TIME TO HIRE A FITNESS MANAGER?

Running your own gym can be an exciting and liberating experience. But it can also be the most challenging phase in your life. Everything ultimately falls on you — from signing up new members, creating a training program for every individual to running sales promotions.

And as your gym develops and your client base expands, you’re stretched thinner than ever before. It’s chaos, but happy chaos. That’s when it hits you… it’s time…time to hire a fitness manager before things fall through the cracks!

Fitness manager that fits your company’ culture
As your business grows, so is the urgency to keep your culture intact. Therefore, a search for a candidate that shares your company’s values and cultural norm is your ultimate goal. As you may or may not be aware of this, but hiring a highly qualified candidate who doesn’t fit your company’s culture often ends up as collateral damage. It can be a costly mistake you don’t want to make.
Take your sweet time; wait till you find a person that’s right for you and your company. The right person for the job serves like a keel of a sail boat and keeps your company headed in the right direction. So, ignore the cultural fit at your own risk.

The hiring
Should you keep it an in-house thing or hire outside? A tricky question that will get your brains in high gear before you can produce the answer. Hiring from within the company means motivating your employees. Whereas hiring from outside means; managerial skills and experience.
Whomever you decide to bring on board, make sure they thoroughly understand the roles and responsibilities of a fitness manager as well as add incremental value to your company.

The transition
Hiring a fitness manager sometimes means getting out of their way and let them do their job. Since you were used to getting things done yourself, you tend to micromanage everything they do. It’s like the pastor who wants to control everything; the church, choir, financial committee, youth and so forth. It’s sometimes annoying to say the least. Help them adjust in the new environment, have faith in their abilities and you will be surprised with their ingenuity.