What a travesty of justice it would be for a gym owner such as yourself if you’ve been investing so much time and effort into your surrounding trainers, but to no avail. Your pupils have chosen a different path, one that does not include you. All the hard work you’ve put into making them more productive will now likely benefit someone else’s gym.

Once a trainer takes the decision to move on and look elsewhere, this is bound to disrupt your team togetherness and the belief in the career vision you have for them. It can prove to be quite a conundrum when trying to salvage what remains of your disassembled team. Use the following seven ways to retain your best trainers by implementing the following staff development strategies and tactics.

1. Financial Incentives: We motivate our best trainers in the gym with regular opportunities to earn more money through performance bonuses in sales and retention Or by taking on new projects like organising fun runs, challenges or joint ventures with local businesses.

2. Social Incentives: We recognise our best trainers in team meetings, social media posts and at client functions because let’s be honest ‘who doesn’t appreciate being recognised for their efforts?’

3. Training & Education: We organise guests speakers for topics like Boxing, Olympic lifting, Nutrition and Psychology to provide staff with continuous mentoring and development

4. Intrapreneurship: Create a culture of intrapreneurship by instilling a sense of urgency in your trainers, rewarding proactive behaviour and encouraging healthy competition. Also, make them feel involved in key gym decisions. Regardless of the value of their take on the matter, their opinions must be heard. Finally, focus on creating new roles for trainers to make money from inside the gym like massage, sauna, stretch or nutrition.

5. Leadership Roles: Delegate different responsibilities and duties to your best trainers. Always mix it up. They will become bored if their work becomes monotonous. Allowing staff to help recruit and mentor new trainers or become actively involved in programming are just 2 easy ways to help excite your most experienced team members and will be an essential exercise in helping the business scale-up to helping more members and for the professional growth of the individual.

6. Group Motivation: Monday Morning team huddles are a proven way to get your trainers fired up to attack the week ahead. These meetings will hold your team accountable, help you keep them informed of vital information and remind them of the tasks at hand for the day. Last but not least, they will make it easier for you to discuss strategic concerns and new opportunities. Use team members as facilitators!

7. Consistent Feedback: I can’t stress enough on how essential the provision of regular performance assessments is (from gym owner and trainers) . How can you track the development and performance of your team without a history of their past? At the same time, hearing what constructive feedback or innovative ideas staff have will only help strengthen your product. Remember, hiring new gym staff is more expensive than retaining experienced ones.