So I found out that creating a good competition within the workplace is an excellent way to get people going on doing their job more effectively. I found out today that my staff actually hit their goal for the pay period and it was mainly because of the competition that was put in front of them. Having a staff with an athletic background makes it a little easier to motivate them with the competition. By also having them so motivated to do the work, it takes a lot of stress off of my plate because I don’t have to worry about having producing in the sales department. I can focus more on managing the club and fixing the club and making sure that our members continue to be happy on top of making sure that we are making the money that we need to make. I love the staff that I have and I look forward to continuing to work with them.
So you guys remember me bragging on how much I like the new hire that I got a week ago, well that joy was very short lived. Let me explain. When I first hired him, he told me that he would be going out of town for a week and that he already had it planned. I understood that, I wasn’t going to stand in the way of him traveling. So he goes down to Washington D.C. Monday comes around, and I haven’t heard from him so I give him a call (he has a shift that needs to be covered Tuesday night). He never responds to my calls. Finally get a text message at the end of the day saying sorry, but I am actually going to stay down here now because I have a new job down here. This is so frustrating because I had no warning that the job was even an option down there. If he would have told me that he was hoping to land a job while down there, that would have been okay because I would have been able to set up for interviews and had possible candidates ready to take his spot. That didn’t happen so I recommended for him not to be hired for the company.
So, my mentor and I have talks every week on things that are going well with my club and things that aren’t going so well with the club. This week, we had a talk about making sure that I remember who is in charge at my club. The type of personality that I have, I’m genuinely a nice guy, and sometimes that can get me into trouble, not real trouble but having the possibility of losing control of the club. Sometimes I find myself asking for certain things when I should really be taking control of the situation. She explained to me it’s not about being a dictator but simply making sure that they know who is in charge of everything. Once we had the talk, I took her advice and used it and it actually turned out pretty well because my employees already like me and they respect me so they have no problem following orders from me. I really do love the staff I have over here at the Powell location!
When spring time comes around, that is my worst nightmare when it comes to some of my workers. For the most part, I have a fairly young staff, so when spring arrives, they tend to take vacations, and it forces me to have to find substitutes for them while they are way. This is probably one of the least things I like to do with this job. It is already hard enough finding someone who wants to work part time and that will do the work that I ask of them effectively. Most of the people who work for the company already have another job on the side so when they aren’t working at LA Fitness, they are at the other job, which makes it hard for us to find replacements. I had one girl this week tell me they will be going on vacation in a couple of weeks and another tell me they would be going on vacation in a month. Two of my best workers so you can only imagine how I feel right now.
So I finally found a guy that I like for the front desk position and now I have to go through the training process over again. The thing that I like about this guy is that he seems to pick up on things fairly easy so it won’t be hard to get him used to the systems. One thing that I look for in hiring people is are they energetic or do they motivate themselves or do they need to be pushed. With this guy, it seems like he can pretty much get going himself and likes to challenge himself as well. I think I’m going to like him.
Well, I had to fire my janitor and I’ve had people quit in the last few weeks so we have to scramble to find people to cover shifts. With that being said, I have plenty of interviews that need to be set up. I’m not a particular fan of the interviewing and hiring process just because of how long the process is of doing it. You have to call everybody and set up the interviews, which could be quite a few people. Then you have to go through the interview and try and get a good read off of the person to make sure that they are the right person for the job. Then once you hire the person you have to train them on what they will be doing. Training is not a two day activity, but is more of an ongoing process that really doesn’t end until I actually feel like they are comfortable with the job. It’s a process that I’m not quite fond of but it has to be done in order to make my life a little bit easier so I guess in the end it is all worth it.
So, today I walk in to another excuse from the my janitor and for whatever reason was not able to make it to work today. When firing someone, I was always told to have a witness; I think this is to ensure that there is no misconception on what was said. Well since he could not make it in for me to do it, I decided that I needed to call him and get it over with. I would much rather do it face to face but I figure this may be easier on both of us because he doesn’t have to drive all the way to work jus to turn around and leave again and I get to go on about my day without too much confrontation. At the end of the day, I was able to successfully take care of business and now the search is on for a new janitor to replace him.
Well I told you guys last Thursday that I was having trouble with one of my janitors and the trouble continues. Over the weekend, he was supposed to work from 9am to 3pm. When I came in to work today, I was informed that he came in late on Sunday and also left early. Not only did he come late and leave early, but he still clocked in for the 6 hours that he was supposed to be there which is considered time card fraud. He not only committed time card fraud for one day, but he did the same thing today! This is where I draw the line and I have decided to let him go.
I want to hit our misc. gross goal for this month and I think I have found the perfect way to do it. I decided to have a competition to get my workers excited for the trying to hit the goal. I’ve always tried to keep a competitive bunch of employees since joining LA Fitness because they are easily motivated to do their work. What better way to keep them motivated then by sparking up the competition? The rule of the competition are if we hit our goal as a whole, I will take everyone out to eat with at the end of the month. For the person that has the most misc gross, I will buy them dinner on top of us all going out at their choice. Needless to say, everyone is really excited for the competition and there has been a lot of trash talking! I love it! Let the games begin!!!
So, I seem to have bad luck with janitors because in both facilities, I’ve had janitors that just simply are lazy at their job. Now, the reason I have such a problem with that besides the fact that they are lazy is that we work at a gym where a lot of germs are spread on equipment and throughout the building. If you are lazy at your job, you are exposing people to the many germs that are in the gym. With that being said, I had a janitor call off today saying that he had some event that he had to go to. He told me yesterday that he would not be in today but the fact that he told me the day before he wasn’t going to be here is what really rubbed me the wrong way. This is the second time this week that he has called off without giving me a few days notice and I am just about at the end of my ropes with giving him chances. It really makes me mad because when he takes off like that, it forces my other two janitors to have to pick up his slack plus continue to do the work that they already have to get done. It’s not fair to them that they have to work harder because a worker decides to come to work when they want to. So I plan on having a talk with Isaac once he comes in on Monday about his performance and to pretty much give him a warning that if he doesn’t pick up the slack, then we will move in a different direction.
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