Kiley Mutschler, a regional manager with Active Wellness, shares recommendations to support an engaging and interactive hiring experience for health clubs.
Hiring is a critical part of a leader’s role, so it is essential to have strong hiring processes in place for your clubs in order to be successful. You want to ensure the potential employees that you are bringing into your clubs align with the company values, compliment and/or add value to the existing team and support the needs of the business.
“You don’t hire for skills, you hire for attitude. You can always teach skills.” – Herb Kelleher
Here are some recommendations to support an engaging and interactive hiring experience for all parties involved:
Define the Position.
This is not just the title of the job and/or the description, but what does the team need to make it complete? Who is your ideal candidate? What support does your team require? Where are you lacking a set of skills and experience? Whenever you can define the role outside of the title, you will have a clearer vision of who you are looking for and why you need this person.
Understand the Process.
Make sure all parties who will be involved in the hiring process understand and follow the process you have laid out. Consistency is key. Do you require multiple interviews, group interviews and/or what personnel at the club will be handling the interview process? Be professional, on time and in clear communication with your candidates, even those who do not continue forward.
Ask the Right Questions.
While standard interview questions are appropriate and should be required to have a fair process, pre-identify the questions/scenarios you really need answered for this position, think back to the ideal candidate when you first defined the role. I also suggest asking some “off-script” questions. One of my favorites from Chris Stevenson is, “What are your top five?” It is very open-ended and these types of questions allow you to see personality, personal core values and/or common ground with other team members.
Build Rapport.
Interviews need to remain professional in manner but not too stiff. If one of these candidates will eventually be a peer and/or team member, allow the interview process to be a place where you can begin to build rapport with the candidate. Be honest with who you are as a leader and what your expectations are for the role. Engage in conversation and dialogue, allowing the potential new employee to feel connected to the team and the club even before joining.
Extend the Offer.
Once you have been through your full hiring process thoroughly and you are confident you are ready to make an offer, it is important to speak with the potential new employee verbally. When both parties agree and you receive a verbal confirmation they also want to move forward, promptly follow up with a formal offer letter and/or any supplementary compensation plans. You want to make sure the new employee feels excited, welcomed and has clear expectations of next steps.
Welcome to the Team.
With all the formalities complete, the onboarding process is the next critical step in your ability to deem this as a successful hire. The welcoming of the new employee needs to have structure, be organized and all-inclusive of the club. This guarantees the team, as well as the new employee, are clear what their role(s) are in the onboarding process. Furthermore, as with any employee – whether brand new or those with long tenure – here starts the constant loop of feedback, coaching and development as this all leads to employee retention.
“What all great leaders have in common is the ability to find good fits to join their organizations – those who believe what they believe.” – Simon Sinek
Stay tuned for an upcoming blog on effective onboarding and/or retention strategies.
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Kiley Mutschler is a regional manager with Active Wellness, overseeing corporate and multi-tenant fitness centers in Texas, Arizona and Canada. She has over 10 years of experience managing people at all levels; responsible for hiring, training and building strong teams within the organization. Kiley has held many roles within Active Wellness and was named an IHRSA Rising Star in 2019. She can be reached at kiley.mutschler@activewellness.com.
