Retain Your Staff - Get Onboarding right, and ensure new staff are engaged and motivated

In the same way that the new member journey is key to keeping members long term, so the staff on-boarding process is key to retaining staff. If you can get your staff to stick around, you’ll have better member retention too.

A good induction is critical to making new staff member feel a part of the organisation. Throwing them in at the deep end or picking it up as they go along rarely has a positive outcome, regardless of their previous level of experience.

Online / elearning inductions are great for standardising the message, ensuring nothing is missed and that everyone is treated equally. It also allows HR to check progress of new joiners.

As well as introductions to other key members of staff, introductions to members will also help new staff to get up to speed and fit in more quickly.

Fitness classes are a great way to motivate and inculcate new members, and it’s the same for new staff. You should encourage or insist that new staff join one or more fitness classes to experience the service level and atmosphere in your group exercise sessions.

Hopefully you ask all new members to refer a friend or bring a guest. While you might not have the positions available right now, you should still ask your new staff if they know anyone else who would like to work here. And if not work here, at least work-out here. Friends and family deals go a long way as an employment perk, and therefore a retention tool, but only if they’re used.

If you promise new members a 1 month review and regular reviews thereafter, then you need to do the same for new staff. Make time to check in with them and review their first month. Ask for feedback on their induction, fitness class, and learn what you could do differently on your new staff pathway.

Finally, if you want to go all out, offer a leave bonus at the end of month one, just like Zappos. Read more about this here: The Leavers Bonus