MANAGEMENT SERIES
In my experience, the way people are mostly managed in the health and fitness industry does not lead to, or support, a customer-focused culture
… or bottom-up? In his book The Practice of Management, Peter Drucker says:
“What we call management often consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done, with little consideration towards helping them be good at it.” So having said that it all starts at the top, arguably the
real work in developing a caring culture starts from the bottom up. That’s the style of management we advocate. It’s a management mindset which recognises that people work with you, not just for you; that they’re the greatest asset of the company. It’s a style that believes in challenging and empowering people. A bottom-up manager selects (not hires) the right people
– those who love to serve others – and de-selects the wrong ones quickly. She sells the company’s dream and walks the talk herself. She creates opportunities, sets challenges and gives the opportunity for everyone to get involved. She delegates effectively, with appropriate authority, but without abdicating herself of responsibility. She creates structures that facilitate and encourage maximum individual and team performance. She recognises, rewards and reinforces behaviour throughout the company, turning ordinary team members into ‘heroes’ who, in turn, inspire others to extraordinary performance. She commits to helping her team develop and maximise its capabilities. She shows empathy by listening to others’ feelings and perspectives. She’s aware of her own strengths and weaknesses. And she always shows integrity, acting in a fair and transparent manner. Recently, a survey by the Customer Care Institute (CCI)
found that what employees are looking for from their employers is, in order of priority: 1. To feel a sense of purpose in what they do 2. To be kept in the loop at all times 3. To be set challenging goals and given responsibility 4. To see genuine transparency and commitment from management
5. To feel genuinely appreciated In a similar survey run to find out what employers thought employees wanted from them, the top five were: 1. Good wages and bonus system 2. Job security 3. Promotional opportunities 4. Good working conditions 5. Interesting work This discrepancy does not surprise me. In fact I believe
it’s the very essence of the matter. It’s absolutely true to say that a person’s commitment and engagement to a project is directly proportional to the input they’re allowed to have. The solution is to give real ownership to your club managers, who then pass on that challenge to their heads of department, who in turn pass it on to
those on the shop floor. Managers need to have systems in place that constantly ask for input from operational staff and club members alike – input which is listened to and implemented where appropriate. For example, in the Ritz Carlton Group, each under-
performing area or aspect of the hotel was allocated a small group of frontline/operational staff. It was their responsibility to diagnose and solve the challenges that were being faced and report their findings and solutions back to the general manager, who would then either implement their findings or else discuss it further with them. Either way, the team knew their opinion was important and listened to. This builds team engagement like nothing else. How many
clubs have asked club members to be part of a customer focus group in exchange for a small reduction in their subscription? They become your biggest and most vocal supporters, simply because you’re listening to them. Success is about implementing a genuine customer-orientated culture that totally engages both staff and customers.
Exceeding expectations Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, once said: “The goal as a company is to not just to have customer service that is the best, but to have customer care that is legendary.” Let me give you an example. A friend of mine recently
took his Lexus car in for a service. His car was booked in efficiently by a friendly receptionist who urged him to ‘have a good day’ as she put the phone down. The car
58 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital August 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ALEX GONTAR
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90