This month we sat down with Lisa Ling, the personal training director at VIDA Fitness & Aura Spa, on hiring personal trainers.
What characteristics do you look for in personal trainers?
Personality. I learned early on experience and a perfect resume don’t always translate into the perfect candidate. An engaging conversation is usually one of the first indicators of a good candidate. Other characteristics I look for include high motivation, eagerness to learn, adaptability and high energy.
What are some of the best practices you can share for hiring personal trainers?
Interview everybody who applies, or at least almost everyone. Like I stated above, resumes aren’t always the best indicator for skill and capabilities. A candidate willing to put in the work to qualify for the job could end up being your best hire.
Keep the process simple and streamlined. Schedule a pre-screening call and keep the conversation light but guided by a set of predetermined questions. Refer qualified candidates to an in-person interview at the physical location of choice.
How do you develop leaders within your personal training department?
VIDA Fitness provides continuous opportunities for professional development in-house or externally as needed. Our tiered personal trainer skill-level structure offers our trainers the opportunity to grow within the organization. VIDA Fitness believes in rewarding performance by offering internal promotion opportunities into other areas of the organization — many of our managers started off as personal trainers. We have an open book policy when it comes to our performance metrics and share those openly with our staff. This provides an opportunity for those interested to be more involved.
How do you foster camaraderie among your personal trainers?
Each of our locations has a unique dynamic. We empower our managers to engage the team as they see fit. Whether it’s a high-five, social event or development session, we always have a positive and inclusive approach. Our bonus structure is team-based first, which we find develops a strong team spirit and sense of belonging.
Anything else you want to add?
Always keep your team dynamic in mind when making hiring decisions; keep diversifying your team to stay competitive; and don’t take bad hiring calls too personal.
