stakeholders at the table ,” Ryan shared .
When assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of a back-office structure , there are specific KPIs that ownership groups use to determine where the company currently is and how it can improve , including :
• Revenue
• EBITDA
• Number of clubs
• Membership count
• eNPS ( employee net promoter score )
• Days to fill a position
• Revenue per employee
• Time to process invoices
• Time spent correcting documents or input data per week
• Project delivery time
Additionally , HFP considers the intangible characteristics of core values and GWC – Does the person Get it , Want to do it and have the Capacity to do it ?
Challenges and Opportunities
When building out a back-office structure , key challenges come from standardization , updating and scaling business processes , establishment of clear roles and responsibilities , and integrating new technologies to support the work of the business , Ryan explained .
“ Process standardization is both an opportunity and a challenge ,” he said . “ More standardized processes lead to better outcomes because the outcomes we want to achieve are clear as are the expectations for each team player .”
As a franchisee expands , however , those processes become more intricate and can be difficult to get right . “ As Excel Fitness grows , what ’ s worked for us in the past might not work in the future , and individual colleagues ’ roles and responsibilities could shift as new business needs emerge ,” Ryan added . Assessing the right technological tools and onboarding existing and new colleagues to use those tools effectively can be particularly challenging to execute .
One of the challenges HFP has faced is determining the precise moment to bring in additional resources . “ At times the hiring process can be time-consuming , and we often have to operate with small teams until then ,” Llamas said .
Before hiring new employees , the HFP team evaluates whether its processes are efficient and necessary , and if there are opportunities to automate or outsource . “ This is important because it allows us to operate without incurring long-term payroll expenses and increases efficiency ,” Llamas said . “ In other words , start by concentrating on your core competencies and seek opportunities to outsource until your scale or needs warrant an in-house capability .” Another obstacle franchisees may encounter is club growth outpacing back-office growth , particularly when growth may come via acquisition of multiple clubs at one time . “ We have grown rapidly over the past four years , and we ’ re still working to fine-tune the right structure to appropriately support an organization of our size ,” McGrath said . “ We try to stay lean while at the same time always maintaining an acceptable level of support for and response to club needs .”
McGrath shared that Taymax also tries to stay mindful of the increasing administrative and compliance-related tasks that fall on teams such as HR , finance and payroll . “ As the organization grows , we ensure we are sufficiently staffed to deliver on those obligations ,” she added . There are several complex processes and a variety of activities managed in the back office – many of them still manual , which can
prove to be a challenge . “ Manual processes can be inefficient , prone to errors and time-consuming , which are burdensome to the team , leaving no time for strategic functions to be performed ,” Littles said .
Outdated technology and lack of integration capabilities can also limit the productivity of back-office teams when systems are incompatible with modern applications , which can lead to duplication of efforts and delays in operations , Littles shared .
“ Many companies continue to use outdated legacy systems ,” Littles added , “ which are slow and likely to have errors , often managed by different teams and functions that unintentionally operate as siloes , each with its own systems and way of working . In this type of work environment , it is tough to know if you are delivering your services accurately , on time and as cost-efficiently as possible .”
Ryan shared that several opportunities could emerge from building a strong back-office team and operation . “ Building a backoffice structure has allowed us to gather and analyze more data across the organization and establish KPIs to track our business progress ,” he said .
For Excel Fitness , KPIs are established within all departments and at all levels of the organization . “ At a glance , our leadership team can understand the overall health of the business and any areas that might need additional attention ,” Ryan added .
Building a back office has also created opportunities to coach and develop team members at Excel . “ By having lines of accountability in place across our functions , in addition to a strong human resources team , we can better train our colleagues to meet emerging business needs ,” Ryan said .
Some additional opportunities when building a back office can include the automation of repetitive tasks and the integration of accounting , HR and data management systems to create an integrated
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