiency for your team? If you limit your team with outdated or inefficient tools, you reduce production, increase frustration, and could lose any momentum you’ve already built.

Prioritizing employee happiness is also prioritizing increased production.

Consider adding the tools you need to take your gym staff training to the next level. Staff apps like the one offered by WellnessLiving could allow you to stand out from your competition, maximize your team’s performance and better your business.

From synchronized scheduling to monitoring classes, add the tools to make your team’s lives easier will earn you a win! New staff will be impressed and season staff will be grateful, so find out the tools you need to offer the best gym staff training out there.

Keep in mind that a happy team is a productive team! You want your staff to feel motivated, appreciated and invested in the success of your business.

Communicating these priorities and practices in your gym staff training will get new employees excited to be on board and eager to become a contributing member of your team.

Start Building your Winning Team

Get the gym staff you’ve always wanted by starting them off right with a training plan! Once you’ve done the recruiting, keep our tips in mind to turn training your team of superstars into a breeze! Remember that training is more than just your policies, it’s about growing a team that works together to help you get your business to that next level. With a great training program, you’ll see your revenues and your business reach new heights in no time.

And while you’re busy training your new team, let WellnessLiving’s all-in-one fitness studio management software take care of the rest. From staff profiles, staff apps, to everything else you need to run your business, WellnessLiving has your back! Book your free, no-commitment demo today.