Inventive Incentives
advertisement
Interact With Us
Best of 2011
Top Stories of 2011
The most popular stories of 2011. Did your favorites make our list?
Resource Center
Buyers Guide
Find industry businesses by product or service categories, view company profiles and more.
Club Industry Trade Show
Club Industry Show and Conference, held each October, is the premier event for fitness and wellness professionals. Find out more about Exhibitors, Events, and Education.
Industry Events & Trade Shows
The industry-wide calendar features listings for educational events, trade shows and more.
Classifieds
View classified ads for health club equipment and services, plus business opportunities and job postings.
Current Issue
Read stories from the latest print issue of Club Industry magazine.
Club info and News
Read news about some of the biggest names in the industry.
- 24 Hour Fitness
- Anytime Fitness
- Bally Total Fitness
- Crunch Fitness
- Club One
- Curves
- Equinox
- Gold's Gym
- Health Fitness Corp.
- LA Fitness
- Life Time Fitness
- Lifestyle Family Fitness
- Planet Fitness
- Plus One Management
- Powerhouse Gyms
- Snap Fitness
- Spectrum Athletic Clubs
- Sport & Health
- Town Sports International
- Sports Club Co.
- Urban Active
- Wellbridge
- Western Athletic Clubs
- World Gym
E-Newsletter Signup
Breaking news on the industry, people on the move, mergers and acquisitions and much more. Delivered weekly.
Group fitness programming is a critical element of the personality and image of your club, and keeping classes full of sweaty, smiling members is crucial for member retention. Clubs with great classes find that the program is initially instructor-driven or at least supported by key instructors. Employees represent your club, and your business is only as good as your people. In principle, happy, motivated instructors who are busy developing new classes and programs for your group fitness program directly boost member retention and attract new clients.
MOTIVATE AND INCLUDE YOUR CREATIVE STAFF
How do we motivate top players to create and deliver remarkable experiences to your members, and not for your competitors' members? To retain key players we must understand what motivates them towards excellence from the very first meeting, and continue with innovative incentive plans, an open dialogue, and a win-win relationship.
Issue a survey to new talent to understand their long-term views and career path.
Periodically, write a letter to your instructors, telling them how much you value and appreciate all their hard work and talent.
On a day-to-day basis be generous with your accolades — we all need daily love and recognition, and most of us just don't get enough from our superiors.
Honor your creative staff and educate your instructors regarding your company's goals, concerns and operations, as well as your needs for new programming and memorable experiences to wow your members.
Give them an opportunity to contribute by asking for their creative insight. Your instructors are the front line and know best what your members' need.
COMPENSATE WELL
It isn't always about the money, but money is important. If you don't pay your talent well, someone else will. That does not mean that compensation automatically means a raise — motivating staff to produce valuable work means tapping into the many resources available to you. The key to keeping your instructors on board and motivated is your compensation package. Think out of the box in terms of employee incentive packages, from incorporating new benefits and insurance to promotional representation to special privileges.
Lashaun Dale, M.A., is group fitness manager for Equinox Fitness Clubs, NY, and can be reached at (212) 663-9209 or antoinette.dale@worldnet.att.net.
INCENTIVES
Creative compensation ideas.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!
© 2012 Penton Media Inc.
Acceptable Use Policy blog comments powered by Disqus