5 Powerful Ways to Pay Your Team
When I ask studio owners why they own a yoga studio, they say things like, "I want to share the gifts of yoga," or "I want others to experience the transformation that I did with yoga," or "I want to help others feel better."
They don't say, “I love building teams, answering emails and phone calls all day long, and dealing with yoga drama. Woohoo! Sign me up!"
This is why studio owners owners may struggle to build a dedicated team they can trust with the keys to the studio and create a culture that is conducive to building long-term loyalty from their team members and thus, consistency from their members.
And now, with the sting of inflation starting to show up in our studio bills, our gas tanks and our retail purchases, we have to also think about how we pay our team, and if it is enough to keep them around.
If you are a studio owner fighting your way back from COVID, and now staring a potential recession in the face, there is a good chance that you have spent more than a few hours struggling with what to pay your teachers for teaching classes, and your support staff for their work. Should they get attendance bonuses? What about sales commissions? Should the rate for a 60 minute class be the same as the rate for a 75 minute class?
I want to tell you, that when you laser focus on what you are paying with the hope that if you get it just right, you will make them happy and your studio profitable, you are focused on the wrong thing.
Focusing on your staff's rate per hour or class is important, yes, but overall, it is a very small part of why people want to work for you, or not.
But here's the good news....your staff isn't likely to leave your studio over money. They leave for other reasons...the obvious and unavoidable like getting a full time job, moving, or having a baby. They may also leave for less obvious reasons, like not feeling a part of the team, not being heard, feeling unsupported, or a need to grow professionally.
These reasons can be changed, by you.
I’m going to give you five ways to compensate your staff that are just as important as money in keeping them around.
1. Cultivate a Team Environment
If you want staff to stick around and support your studio's mission long-term, they need to feel like they are part of something bigger than just teaching a class a couple times a week. Have staff meetings or even casual potlucks on a regular basis. Share the short- and long-term visions for your studio, the good and the bad (within reason, of course). This will keep the right people close to you, and will also help to cultivate relationships among your staff so that they are excited to learn from each other, share stories and successes of common clients, and even take each others classes. When you create a studio culture that others want to be part of, and that feels like home to them, you will give them confidence in you as a leader.
This will make them more willing to stick with you when times get rough.
2. Give them Opportunities to Grow
Sometimes we inadvertently discourage the growth of our staff because we are scared. We are worried that members will prefer another teacher over us, or worse, will gain a following and leave and start a new studio down the street. Sure, it is a risk, but keeping your thumb on their growth to protect your feelings stunts your growth, too. Offer mini-learning opportunities either with you or a guest teacher on asana or philosophy....anything that will serve to make them a better teacher. Or, invite them to attend workshops at your studio free or for a reduced price, as long as there is space, of course. Providing opportunities for education that allows your teachers to grow so that they can serve your clients better will also keep them around longer.
3. Offer Creative Opportunities
When a team member feels like their only job is to teach a good class and then leave, they will roll up their mats and hit the door faster than their students at the end of class. When the message is that there is little they can do to contribute to the growth of your studio, they aren't likely to hang around after class and build relationships with clients and other teachers. This is scarcity thinking, and as the owner, it is your job to prevent staff members from developing this mentality. Unless you teach all the classes (and if you do, CALL ME TODAY!), your teachers are on the front lines with your clients, and very likely have heard ideas from clients or have their own creative ideas about new classes, workshops, times, and offerings. And not just teachers...your support staff may have some time saving ideas about how to make more sales or be more efficient at the desk with check-ins, sales or follow-ups with clients. Let them know you want to hear their ideas, and then really listen.
I know....it is hard to stop and listen sometimes...you are busy, and sometimes, frankly, they aren't good ideas, or you have tried them and know they won't work. But, you might also need to admit to yourself that others will often have great ideas to grow your business. And here's the thing, if they have a great idea that you like and will help the studio...empower them to run with it! With the right support and encouragement to take ownership, you may be surprised at what can happen.
4. Model the Behavior that you Want
One of my best bosses back in time when I had a corporate job (shoes!!) would often say, "Tone at the Top." Meaning, the boss sets the tone and it trickles down, good or bad. Like it or not, Melinda, the culture of your studio starts with you, the owner. How you treat your studio is how your staff will treat your studio, and how you treat your staff is how your staff will treat your members. Are you mad that teachers put the yoga blankets back like teenagers? Or that members walk into the yoga room on their phone with their shoes on? They likely watched you or your staff do the same thing. Ouch.
If you want your staff to show more respect for the studio and more empathy to members, you must lead by example. Lead, and they’ll follow.
5. Remember that you are the (Barefoot) Boss
You’re in charge of the direction, culture and vibe of your studio. You can create it to be whatever you want! You are steering the boat, and you need the right folks on it, rowing in the same direction, with none of them poking holes in your boat.
Find roles where team members can flourish and then put the right folks in those spots. Don't ask teachers to sell, and don't ask desk staff to sub a class.
That’s a win for them, a win for the clients and a win for you.
Most importantly, if they are poking holes in your boat, get 'em off today before others start to follow their lead. I promise you, no teacher or staff person is important enough to your studio to allow them to misbehave and harm your business. Not one.
Implementing these strategies can help you nurture a team whose values and objectives are aligned with yours and your vision for your studio and your community. It is worth it!