You likely have spent time and money training your staff and developing resources to create a consistent brand for your health club. You probably assume that everyone knows what they need to know and uses the resources you have developed. Unfortunately, that is probably not the case, as many club operators discover that their sales, management and hospitality staffs are unaware of available tools—or are just not utilizing them.

According to the Harvard Business Review, 10 percent of the U.S. population has “the learning mindset,” which describes people who seek knowledge and then actually do something with that knowledge. The other 90 percent does not seek to improve their skills unless it is part of their job requirement.

Can you agree with the following statements?

• All staff perform each aspect of their job with a high degree of excellence and consistency.
• Results are predictable because training and skills are consistent.
• All supervisors and employees would give a similar answer for each question or problem.
• Club member treatment is consistent, no matter who the member deals with.
• All staff members have an excellent performance record and attitude.
• If you cannot agree with every statement above, you are not serious enough about training or are not following through on training your staff members.

You should have training materials, defined processes and plans that you expect all staff to deliver for consistent operations, and you should train everyone on them consistently. Once you have done so, you should implement a weekly quiz. Yes, weekly. Repetition is what makes training stick so staff goes from learning to doing. The simplest form of education is memorization. Once that takes place, then implementation/habit can occur with follow-through from management.

Inform your staff about the weekly quizzes, what will be expected and when those quizzes should be completed. All staff must complete the quizzes so you can ensure that everyone consistently represents the brand based on your training materials and systems.

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