Here is a term I have created that you are free to steal.
CONTROLLED AUTONOMY
Let’s break the two words down. Autonomy is defined as, ” freedom
from external control or influence; independence.” And Control is defined as, “the power to
influence or direct people's behavior or the course of events.” Seems like they are more like oil and water.
So How can they help keep employees?
In part 1, we talked about growth. As people grow in a company they want and
expect more and more freedom. Think
about when you first got your job. The boss or manager was on top of you all
the time to make sure you were doing the job right. But I’m sure after a while they back offed
and allowed you to do what you do. If they didn’t you would be pissed and
complain that they are micro managing you. I don’t know a single person who
likes to be micro managed.
People enjoy having the ability to make their own decisions
at work. As a matter of fact, there are
more and more companies that are allowing people to make their own schedules as
long as the job gets done. You can come and go as you please but the
job/project better be done by its deadline. This is a classic example of
“controlled autonomy”. People want to avoid
the stress of having to ask permission for every little thing they do. In fitness this would mean you have to
approve each exercise you give a client or having to show your manger your
training schedule at the end of each day. That would drive me crazy.
On the opposite side of the spectrum people also do not want
to aimlessly work at a job. Especially
now and days people want to know that their job has meaning and serves a
purpose. You can only pay people to do meaningless work for a short period of
time. Eventually they will seek guidance and purpose. Your gym or facility must
have principle, values, morals, a reason that it exist. There has to be a greater purpose that
employees can feel proud of and stand behind. If asked what your gym is all
about they should light up and be eager to tell everyone how great your company
is. I normally do not see this in big box gyms. They seem to lack this form of
community with their people.
Is there a middle ground?
Yes!
That middle
ground is “Controlled Autonomy”
Here is how it works at our gym. The best way I can describe
it, is to tell you a little bit about our system. Each session follows the same
system. We have a warm up that consist of activations and dynamics, followed by
each person having a custom workout plan. Our activations follow a system of 2
hip dominant exercises, 2 core and 2 shoulder.
We normally have them planned out but the trainer also has the autonomy
to choose any exercise that fits into the category. The control is knowing
there has to be a hip exercise while the autonomy is the ability to pick any
hip exercise of their choosing.
Our workouts follow a similar system. The coaches can pick
any exercise they choose as long as it fits into the system and as long as the
client is able to perform the exercise. Once again the system is the control
while the exercise is the autonomy. This concept sounds simple but is very powerful.
The reason I say that is because when I first opened up our staff was allowed
to do whatever they wanted with the clients. It was complete autonomy but also
complete chaos. Trainers had strength and power programs for clients who had no
business lifting yet. We had people jumping with no ability to land properly.
It was a zoo but it was also super FUN.
Haha. Still miss those days. Our
problem was that we had zero control. We just changed our program as new
information came along. This lead to clients
being confused about who we were, what we did and what our purpose was. One thing about business is you never want
people to be confused about what you stand for.
This lead to us creating our 5 Level s of FLO training
system. The system as based on 5 different exercises libraries. As each person levels up they would gain
access to a new library of moves. At its core this was and still is a great
idea. I believe it is useful in teaching
younger trainers how to program. However it leaves very little room for
autonomy and leaves the coaches feeling stuck.
This is an example of too much control.
The sessions begin to get stale and clients loose interest.
The best approach we have found is what we use now. We
married the two extremes together to create harmony and balance with our
training. Our coaches now just have a
system to follow. They make exercise decisions based on what they see. This is important because in any business a
decision should be made at the place where the information is. If I don’t see
the client how can I decide the best exercise for them? I must let the employee have autonomy and
decide what’s best. If I can not trust they can make the right decisions than
why did I hire them? Giving them this
freedom makes them feel and be part of the overall process. They become
attached to the system and the end result. The client success becomes the coach’s
success which equal the gym’s success. Everyone wins when given the proper
freedom and parameters.
Try this approach at your place and let us know how it goes.
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