In the November issue, I discussed the importance of proper onboarding and training to retaining staff for the long-term.
We will now focus on the importance of reinforcing company culture with staff and fostering a fun, welcoming environment they want to stay in. Here is how Stone Creek achieves this objective:
We celebrate our team members and foster “team spirit” through socials, casual break room surprises, our annual crawfish boil and Employee Appreciation Week, to name a few. The staff Christmas Party is talked about for weeks leading up to it, and the pictures and memories are shared for months after. Many team members will train for local races and endurance events together, and bring our team approach to those competitions.
Charitable events and parties at the club are sought-after shifts for our front line staff, and the whole team looks forward to it. We help our community and build team camaraderie at the same time. It’s a great time at the club for our team and members alike.
Industry leaders and friends visit the club and interact with our team. This builds the team members’ knowledge and understanding of the reaches of the fitness industry, and how our club stacks up among our peers. Our team attends conferences, like the Club Solutions Leadership Retreat, and makes connections whom they network with long after the conference ends.
Once an employee is properly trained and can confidently perform their job, they can also be empowered to offer suggestions and make decisions for the benefit of the member experience and the company. In turn, these empowered and engaged employees are happier with their work, feel a sense of belonging/ownership and are more likely to stay longer. And your club will certainly reap the benefits.
We are fortunate to average a member retention rate of nearly 85%. We believe this is a direct correlation to the number of long-term team members we have at Stone Creek, and the passion and value they are able to add to our business every day.
Just like retaining members versus acquiring new ones, it’s less expensive to retain an employee than to hire and train a new one.
