How HR Experts are Successfully Building Out a Back Office
2023 Issue 3 | GearedUp
42
In today ’ s fast-paced business landscape , an efficient and wellorganized back-office structure is fundamental for ensuring smooth operations and supporting growth . Building out a healthy back-office structure requires planning , strategic implementation and stable optimization . Several ownership groups in the Planet Fitness ® system have successfully created an effective back-office structure , and operators are sharing how .
To have an efficient , well-functioning company , a back office is a must to support the front office , Chief People Officer with United Fitness Partners ( UFP ) Desiree B . Littles said . “ The back office is the operational area of the business that supports the front office or member-facing part of the company ,” she said . “ The member-facing part of the business is also seen as the revenue-generating part of the business , whereas the back office is a cost center .”
When establishing a productive back-office system , it ’ s crucial to first understand what the franchise group is aiming to accomplish , said Sean Ryan , chief of staff and director of strategy with Excel Fitness .
“ In Excel Fitness ’ case , we build communities through fitness , providing the best , consistent member and team player experience ,” Ryan said . “ That also includes preparing for and executing on our rapid growth .”
By going through this process , Excel , operating 135 locations across nine states , then reassesses the organizational structure to understand any gaps in skills and capabilities and then staffs accordingly . “ As a franchisee grows and the back-office organization becomes more complex , there ’ s a greater need for smooth cross-functional collaboration ,” Ryan said . “ This could lead a franchisee to consider roles that sit at the intersection of several functions .”
At Taymax Group , which operates 155 clubs in seven states and Canada , HR works closely with the executive team to understand , within each pillar of the organization , what the needs are functionally , both today and looking forward so they are always considering scalability for growth . Susan McGrath , chief people officer for Taymax , by Hannah Greco considers pain points currently within the organization ; assesses what functions are managed in-house versus being outsourced or manually ; and considers what functions are currently performed manually that could be automated . McGrath also suggests considering if there are individuals on the team today who are ready to take on more responsibility .
“[ We consider ] how might we begin to stretch them within their current role , both help alleviate current needs , but also to develop a pipeline of internal talent as the organizational infrastructure continues to be built out ,” McGrath said .
Dulce Llamas , vice president of human resources with Houston Fitness Partners ( HFP ), said it ’ s crucial to have a clear understanding of the fundamental operations and processes that require support . “ By doing so , you can determine the objectives , measurements and business procedures that need to be put in place ,” she said .
As an organization , HFP began building by identifying the functions that were scalable and common across all clubs . “ We