Gym floor staff: Focus on those with a positive attitude

I was interested to read your recent feature on gym floor skill sets (see HCM March 13, p28).

I accept that advice delivered on personal health and fitness must be delivered by people with a strong knowledge of anatomy, physiology and biomechanics. Other skills – empathy, diplomacy, attitude, communication, visualising and listening – are also required. Most importantly, there must be a strong element of trust and confidence established before a real bond can be formed between people.

What do you most remember about the London Olympics, other than the athletics performances? My abiding memory is of the Games Makers, a disparate volunteer group of 70,000 people who attracted accolades worldwide. They were elected and trained by McDonald’s, echoing its own approach of recruiting employees based on qualities and attitude, and investing in high-quality training to help them achieve their potential in the workplace.

Learning from this, énergie Fitness Clubs has developed an ‘énergiser’ scheme for people who have vast resources of energy and positive attitude, who are observant, and who easily adapt to the needs of others. We train them to be the welcoming face of the gym, and are already seeing increased trust and confidence between staff and members, better communications, and an added vibrancy in the clubs. Our énergisers are the catalyst for all departments – the glue that binds people together and helps form a member community, which we believe develops loyalty and improves retention.

So which way do we train: énergisers to PTs or PTs to énergisers? We’re not sure yet...

Jim Durie - Franchise director (Leinster), énergie