5 Tips for Hiring the Right Staff entrepreneur alert

As a business owner, one of the most important assets you have are staff. Without them, you have no business. In the fitness industry, your instructors are what drive business and keep people coming back. But where can you find them and how do you know they are a good fit by a resume, a phone interview or meeting them? I have made many mistakes over the years and here are 5 mistakes to avoid when hiring new instructors.

1. Save time with a phone call. At one point I had held open auditions, but as they say time is money and sitting through instructor after instructor lead a 10-minute mini class session was very time-consuming. From this I learned to always start with a phone call to hear their personality and energy right from their voice. You can learn a lot when speaking with someone for the first time. Listen for key words on how they found you and applied for the position and see if they have the same philosophies as you do. Listen to what they say and how they say it since they will be your communication point to your customer.

2. Host live auditions. Resumes are simply paper and just because it’s on paper doesn’t make it real. I was in desperate need of a personal trainer for clients at my studio. He spoke well on the phone and in person interview yielded a nice personality, well-groomed and very fit. However, I skipped the live auction part of hiring since I was in such a need for someone to fit in. This is where I made a big mistake. His resume said he was certified with two well-known personal training certification, however, it became very apparent after the first few sessions that he did not have the expertise our clients needed. An in person audition, or having him sub in for myself or a class would have revealed these extreme weaknesses.

3. See it in action after the hire date. Recently I attended one of my newer instructors classes. Her audition prior to starting seemed good but I forgot that she auditioned for me and not within a group class setting. It became apparent after watching her teach 6 weeks later that her interaction with students was a bit removed and worse her sequencing was beyond slow for the group she was leading. Don’ wait until the numbers in classes start to drop or if they aren’t growing, the instructor’s job is to help grow business- if it isn’t happening, attend class and help trouble shoot. After sitting and discussing what happened in class, the yogi is not seeing growth in her classes and she feels more confident with her teaching ability.

4. Trust your gut. There have been times when I have hired people who are the right personality instead of the right qualifications. Remember that you can’t teach compassion, sincerity, integrity and a good presence, but you can teach technique, sequencing and flow. If you feel the person is a good fit for your business, then take the time to nurture them and allow them to shine. Some of my best instructors of the years have been students in class that received the training to become my best instructors.

5. Use specialty sites like Namfit for special instructors. I find that you can post on social media that you’re hiring - Linkedin, Instagram, facebook, etc… but you may not find people who are really interested in specialties like Yoga. Namafit is a great resource for yoga and wellness studio owners because their target audiences are those exact people. I have recently hired a few yoga instructors direct from Namafit and loved the fact that each of these people had great credentials and industry insiders.