An engaging response to a post I wrote this week about the poor 'employee' structure of some gyms in Hong Kong. Lets be honest, this is not isolated or regionally concentrated, this is an industry epidemic. This is a two sided problem and employees need to understand that the days of cakes being eaten are gone and you can’t have stability AND complete flexibility and reign to do your own thing. But for all those that choose to be employed (not self employed or sole trading) and for companies that contract as such, as business owners we have a right to protect the vulnerable, our people.?
I have received typically strong support but some insightful questions that took me back to the core values of our brand and to think why I should be so bothered by what others do? After all, look internally and control the controllable’s right…? Sure, but when the industry declines as a whole due to poor standards, it becomes my concern and yours.?
Quick step back. The discussion is around the fitness employers contracting coaches on zero wage, low commission structure (circa 25% in the case I cited), with no full time salary or stability, and no benefits. All the downside of non competes, fixed on the floor coaching hours, and lengthy termination clauses through handcuffed individuals.
Stop ranting and make your point Tom. Why is this a threat to industry standards? Well, for three simple reasons;
- The industry sells health but employs using the opposite cane. If employers aren’t even committing salaries then they will not be providing paid sick days and paid annual leave. Congratulations, you have a staff base of zombies working from 0500 - 2100 every day to cover peak hours and not providing care when they get sick or injured. It is beyond hypocritical to sell packages on wellness and self care whilst abusing the energy (and fears) of young coaches who have to be available for 60+ hours per week at your clients whims. Ask yourself what cover you have for your staff sick days or paid annual leave, if the answer is none then you cannot ethically sell wellness to the public because your staff force aren’t even receiving it…
- There is a life cycle of a professional career. 20 - 30 years old requires energy, full commitment and is littered with mistakes and the need for development and support. 30 - 40 is management and career development with people skills being honed and the structure to allow growth. Enter support for families and paternity / maternity leave. 40+ is excellence, business development, significant revenue generation, and industry leading experience. If our industry continues to pay transactionally without regard for individual development and career stability then we as a group will be weak in the top two tiers and suffer through stagnation and atrophy. Granted it is a hierarchical pyramid and we need more at the bottom, but those putting in the hours and earning their mistakes need a safe pathway to be able to teach future faces. How do we expect to engage experts and senior positions when all the 30 years olds will leave the industry for the stability of teaching.
- Anyone who is not being provided with an employer pension scheme will be a more certain burden on society in later life. Highly paid or not, attuned or not, 20 year old coaches have no sense of what pension contributions they will need when they are 60 but the owners of companies have no excuse. None of us want to pay higher taxes later because an industry as big as fitness fails to care for the social security of their staff. No other global industry as big as fitness would abide knowing that huge work forces are not being supported with employer matched pensions. A plea to all paying fitness consumers, ask your PT and coaches if they have an employer pensions scheme, if (when) the answer is no, realise that by supporting that Company you are directly taking from societies future and the coach you appreciate now is left void of the most basic contribution, living costs when they are retiring.?
So what do we advocate for? Pay your staff what you like, structure their remuneration however your businesses believes is best for both parties, but let’s take ourselves seriously and ensure that three inclusions are written in to every fitness professionals contract.
- Company matched pensions;
- Annual and sick leave policies;
- Development budget for the individual to choose what they need to develop.
If you can’t offer your staff these three things then I would argue that you can’t afford them.?
