One of the best things you can do for your company, is ensure that your retention rates among your front line staff stay as high as possible. In the health club industry, we often talk about “gaining and retaining” our members. But let’s not forget about our staff! One of the easiest ways to keep your employees around is to make sure that they feel like they’re a part of something bigger. Whether that’s your vision, your culture, or just being a part of the team, I suggest doing consistent check-ins with your staff. Try sitting them down and having them answer the following questions as candidly as they can, ranking their answers on a scale of 1-5 (1 being strongly disagree, 5 being strongly agree). Consider giving them 20 minutes to answer them, and then have a follow-up conversation with them after they’re done filling it out, so that you can go over their answers with them together.
Suggested Questions:
Do I know what’s expected of me?
Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work?
Do I have the opportunity to do what I do best?
In the last seven days, have I received praise and recognition for good work?
Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care about me as a person?
Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
At work, do my opinions count?
Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my work is important?
Are my coworkers committed to doing quality work?
Do I have a best friend at work?
After answering those, make sure that you go back and follow up with anything they didn’t rank a 5. Ask deeper questions to get to the root of why they may not strongly agree with any of those questions. If you find that multiple staff are ranking a certain question lower than others, evaluate your processes as a manager and/or company. Then, give them the opportunity to dream big, by answering these open-ended questions:
If you could change one thing about the company (systems, procedures, vision, etc), what would it be? (Make sure to provide a suggested solution, not just negative feedback).
How can we, as a company, help you reach your long-term and short-term goals?
Again, following up with these questions is key. Don’t immediately get defensive if the answers are not all positive. Use these responses to grow as a manager and as a company. Ideally, you’ll create stronger relationships with your employees and develop a culture of communication that allows them to express themselves continually, not just when they have to answer these questions.
Amanda Purser is the Front Desk Manager at Gainesville Health & Fitness. She can be reached at APurser@ghfc.com.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
