This month we sat down with Mel Tempest, the founder and owner of Ballarat Body and Soul Health and Fitness Studio/Genesis, to discuss positive work culture.
Why is cultivating a positive work culture at a fitness facility important?
When you have a workplace that is safe and inclusive, the team you work alongside with becomes more productive. This alone enhances your business while allowing your team to grow as individuals — professionally and personally.
What does a healthy work culture look like?
It’s definitely the environment the moment you walk in the door — from the body language of the team to the way they dress and conduct themselves and how they converse with the members.
It’s also how they interact with each other. If your members pick up negative vibes from your employees, this can drag down community morale which in turn affects attendance. A positive community creates less stress and more productivity not from just your team, but it also leads to positive results for your members.
What are the biggest challenges clubs face when trying to cultivate positive cultures?
Culture is more than one person’s ideals. It’s a community of beliefs and standards we must work on every day.
What advice can you offer clubs who are trying to improve their work culture?
Include everybody on your team, not just those who shine on the stage. Club owners need to spend more time getting to know their teams and understand what their personal goals are so they can have the opportunity to unlock their full potential. Sometimes, our club’s biggest assets are those employees who speak less yet do more.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Culture is not just about the team. It’s also about your offering as a club community. It’s about the type of people you attract and the people you use in your marketing — as in how they act, speak and dress. Plus, think about the equipment and club décor. All of these attributes come together to make a successful relationship. When somebody strays, that’s usually when members divorce us.
Mel Tempest’s five tips for improving work culture:
1. Open the doors for all.
2. Lead by example.
3. Ensure your team understands and revisits your common purpose and agenda.
4. Stick with a dress code.
5. Most importantly, irrespective of education or social background, run a flatline management policy of “everybody gets a go.”
