When we first started the gym, I was familiar with one way of doing raises and evaluations: The military way. As a military member, little of your actually performance is factored when determining your lower-level rank achievements. Did you pass a physical training test with a 90 percent or greater? Did you pass your academic tests for your career field with a 70 percent or greater? Have you had any bad performance evaluations? Great. You’re getting promoted.

In the real world though, we should be expecting far more of our staff. In the military, passing the semi-annual PT tests and annual career tests were the expectation. You were given adequate time to study, additional tutoring if needed and plenty of time to exercise. So, if you weren’t passing those tests, there were red flags to be raised. When it came time to your evaluations, you were usually the one writing them yourself and submitting them to a supervisor who would give it a “once-over” and sign it. 

If you catch what I’m saying, it was a broken system. We were given raises for doing our jobs as they were expected to be done. What you’d often find is senior ranking military members who were mediocre Airmen. These senior members were responsible for training the next generation, and yet they weren’t all the best of the best. 

While that was something that frustrated me in the military, I wasn’t much different our first few years in business. If you did what you were supposed to do and didn’t cause problems, you were eligible for a raise. 

It actually was de-motivating to the really great staff members who went out of their way to do a great job. I know it because they told me. In 2015 I read a few books that really changed the way I looked at raises and evaluations. 

Cost of living adjustment – The military increases your pay each year by about 3 percent to account for natural inflation. Whether you had negative reviews or were the best Airman in your wing, you were given this cost of living adjustment approved by Congress. I think there’s something to be said for a COLA raise, but if that’s what you’re doing across the board, make sure your staff knows that’s the case. You may have people doing a mediocre job who think this raise is the result of amazing work.

Raise or promotion – For our part-timers there isn’t always a promotional offer persay. Instead, we may factor in their quality of work and time in service to our gyms to help determine the raise or promotion. This could mean more hours or simply more pay per hour. Whatever you’re offering, make sure you’re expecting more than just the bare minimum. Showing up on time and wearing the required staff uniform is not a reason to get a raise. Showing up 15 minutes early to ask if you need help with anything before practice begins and helping others may be a reason for a raise. Be clear on your expectations with your staff, but also be clear on how someone can reasonably exceed expectations and be eligible for a raise. This might mean that you’re sitting down together and setting goals. Now achieving those goals becomes the expectation, but is worthy of a raise. 

Generational expectations – Fifteen years ago, I’d say raises were viewed a little differently. Getting a raise once per year was sufficient for a job well done. Today, depending on the average age of those you’re employing, you may need to consider twice per year reviews with smaller raises at each review. Make sure you’ve factored raises into your budget so you can always afford to pay your staff on time, every time. 

Self-evaluation – A few years ago we began a self-evaluation component of our meetings with staff. We found that the areas we would have told them they needed to improve were, in fact, the areas they already knew they needed to improve and they were willing to say so during their self-evaluation. So, instead of harping on why they needed to improve those areas, we could shift the conversation to how we could help them fix those areas. If someone admits in a self-evaluation that they’re poor with time management, telling them why time management is so important is likely a mute point. Instead, telling them how you fixed it in yourself and recommending some study material on various areas of time management could really help them.

The most important part of a raise and evaluation system is that you’ve got it systemized so it’s consistent for every staff member and that you’re doing it regularly. These gyms will have a greater chance of retaining great employees and not falling victim to discrimination accusations from angry employees. There are many ways to run evaluation systems, but the one that works best is the one that retains your staff!