Impact Training BTS

In the fitness and recreation industries, regular staff training is
vitally important because the skills of your staff — from personal
trainers to lifeguards to sports coaches — impacts not just your
customers’ experience, but their health and safety within your
facility, not to mention of course staff motivation and wellbeing.

However, although businesses in the Middle East are unlikely to feel
the impact of the global credit crisis affecting so many of its feeder
markets until the latter half of this year, training experts  have
expressed fear that money-saving measures taken by leisure companies to
cope with its effects will mean that training budgets are slashed.

Leisure Training & Advisory Services Ltd director and owner Pete
Whittall, who works with companies in the UAE to train lifeguards
according to Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS) standards, says that
when under financial pressures “the saddest thing is that chief
executives will tend to cut training and marketing budgets, yet these
are the two key areas you need investment in. It is  from those that
you get the growth, capability, competence and confidence in being able
to do your job”.

PRM International training manager Heike Glassner agrees and admits
that the training business could be affected as operators tighten their
purse strings.

“One thing that happens often is people cut their training spend,” she says.

Whittall and Glassner warn that this could be a costly mistake,
however, especially if an accident were to happen in a recreation or
health club facility.

“If a company is taken to court, one of the areas a court will look
at is what investment has been put into training — how often are
lifeguards trained for example, have they got a qualification, and what
is your health and safety culture,” says Whittall.

“I think if you’re cutting training costs, it’s actually saying that
your health and safety culture isn’t as important to you as it ought to
be. It sends out all those concern messages about what a company is
doing,” he warns.

In addition, comments Impact British Training Solutions managing
director Amanda Brewer, cutting back on training for health club and
personal training professionals would have a negative effect on levels
of instruction, staff recruitment and retention and, worryingly, the
reputation of the industry as a whole.

“It’s likely that the current financial crisis will affect many
industries, including ours; however, I would say that it’s a false
economy to cut back on the quality training that this region dearly
needs,” asserts Brewer.
“Many of our clients will attest that well-trained staff, such as
skilled personal trainers and group fitness instructors, actually
generate huge revenues.

“The UAE is a tourist destination and those coming here want
services that are to a high international standard, and investment in
staff training is essential to deliver this,” she points out.

“If the UAE is to keep its current positive and dynamic reputation
as a world-class destination, then services provided will have to be
kept at a high level or else it risks losing its sparkle,” says Brewer,

“When it comes to the fitness industry, our hope is that there will
be more demand for highly qualified and well-trained staff —to look
beyond the superficial aspects and aim to be in line with the best in
the modern world,” she adds.

The lack of national industry legislation for fitness instructor
training and qualifications  in the UAE puts an even bigger onus on the
operator to take responsibility for selecting adequately qualified
staff and then continuing to train them.

“To be honest, the reason many clubs don’t require staff to have
recognised qualifications is because they don’t have to,” says Brewer,
although she says that since Impact was founded seven years ago she has
seen greater investment in training and an uptake in demand for its
services.

Developing staff to global standards is a priority that Le Méridien
Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina recreation manager Chris Denil
has taken very seriously.

“I have a team of 90. The main courses we will be looking at in 2009
will be in requalifiying all our water sports instructors on their boat
driving licence with a Royal Yacht Association (RYA) accredited
affiliation,” says Denil.

He adds that while all 33 of the property’s lifeguards have a
National Pool Lifeguard Qualification from the RLSS, there are plans to
have 50% of the lifeguard team qualified in the RLSS National Beach
Lifeguard qualification by the end of the year.

“The lifeguard’s supervisor will complete his Trainer Assessor RLSS
certification enabling him to train and assess lifeguard
qualifications,” adds Denil.

He acknowledges, however, that “we will have to cut back on certain training expenses” because of the global financial crisis.

“I am sure all areas within the hotel will have to minimise spending
and only focus on need-to-haves. One area I will never cut out is
safety,” says Denil.

He also advises that if you can’t afford to send staff on external
courses, to focus on delivering ongoing in house training; for example
the lifeguards have two training sessions per week focusing on fitness
and lifesaving skills and weekly training schedules for all staff are
logged.

“The importance of continuous in-house training is vital to keep 
skills at a high level. It’s great to send all staff to receive their
qualifications but it is more important to keep driving training within
the department on a continuous basis,” says Denil.

In 2009, he explains that his focus will be on training staff in “guest problem resolution”.

“We want the staff to take ownership of guest problems and to have the empowerment to solve the guest problem,” says Denil.

“The problem should be solved by the staff member who has the first
contact with the  guest. It’s amazing how creative the staff can be
when given the empowerment to turn an upset guest into an overwhelmed
guest.”

While the impact of the credit crisis on health clubs, sports
centres and hotel recreation facilities in this region is still
relatively unknown, at least that gives leisure managers some time to
prepare their training strategies and assess their priorities.

According to the experts, the message is simple: where possible
continue to enrol as many staff as possible on courses with
globally-recognised  certifications and in all cases, ensure every
staff member benefits from a regular, tailored and monitored in-house
training scheme.

And finally, above all, invest whatever it takes to ensure health
and safety procedures are run at the highest possible level. Failure to
do so could cost you hundreds of dollars, rather than saving you a
handful of cents.