physiotherapy and osteopathy that will get
you back on your feet faster. These are also
services you might not engage to the required
extent if paying directly from your pocket.
3 Protect your income
Get some income protection insurance. Your
ability to earn will be severely impacted if
you suffer from any kind of acute or serious
injury. If you are a full/part time employee
with entitlement to medical leave then you
have a short term solution for recovery from
a serious injury. But serious injury isn’t often
associated with speedy recovery.
Income protection can include your full
time, part time and casual earnings. If the
unexpected does happen, you’ll have peace
of mind and be able to focus on a full and
proper recovery, as opposed to rushing
back to work prematurely.
4 Protect yourself from
the taxman!
Get some advice from a tax accountant on
how you can better structure your affairs.
Expenses such as insurance and health
services may be eligible deductions.
Should the industry take the lead?
It’s unfortunate that by nature and
evolution, employees within the Australian
fitness industry do not enjoy high levels
of compensation or benefits. This isn’t
necessarily by intent, but rather because
the vast majority of employment and work is
casual or contracted – which may be viewed
as a model that fosters less engagement.
It’s my personal belief that these
workplace conditions could be improved –
and that doing so would reap dividends for
the fitness industry in the form of increased
employee happiness, translating to reduced
churn and burn of staff and an increased
ability to attract new talent. It would be great
to see large chains and service providers
take a lead on this, as it’s a pity for the
trade-off for working in such a fantastic and
important industry to be a concession in
regards to compensation and benefits.
This position on improved conditions
for fitness industry employees isn’t purely
speculative. Fifteen years ago when I first
moved to Asia to work, I was given the
opportunity to develop a white paper for
fitness employment, initially in the area of
group exercise. I drew on everything that
I had experienced, both good and bad,
about working as a casual group exercise
instructor and personal trainer in Melbourne.
I combined this with the criteria of what
would be considered the ‘dream job’ for
someone in our industry.
In 2013 it all came to an abrupt and shocking halt for me as I
found myself – for the first time in my life – with a serious
injury that stopped me dead in my tracks.
In 2000, we rolled out permanent full
and part time (as well as casual) positions
for group exercise instructors and personal
trainers. The positions were exclusive to our
chain, but included a fixed salary with paid
annual and medical leave. The opportunity
also existed to work harder and earn more.
Of course, complimentary membership to
the gym was included, but most importantly
full medical insurance, including hospital
and dental, were part of the package.
We took this logic for employment to
all of the emerging markets in which we
launched our fitness product. Today, those
concepts not only remain in place, but have
become the standard of employment for
all service providers in those countries.
When I left Asia in 2011 to return home to
Melbourne, our company employed over 40
full time group exercise instructors and 250
personal trainers, who all received benefits
in Hong Kong alone, not to mention the
seven other international markets in which
we set up operations.
My hope in the future is that the industry
looks at ways to make similar employment
programs available to workers in Australia.
While it is more challenging to retro-fit
compensation and benefit plans, it is not
impossible. After all, the number one rule
of customer service is ‘The employee will
treat the customer in the same way that the
company treats the employee’. This was a
key driver behind our service and people
strategies. I certainly noticed a higher
level of engagement and connection to
customers and the business from employees
when their employment was secure and an
organisational priority.
My involvement with the white paper in
The 30-second article
• The consequences of serious injury
can be far reaching for fitness
professionals, for whom mobility and,
in many cases, an elite level of
fitness, is necessary
• The nature of employment within the
fitness industry means that workers
generally need to take care of their
own ‘safety net’
• Take steps to protect yourself with
Professional Indemnity Insurance,
private medical insurance and
income protection insurance
• Clubs should consider that a system
of workplace compensation and
benefits can lead to higher levels of
engagement and connection to
customers and the business.
Asia gave me an insight into the necessary
precautions that fitness professionals need to
take in order to be covered when circumstances
take a turn for the worse – and when I suffered
my injury I was glad that I’d implemented the
steps above. Unless you are fortunate enough
to work for an employer that offers these
protections, I recommend you do the same.
Andrew Ward, BAppSc spent 14 years based
in Hong Kong as 2IC and senior vice president of
operations for California Fitness. He now works
in a multi-business management role with YMCA
Victoria. In 2013 Andrew was awarded YMCA Victoria
Manager of the Year.
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