When you think of the health and fitness industry’s biggest challenges a few things may come to mind — political advocacy, getting members to spend more within your club walls or even choosing the best equipment. However, there’s one struggle every facility faces no matter the size, location or reputation: staffing.
“Finding and attracting top talent to our industry is the biggest challenge,” said Mark Miller, the COO of Merritt Clubs. “I think over time we went from the cool kids to the ‘hey we can’t make a living there and it’s a lot of work.’ Our brand and image have changed. We need to correct that and show that people can have a great life, have fun, make an impact and make a good living.”
For Jeff Linn, the executive director of the Weymouth Club, the staffing challenge can really be broken into three different sections: frontline staff, technical staff and leadership.
The main hiring challenge for frontline customer service roles is finding the right mix of experience levels. Ideally, teams should include both seasoned, mature employees — not necessarily older, but more experienced — and newer staff still in development. For example, at a busy front desk handling 10,000 members and non-member activity, you can’t have two inexperienced employees working together — it just doesn’t work. The goal is to balance “plug-and-play” employees with those you can train and develop. This challenge applies across various departments, like lifeguards or childcare, not just the front desk.
The second hiring challenge is with technical professionals like personal trainers, tennis pros, swim or dance instructors. Some roles, like high-level dance or tennis instructors, require specialized experience and can’t be easily replaced — you need to find someone truly qualified. While some positions, like personal trainers, can be filled internally by inspired members or referrals, others, especially elite-level roles, usually require recruiting from outside the organization through strong external networks and relationships.
The final hiring challenge is finding strong leadership for key business areas. While some managerial roles like front desk manager can be filled locally with hospitality experience, more complex departments — like the Weymouth Club’s aquatics department that has eight pools, does $1.5 million in revenue, has 20 instructors and employs over 110 staff — require someone with general manager-level experience. These leadership roles, such as aquatics director, kids center manager or other specialty directors, are highly specialized and difficult to fill. They demand extensive experience and can’t easily be replaced with a simple plug-and-play hire.
With more clubs, more different styles of work and the newer generation valuing other aspects it has become increasingly harder to recruit, find and hire people. With that being said, over the past few years facilities like Merritt Clubs have done a few things to combat this.
“We’ve developed an in-house development program, and our goal is to hire 70% of our team leaders through internal means,” explained Miller. “We have partnered with other organizations to get referrals for talent, we also have an internal employee referral program to help with this. Lastly, we’ve used headhunters in rare cases of specific needs and talent.”
Additionally, Miller advised the first true step in combatting the staffing challenge is to have a good culture. He explained your culture will attract people to work for you, then it’s about how you show it and that begins with proper onboarding and training and development.
“If you don’t set your team up for success from the start you will lose them,” said Miller. “We must treat employee engagement and retention just as seriously as we treat members. I prefer to say even more.”
Linn agreed employee engagement is a great way to combat staffing short falls. He shared three things to keep in mind when searching for the best employee for your facility:
Competitive Pay: Be realistic about compensation. If you’re struggling to pay competitively, reevaluate your business model and pricing. The industry has historically been underpriced, which creates staffing challenges, especially in a labor-intensive business.
Lifestyle Fit: Hiring people whose lives naturally align with the community — whether they have family nearby or are personally connected — helps create a strong, authentic culture.
Professional Development: Reinvest in staff by supporting their growth through certifications and training. This not only builds skills but also shows long-term commitment to their success.
The core message is staff need to know you genuinely care about them. In a high-demand, customer service-driven environment, employees often face tough situations, so it’s crucial to show support. Valuing staff as much as members and investing time in communication and support goes a long way in fostering a strong, respectful workplace culture.
“You have to let them know that you have their back,” said Linn. “You support them, and even if they’re not as experienced to understand why you make a decision that they may feel didn’t support them for whatever reasons, you need to sit down and explain so they understand why you made the decisions you made. It’s not that we don’t have your back, it’s just here’s the bigger picture. The fact you took the time to explain that goes a long way, versus not saying anything. My point of the story is you’ve got to put the time in for people to know you care.”
A great way to show you care is by reinvesting in your employee’s training and certifications. Weymouth Club is committed to reinvesting in staff development, especially based on tenure and leadership roles. They plan to enroll several leaders in management training and regularly support ongoing workshops for areas like Group X, dance and aquatics. Leaders are encouraged to propose development opportunities, explain the benefits and outline expected returns on investment. This approach is built into the annual strategic planning process, promoting continuous growth and engagement across the team.
Merritt Clubs also reinvests in employee education through several opportunities.
“We believe the more you train and develop, the better the impact our teams have on delivering our purpose and the experience our brand mandates,” said Miller. “Also training and development helps retain employees or if they do leave for better things, they refer people to us because of how we treat our teams. Development starts on Day 1 and is also ongoing. We also don’t just teach business; we also teach life skills.”
To ensure Merritt Club employees are up to date with their certifications, the club’s teams track them, and ensure all staff stay current in their roles. Miller said they also have their own internal CEU program and tracking. When it comes to keeping up with industry trends, the leadership team talks about them, shares information, attends shows and brings information back to have teams teach others. “We are a part of Rex Roundtables that helps us stay on the cutting-edge of new trends,” he said. “We have a team of readers and leaders who are always looking ahead or outside to see what is new.”
In the same way he looks ahead for industry trends and ensures employees are best set up for success, Miller said it’s also important to look ahead on how staffing clubs will evolve in the next five to 10 years.
For Miller, one of the biggest challenges — and opportunities — is learning how to lead across five different generations. It’s not just about communication but understanding what motivates each group and meeting them where they are. At the same time, he acknowledged the need for more intentional training and development, especially as new technologies continue to reshape the way clubs operate. But perhaps the most personal takeaway for Miller was the reminder that leadership starts from within — that your teams and your clubs are ultimately a reflection of who you are. “If we want better, we have to become better,” he said.
It’s about going beyond the day-to-day, to explore what Miller called the second and third agendas of life and business — the spaces where true impact is made.
As Linn reflected on how staffing will evolve in the coming years, he reflected on a comment by Brian O’Rourke that has stayed with them: as automation continues to rise, those who deliver exceptional face-to-face customer experiences will become increasingly valuable.
Linn wholeheartedly believes in this idea, emphasizing the fitness industry is, at its core, a people-centered, service-based business. With members spanning all ages, the goal is to build a true community focused on improving health, breaking down intimidation and offering genuine care. Because of this, Weymouth Club views investing in people — through development, career growth and exceptional service — not just important, but essential.
“To me, I want to continue to push the boundaries of pricing in the sense of being able to make sure we can develop careers for people who really want this for the long term,” said Linn. “And even if it’s a steppingstone, it’s a really, really good steppingstone.”
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