SURVEY

Yes I would recommend my employer No I would not recommend my employer

With your degree of responsibility

With your current employer

With the standard of induction for your role

With the standard, quality and relevance of training

With your hours of work

That your job description matches your working week

With your job security

With your remuneration package

With your prospects

for promotion/career development

0 2.0 3.3 2.0

2.0 very

dissatisfied Figure 2: Level of satisfaction and whether an employer would be recommended

undertook an average 5.5 days of training whilst findings indicate those staying only one year had 3.3 days.

This may be connected to the fact that training is most commonly paid for by the individual (58 per cent of trainees) whilst a quarter report employers paying for it all. Training spend per individual is slightly higher this year at an average £492 per trainee but the amount of training is showing the first signs of decline to an average five days per worker. Employer support appears to have fallen across occupations with individuals having to make more of a financial contribution (either fully or partially) towards their training.

Generally, management occupations receive a lot more support from

Total

Senior management Club/duty manager

Studio or fitness manager/supervisor/team or group leader

Gym instructor (Level 2)

Advanced instructor (Level 3) Personal Trainer (Level 3)

Group Exercise and Aqua instructors/Teachers (Level 2)

Yoga, Pilates, or KFA teacher

Exercise referral/ clinical exercise/active programme manager

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Figure 3: Who pays for the training undertaken by occupation www.exerciseregister.org 15

their employer; 64 per cent of club/ duty managers, 56 per cent of senior management and 54 per cent of exercise referral/clinical exercise/active programme managers have their training paid for fully by employers. Overall, fewer trainees report employers’ contribution to training, continuing a fall with 25 per cent receiving full financial support this year compared to 27 per cent last year and 40 per cent in 2008. However, the proportion of workers who report receiving enough training to do their job properly has remained consistent at 75 per cent who are satisfied but 19 per cent still reporting a problem. Only 11 per cent of the workforce did not attend any training, lower than the proportion reporting a lack of training which suggests there may be a problem with the relevance of training, they felt they needed more

3.0 4.0

5.0 very

satisfied 2.5 3.3 2.8 3.6 2.4 3.8 2.8 3.8 2.6 3.8 3.0 3.7 4.1 3.3 4.0

training hours than they received or have lower expectations at this time.

In summary, the industry continues to see some effects of a slow down in the industry with more workers reporting static pay and signs of reduced support in training and development but workers remain positive about their long-term future in the industry, the majority are still recommending the organisation they work for. The impact on training and development needs to be monitored and pay and career progression continue to be key factors for the workforce. The results of the Working in Fitness Survey 2010 can be found at http://bit.ly/awcQ28 and more detail on salaries, training levels and satisfaction at an occupational level are in the full report. If you are interested in participating in 2011 or have any comments about the findings please contact research@skillsactive.com.

THE AUTHOR

Liz joined SkillsActive in December 2004. Her research career started at the

South East England Regional Development Agency (SEEDA) as a Research Assistant and continued into the South East England Skills Research Unit - Skills Insight where she developed her expertise in labour market intelligence. Liz now specialises in the active leisure, learning and well-being sector.