Happy staff equals happy customers claims Premier Training chair

The chair and founder of Premier Training, Norman Basson, has said the key to winning the fitness industry employee retention battle is to ensure staff are well cared for and happy.

In an article for the June edition of the REPs’ Journal he wrote “The fitness industry today is light years ahead of what it was just 20 years ago, when it consisted mainly of poorly-equipped leisure centres and ‘spit and sawdust’ gyms, not to mention the instructors who presented with dubious, if any, qualifications.

“We have witnessed amazing and rapid growth in terms of facilities and training equipment; the investment in marble-floored clubs and mind-boggling computerised equipment seems endless. But I am sad to say that we appear to have built a facility-driven and not a customer-driven industry.

“The ‘lot’ of the modern day fitness professional is slightly less exciting than in the past. I should add thankfully, that a few, well known and established chains are already seriously addressing these issues.“

He claims that if good personnel are recruited and then looked after, including appropriate remuneration and training packages, then their job satisfaction and happiness would lead to them giving better customer service which would in turn slow down customers leaving.

He said: “If one simply listens to customers complaining about the lack of personal recognition, attention and service, one would realise why the problem actually exists.

“If you have appropriately qualified personnel with heaps of personality, manage them professionally with first class remuneration and incentives and provide ongoing investment in their professional development, you would develop very happy staff.

“Happy, motivated staff, tend to look after customers far better than unhappy and resentful staff and I am absolutely convinced this is the real solution.”

Commenting on the article, REPs’ Registrar Cliff Collins said: “ We are delighted that such thorny and perennial issues are being debated in our Journal. The problem of retention is one which sweeps across the employment board and I think it should be discussed at all levels.

“I know our members will be very interested in what a major industry figure like Norman has to say on the issue and I expect the feedback section of our September edition to be quite lively as a result.”