The most effective club staff is the one that enjoys spending time together. If you’ve noticed tension or a general lack of enthusiasm in your club’s employees, it might be time to try your hand at a few team building activities to build up morale.
Putting a cohesive unit out into your club every day is imperative to the daily success of your fitness center. In short, you want your staff members to get along with each other. And a focus on team building is the way to meet that end.
Club Solutions spoke with Lisa Groft, the fitness co-director for Baptist Health Milestone Wellness Center in Louisville, Kentucky, about the importance of team building activities for your club staff and the best ways to encourage staff camaraderie.
CS: How can you build staff camaraderie while in the workplace?
LG: We have around 60 personal trainers on staff, so it is super important to do team building activities. We have team meetings every Friday — not mandatory — that we call “Trainer University.” They are informative meetings where we go over things such as business building, marketing your services and exercise programming. It’s an open forum-type meeting where people can pitch in ideas and ask questions. We all learn from each other.
CS: And how do you encourage staff members to spend time with each other outside the office?
LG: We do staff outings several times a year — we’ll do a 5K together, a night at a local baseball game [and other activities]. I host a “Worksgiving” at my house every year. We do a potluck-style dinner and play board games. None of these activities are mandatory but highly encouraged — most people participate and we have fun together!
CS: Are there any other activities that are popular among your staff?
LG: We do a “Trainer Challenge” every summer. We are all drafted onto teams and compete against each other in athletic events. There is no prize, so it truly is friendly competition meant for team building and camaraderie.
How do you build team camaraderie at your club?
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Bobby is the former assistant editor of Club Solutions Magazine.
