By Jeff Burlingame, Two-Brain Business Mentor
When you’re looking to recruit employees for your gym, it’s hard to know which ones will be your best employees and which ones will just be good. That’s why I’ve broken potential employees down into 3 categories: good, better, and best.
A good potential employee may be someone who is a member and has been involved in your community for awhile. They’re open to going through something like the Advanced Theory Course that we include with our incubator to train coaches so that you don’t have to.
The problem with the good category of potential employees is that they don’t have a lot of time and likely have another job. They’re committed, but not as much as you’d like, and they often miss meetings due to their other commitments.
They may be able to cover some hours for you but they’re not going to go above and beyond to get involved in your community. They may be new to town and have their L1 and may have other experience and certifications but if they can’t commit to more hours, they’ll become a liability later down the line. Ideally, you want to hire slowly and fire fast so don’t rush to hire someone in this category if you don’t have to.
Better potential employees may be members who get involved through ATC (Advanced Theory Course) or other training with you and now can commit to 5-10 hours per week. These people are consistent, they never complain, and they show up to most of your events and get involved in your community. They likely come to most, but not all, of your employee meetings once a month. Interns and those fresh out of school fall into this category so long term they’re looking for what the next step is for them and that may be elsewhere.
The best category of potential employees are young, hungry, consistent, enthusiastic, and happy. They may be new to the industry or have spent a little bit of time within the industry but they’re not burnt out from previous bosses. These people are open to starting small and building a career so they’re eager to learn about opportunities to grow. These are the types of people who will show up for every event you have, all of your meetings, and never complain about having to go.
Start by profiling the individuals that you’re looking to hire. Do they fall into the good, better, or best category? None of them are bad, but some of them are better than others in the long run.
If you need more help, we are here for you.
Jeff Burlingame
