Welcome to our Bars and Belles website!
Bars & Belles launched its first clinic in November 2018. We have since held a clinic each month dedicated to inspiring and encouraging females in the fitness industry to learn and build their business.
First and foremost, our goal is to increase the confidence of females with the barbell and lifting weights. The translation from barbell to confidence in business has been instrumental in retention and growth of successful personal trainers.
In September 2018, co-founder Cassandra Chin gave a presentation to a group of fitness managers regarding female retention rate and ratio of male to female personal trainers in co-ed fitness clubs. In most cases, there is a 1:5 ratio of female to male personal trainers.
Within GoodLife Fitness, personal trainers are considered the lowest engaged group, with an attrition rate consistently over 80% in the first year.
In general, personal trainers typically leave due to the high focus on sales which interferes with their ability to deliver the quality of training they would like. A big issue is trying to balance being successful and maintaining a healthy family life.
GoodLife remains an industry leader with creating and leading the company with many top females in the health industry.
However, in this past year, the overall PT attrition rate was 66% over a one year period, while the attrition rate for fitness managers was 28.4%.
The percentage for female associates in the company are as follows:
-21% are Personal Trainers
-31.3% are Fitness Managers
-16% are Personal Training Regionals
-56% are Senior PT Leaders
Despite the increase of female employees in the workforce, the job turnover rate is also very high. In part due to economic pressures, female employees typically take on dual responsibility for income generation and families. This in turn causes excess stress because of the increased responsibility of balancing parenting and their jobs. Work-life balance policies are instrumental in assisting female PTs succeed in their business.
A study by Hom et al. (2001) showed female employees would be more likely to pursue and continue their jobs if they are provided: leaves up to 12 weeks to take care of a newborn, child care centre, transportation and flexible work schedules, as well as maximum family support.
Having a supportive and understanding manager is also key for employees with families. Some key indicators for female retention include flexible work hours, job security, equal opportunities of growth and development, supportive colleagues and equal treatment.
Part of the issue when female employees have a child and try to come back to work is trying to find the balance and appropriate child care arrangements. We want to assure and retain female personal trainers by having them set on both feet prior to leaving for maternity leave so when they return, they already have the skills to maintain and build their business.
There is a lack of awareness about the cost-benefit ratio of working conditions that facilitate parenting and retaining returning workers post childbirth.
A study on Fortune 500 companies found that those with at least one female board member experiences significantly higher returns on equity (53%), better sales (42%), and two-thirds greater return of investments than those with all-male boards.
It fosters a better team culture and improves business within a club through potential clients who prefer a female trainer. A big focus is the recruitment issue and what needs to be done to get females to apply as a personal trainer.
-Development and encouragement of strength training
-Implementation of programming
-Supportive culture
-Mentorship
-Recognition and Reward
-Family-friendly work-place policies - Jump! rooms
Our goal with Bars & Belles is to create a tribe of like-minded individuals in the fitness industry who want to grow their businesses and share their stories. We want to help be a part of your journey to success and aim to provide educational seminars, a yearly summit and online resources to assist with this growth.
With love,
The Bars & Belles
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