The culture of your fitness facility may seem insignificant, but when you think about how many members visit your facility in a week and how many potential members they interact within the same time frame; it isn’t so trivial. The culture of your facility can impact your members greatly. It can help foster a sense of family and belonging, improve the well-being of a person, increase work productivity and even influence your company’s culture in a positive way.
Before you read on, I want you to spend 2 minutes to think of your facility’s culture and write down what comes to your mind.
Different facilities will foster a different culture and those differences depend on multiple variables such as company culture, staff members, members, facility atmosphere and even programs! While working at a sports performance facility I found it useful to promote a culture of support among peers and a “work hard to be the best possible” attitude each day. However, while at a campus recreation center, it promoted a relaxed atmosphere with minimal support from peers. However, both facilities fostered an environment that was inviting where you felt a sense of ease and belonging at them. That is to show that while there will be small differences between cultures at different facilities they will share many common themes found in engrained in their culture. Out of the many commonalities, you can find across fitness center cultures, there are three overarching themes that are a foundation to establishing an amazing culture for your facility and for your members and employees!
A welcoming atmosphere will be the first thing that a prospective member will pick up on, and it can quickly influence their decision to become an active member. Spend some time evaluating the atmosphere of your facility. You may find it is welcoming, or you may find it isn’t but you have become desensitized to the environment and did not notice. Becoming aware of your atmosphere is the first step to implementing an action plan which will allow you to establish an amazing culture which will directly increase program participation, attendance of your facility, and your member base.
Offering programs for all will help to foster a culture that is inclusive of all members. Take some time to evaluate your program offerings and determine what demographic your programs are seeing and who your programs are catered towards. Doing this will make you aware whether you are targeting one or multiple demographics and will help you create and establish programs that will influence more lives, increase awareness of your facility offerings, and bring in more members!
A robust staff will have a tremendous impact on the culture of your facility. A staff filled with leaders, listeners, and educators that exude positivity and support will directly influence your members and, in turn, positively impact your company culture. Spend time evaluating your staff to determine who falls within the aforementioned categories and then determine how you can provide them the tools and education needed to prosper in those categories.
If you would like help on how to evaluate those themes or have further ways to enhance your facility’s culture, please reach out to us so we can help your fitness facility prosper and grow.