I require staff to achieve goals in order to qualify for a raise. Why? I think it’s important that we’re continuously growing as a gym, and I also know, we’re only as strong as our weakest staff member. Additionally, it’s important for your staff to step outside their daily roles sometimes to get a big-picture concept of the gym.

By giving them opportunities for personal growth and development, you’re creating great staff members who understand your mission as a company and see how their role will best fit in.

So, during semi-annual evaluations, our staff are given goals. In order to qualify for a raise, they must achieve those goals on a regular basis. They also must be contributing to the gym in a positive and productive way. That means:

  1. Zero no-call, no-shows for classes, events, birthday parties, etc. If you’re sick, you can pick up the phone. We’ve broken our own rule on this twice in ten years. One time we found out the coach was in a minor car accident and dealing with the police report (totally understandable.) The second time, we had a staff member who worked at the gym, and was working at UPS on the overnight shift to pick up some extra money over the holidays. He then would get off work, go to his college classes and then sleep a few hours before reporting back to the gym. On top of all that, he was a Marine reservist and was trying to make ends meet over the holidays. He overslept for his shift. We made an exception to our rule. I would make it again if posed with the same circumstances. Any other time we’ve had a no-call, no-show, it has resulted in termination. Our staff and families rely on our coaches to be consistent far too much to accept less-than-stellar commitment levels.
  2. Our staff has to have a great track record with their classes. This does NOT mean they need to be winning competitions. As much as I love low retention rates, it doesn’t mean they have to have a zero turn-over rate month over month either. That’s not realistic. They do, however, need to have parents who appreciate them and believe they are fully invested in the development of their children. How do I calculate this? I ask parents how their child’s class is from time to time. They will absolutely mention the coach if they believe that’s a major factor in the athlete’s success. If they don’t, it’s not beyond me to ask how the child is responding to so-and-so coach.

So how do I set goals for part-timers? Below, you’ll find a few I’ve used in the past: 

  1. Create a 12-week lesson plan for the next hip hop session and present it at your next evaluation.
  2. Provide a list of 5 things you think we could improve on as a gym and why you think those things should be fixed right away.
  3. Provide a few possible solutions to this thing we’re troubleshooting right now (maybe that’s class overcrowding, lack of make up classes, inconsistent attendance of rec athletes, etc.)
  4. Review the training plan for new employees and contribute 3-4 things you think we could do to help better prepare them.
  5. Read this book and let’s chat about what you learned at the end of it.
  6. Find 5-6 new drills we can do with the space and equipment we already have for X class.
  7. Meet with your trainer for a few minutes each week to ask questions and get some additional skills training.
  8. Prepare a presentation for our next staff meeting on this topic: (leadership, child development, fixed v. growth mindset, etc.)
  9. Host a community enhancement project for the gym that involves athletes and their families and benefits our community (food drive, blanket drive, park clean up, etc.)
  10. Train on front desk this quarter so you can fill in and better contribute to the revenue goals for the gym.

Here are a few things to remember when setting goals for your staff: 

  • If you’re expecting them to meet these goals, you need to budget some paid time for them to do them while on the clock. Even a community enhancement project – if they’re doing it because you’re asking them to do it on behalf of the gym – you need to pay them to do so.
  • Follow through is everything. Make sure you write down the goals you’ve given your staff member. Check in every few weeks (text or email is fine) and ask how it’s going or if they need help.
  • If you have a staff member who is currently overwhelmed with college or another job, give them smaller goals. It’s OK to shift lofty goals to another quarter for those you know are working hard outside of the gym as long as they’re fully focused when they are in the gym.
  • Let them be part of the process. Ask what areas they feel they could best contribute. Then, give them an idea of what you’d like to see. If they agree, type up the details and have it ready for a formal meeting.
  • This is an opportunity to get some help around the gym. If you have things systemized, you can delegate out a few special projects. Your staff will be rewarded with a raise, so it’s likely you’ll have takers!