Strengthening the Frontline
the Bottom Line
2017 Issue 4 | GearedUp hen franchisees think about how they rank with team members, most would consider quizzing managers. After all, managers are aware of what happens in the clubs each day and many have tenure with the organization, having worked their way up. But looking at the frontline, which historically has high turnover, may shed a bit more light on how a company shapes up as an employer. Just ask Sunshine Fitness Management. In 2014, Planet Fitness ® was up for honors as one of Orlando Business Journal’ s Best Places to Work at the same time franchisees Eric Dore and Shane McGuiness were evaluating staffing and turnover. They noticed Sunshine Fitness wasn’ t replacing managers, but hiring was much higher for front-desk employees.“ We thought,‘ You know what, let’ s get some feedback from the frontline and front desk,’ and once we got that feedback, we saw that we were doing great on the manager side but we were missing the mark as far as recognizing and helping out front-desk employees,” said Vice President of Operations Joe Landau, who has been by Jessica Loeding with the company since it opened its first Altamonte Springs, Florida, location.
What they found was that, while team members appreciate
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