Saturday, May 17, 2014

Gymnastys – the battle of the fits.

Sometimes a plain piece of paper can set off a revolt. That is exactly what happened at the gym I have been frequenting for the past eight years. This piece of paper I am referring to took the form of a letter which was given to all the trainers who were working there. It said that effect from the following Monday all PT (Personal Training) would be canceled.
This action was a result of a problem which has been brewing for a long time. Of course the culprit was none other than PT itself.
You see all the trainers who worked at the gym were allowed to carry out PT sessions during their off times. With each hours session costing about a thousand rupees PT became the main mode of income of these trainers.
And therein lay the problem.
It was more profitable for the trainers to steer clients towards Personal Training instead of helping them to work out on their own with the assistance of the trainers that were on duty. It was a vicious cycle. If the trainers on duty did their job well then they would lose the larger income they made from Personal Training. The reality of life is that no one wanted to loose money. So most of the time people who came to the gym to work out on their own steam and did not have the luxury of a personal trainer found themselves left high and dry without anyone to show them the ropes or help them. This meant that they felt unhappy and marginalized. To add to the misery clients who used the trainers for lessons during their off times encouraged them to carry out Personal Training even when they were on duty.
Very soon the gym got a reputation as a place suitable only for those who can afford personal training.
The reality was that most members resorted to Personal Training as they had no alternative. I know this first hand because I too was one such member. The costs of fees add up to a significant amount over time and I know a lot of people who consider this expense grudgingly.
One would have expected most of the members to welcome the cancelling of PT with open arms.
But that was not what happened.
The news that PT was cancelled spread like wild fire. Since there had been no official announcement or dialogue between the members and the management - and with the interested parties adding fuel to the fire - everyone was outraged. They felt that their rights had been violated.
No one realized that this new rule would be beneficial to them in the long run.
The members were so outraged that they called the owner of the gym and complained. This resulted in the decision of the Management of the gym to cancel PT being over ruled by the owner.
Creating a huge embarrassment for the management. As well as a lot of unnecessary expenditure for the members.
I can’t help but think the outcome would have been different if this situation had been handled with a little more tact and more open communication between the management the staff and the members. Instead all that has happened is that have arrived at yet another new turn of the vicious cycle.

1 comment:

Jack Point said...

A simple solution would for the gym to charge a small extra fee for personal training (say 200-300). a part of this could have been retained by the gym and the rest paid to the trainer