Whether it’s your first hire, or your hundredth, growing your team can be a truly exciting time. It can also be daunting. The risk of hiring the wrong person can be harmful to your business in more ways than one. Thankfully there are some things you can do to give you the best chance of building a successful team. Check out our hot tips for hiring new team members below.
1. What is your studio’s purpose?
Before hiring a new team member, it’s important to take a step back to think about your businesses’ purpose. For example, a yoga studio might run yoga classes, but its purpose is to provide a safe space and friendly community to practice yoga for health and wellness.
If you are not clear about the purpose of your studio, it can make it more difficult to find a potential team member who will connect with and compliment your end goals.
Having a clear purpose for your business which is also aligned with your clientele’s needs will ensure your clientele will be happy to continue to pay for your services.
Here are some examples of why clients might find purpose at a yoga studio:
- Community
- Health
- Wellness
- Worldview
- Experience
By understanding and/or re-defining your businesses purpose, you’ll be better prepared to communicate it and find the right team member for the job.
2. Define your culture
You might not know it, but your businesses culture is an extension of yourself. The brand, aesthetics, services and overall vibes are all determined by your own values, ethics and personality.
Why is this important when hiring a team member? Because anyone who doesn’t align with your culture can have a negative, and costly, impact on your business. You need to look for people who understand and fit in with your culture.
Here are some terms which could be used to describe your studio culture. Make your own list and look for these characteristics when hiring new team members:
- Nurturing
- Fun-loving
- Results-driven
- Competitive
- Calm
Define the culture you want your business to reflect, and look for the same personality traits in potential team members. If you feel there is something missing about your businesses culture, now you can look for people who could fill the gap!
3. Establish your standards
Standards are the rules and policies you set and which your team agree to operate by. They will help guide your team and foster the type of culture you want to create.
Whether it’s a uniform, appearance or name tags. Implementing standards in your Pilates, yoga or fitness studio can make a big impact. Before hiring a new team member, be clear about what your standards are so you can communicate them when hiring.
Here are some examples of standards you might use:
- Team uniform
- Leadership structure
- Protocols
- Timeliness
- Cleanliness
Any new team members you hire should know about your standards and agree to them.
4. What role needs to be filled?
The role to be filled can be described in terms of the tasks which you need performed, and the experience which is required in order to perform those tasks.
Be specific and decide exactly what you want. Also remember that the tasks a new team member must perform should to be aligned with your business’s purpose and growing your business.
Try to think outside the box. For example, it might be obvious that you need someone to run some new Pilates classes on Saturdays, but do you also need help with other aspects of your business?
What other areas of your business could a new team member help with?
- Experience (e.g. teacher training)
- Finance (e.g. budgeting etc)
- Marketing (e.g. social media etc)
- Strategy (e.g. growing your business)
- Management (e.g. a team manager)
5. Advertising
With your purpose, culture, standards and role defined, now you can think about telling people that you are hiring.
As a general rule, if you can find a new team member using fewer degrees of separation, they are more likely to be a successful hire. This means if you can hire a team member who is a friend of one of your other team members, it will be less costly and potentially a better fit (culturally etc) than if you were to look for someone on LinkedIn.
Here are some ways you can try advertising:
- Referral from current team members
- Posting on Facebook groups
- Teacher training programmes
- Industry body newsletters
- Email Marketing
- Facebook Advertising
- Advertising on your Instagram Platform
- Posting a job on LinkedIn
- Vacancy posters outside of your studio
- Contacting fitness studio collages to enquire about graduates in the required field – this can range from online to in-person collages.
Once you start advertising, create a shortlist of respondents and prepare for the next step, the interview.
6. Interviewing
Before interviewing, be thoroughly prepared and specific about what you’re looking for. Having the right questions will help you get a better understanding of applicants and their abilities.
Below are some useful interview questions you could use when hiring a new team member for your studio.
What are they specialised in?
- If the applicant has specific specialisations, what are they? Are they beneficial to the role you need filled?
What experience do they have?
- The team member you hire needs to be appropriately qualified and have the knowledge, competence and skills to perform their role effectively.
Which aspects of working at your studio is appealing to them?
- Hint, it should be more than a pay check. Do they connect with your studio’s purpose and/or are they drawn to the culture you have created?
How good is their social interaction?
- An instructor needs to be able to interact with your students to make them feel comfortable and to build trust. Having good communication skills is a high priority. Someone who will be able to motivate and uplift your students in a class can help encourage students to return.
Their plans and goals for the next few years?
- You need to be made aware if the team member you’re hiring has plans or big changes for the next few years. This will allow you to be prepared to make any necessary changes before that time comes.
What inspires them about teaching?
- Having someone that’s driven, goal-oriented, and inspired to teach will benefit your studio and help build your clinetele.
How do they motivate themselves and their students before and during a class?
- This can range from creative ideas to spice up the class, or setting up motivational music beforehand, whatever it is that they can do to hype up your students is a win.
7. Auditioning
Auditioning is a great tool to help you see your potential new team members in action, before signing a contract. It can involve inviting your potential new team member to teach a trial class or session where you can see them in motion.
You could also ask them to teach a class to you and/or your staff members. This is where you will be able to critique them based on your personal experience and determine how they will fit in with the rest of your team.
Invite them to join one of your classes as a participant.
- Will they help build your business?
- Do they fit with your culture?
- Will they meet your standards?
- Do they fill the role?
8. Contract
Finally, once you find the right team member, it’s essential to see an legal advisor to help you draw up an employment contract. A properly drafted employment contract will protect you, your clients and your team members should anything go wrong!
In Summary
Hiring new team members is an important task get right. By setting out your businesses purpose, culture and standards, you’ll be better prepared to find the right person for the job.
Finding the right person can take patience but remember to never settle for anything less than a good fit. Making a bad hire can harm your business in more ways than one. But making the right hire can take your business to new and exciting heights!
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