the financial aspect of the job, they also sought more recognition
and appreciation. The changes Sunshine Fitness made to strengthen
its frontline has helped lower turnover and make the company a
sought-after place to work.
Finding the Right Fit
If there is one thing franchisees agree on when it comes to the
frontline, it’s that you have to hire the right people. Bringing in the
right talent is the first step in ensuring the cultural piece gets off on
the right foot.
Impact Fitness places emphasis on recruiting personnel to
support the company’s growth and maintain the standard of excel-
lence in its 15 clubs in Michigan, Indiana and British Columbia,
Canada. Working alongside veteran managers, Impact Fitness
created a comprehensive interview packet that even the weakest
manager can utilize with success.
“We focus on creating a first interview that addresses key
success factors that we believe will most likely lead to engaged,
happy, ‘win-win’ employees committed beyond just the financial
motivation. We keep it conversational and focus on getting to
know the person in front of you as a person rather than someone to
fill a spot or complete a task,” said Regional Manager Christopher
Klebba. “We want to bring this unique group of millennials
onboard with the big picture of our goals and vision at Impact
Fitness as something they can champion and rally around. We hit
them with our company values and our growth outline: ‘Team
Development Plan,’ a growth process that outlines the journey
from hiring to regional manager.”
The prospective employee is then placed behind the desk with
Impact’s teams, saying hello and goodbye and interacting with
customers and staff. Likeability and energy are at the top of the
traits Impact searches for when hiring. “Every leader, club and team
has a unique pulse. We want to bring on individuals that will be
Recognitions and Rewards
Once the right people have been hired,
the strength of the frontline depends heavily on keeping those
people. Incentive programs and a clear pathway for development
can be instrumental in retaining top talent.
In response to its employee survey, Sunshine Fitness rolled
out the Super Talented Achievers Rock (STAR) program at its 31
locations. Team members earn points on a weekly and monthly
basis that can later be used for an array of items – gift cards, TVs or
vacations, just to name a few.
Continued on page 40
Impact Fitness outlines for new personnel the journey from hiring to regional
manager.
a special, positive culture match to the team they are interviewing
for,” Klebba said. “Ultimately, it is up to us to show them why this
is more than a job and make them catch the vision, but we love to
ask a lot of questions around their values and motivations to see
where they are at and what they’re looking for.”
While Black Duck Partners franchisees Mike Dobrynio and
Tim Lennon don’t have a magical tool to solve the hiring and
retention issue, the two do believe in spending the extra time
upfront to hire great people and then ensuring the leaders within
the organization treat all team members with respect. “The respect
part is empowering people to make decisions, succeed at times
and fail at times, delegate responsibilities so the organization can
grow, look to solve problems and not just bubble up problems, and
have a team-first approach, which is all part of great leadership,”
Dobrynio explained.
While the company’s top “One Minute Manager” goal is
friendliness, Dobrynio said it is impossible to train someone to be
friendly, so the right person must be hired from the outset. “It takes
extra time to find these people, and sometimes we find someone
who may say they are friendly to get the job but they turn out to be
unfriendly,” he said. “We have a trial period in place for new hires
that helps us get these unfriendly new people quickly off the bus.”
A slower, more thorough approach also works best for
Sunshine Fitness, which employs a three-step interview process. An
internal recruiter will conduct the initial phone screening, while a
manager and assistant manager oversee the second interview. From
there, the candidate must complete a form that asks for references
and the social media outlets where the candidate is active. After
checking references and social media, a
regional manager does the final interview.
In addition to the energy and enthusiasm
necessary for PF®, Sunshine Fitness looks for
what it considers the two most important
qualities in a team member: character and
judgement. “You have to find out what they
believe in. Do they have integrity when you’re
not there? Every time you walk out that door,
are they going to do the same things and have
that same integrity when they’re working
alone?” Landau said. “Judgement is also huge.
We have 8,000 members in the club, and if
the manager’s not there, without judgement
any kind of situation can go south. You have
to make sure the employee has customer
service, enthusiasm and integrity that’s going
to work well when you’re not there combined
with judgment. Our business touches so
many people.”
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