The employees of climbing centers are an important element of the operation of this type of business. The recruitment of the climbing center staff should therefore be carried out in a well-organized and thoughtful manner.

 

What do you need to remember when planning the recruitment of employees in your climbing gym?

 

First, decide who you want to hire by answering some important questions:

What…

• position do you want to hire an employee for?
• competencies should an employee have?
• experience does he or she need to have? (if they don’t have experience, can you provide them with the proper training?)
• characteristics should the ideal employee have in the selected position?

 

How to create an attractive job offer?

Think about what your future employees are looking for in the position that you are offering.

Information that should be included in the description of the job offer:

• Type of position.
• Work location.
• Description of the requirements that the employee must meet.
• The most important responsibilities.
• Hiring conditions.
• Salary, perks & benefits
• Description of the career path.
• Directions on how to respond to the offer.

 

Have you already prepared an attractive job offer? The next step is to choose the place of publication of the offer.

 

Where to place a job offer?

Here are three ways to publish job offers, most often used by owners and managers of climbing gyms:

 

• On the climbing gym website or in the club building (billboard / poster). There is nothing better than an employee who has already used the offer of your club and wants to develop their interests by taking a job in your business.
• In your climbing gym social media channels and on social media groups associating people interested in climbing. There is then a greater chance that the offer is seen by people interested in climbing. As we all know, if work involves passion, people do it with more commitment and it is more effective.
• Use general advertising services, with local or national range. Most often, these types of services are divided into different categories, which allows you to place an offer and describe the requirements that a future employee should have.

 

Recruitment based on the win-win strategy

What is the win-win strategy?

Win-win strategy is about the benefits of both parties. In the case of recruitment of employees of the climbing gym, the benefits that the employer can receive are of course a good employee, who thanks to his work will bring positive effects to the company and stay in the climbing gym for longer. In return, a potential employee taking part in recruitment can gain a stable and secure place of employment, gain experience and develop in the industry that interests him.

 

What benefits will you gain by using win-win strategy when recruiting a climbing gym employee?

You will:

• Reduce employee rotation;
• Keep valuable employees for longer;
• Establish long-term relationships;
• Present an interesting perspective of a real career path in various areas (from reception to manager, from the trainer to the trainer’s manager, etc.);
• Get a greater involvement of employees (who see not only financial benefits at work);
• Count on creative solutions from the reception staff.

 

How should the interview be conducted?

After prepering an interesting offer, certainly, many candidates will be interested in working in your club. The next important stage is the invitation of selected candidates for a job interview. Nowadays, it is worth giving candidates the opportunity to choose the form of conducting an initial conversation: stationary in the building of your climbing gym or online.

 

To get to know the candidates well and choose the best employee, during the interview you can:

• Check what the candidate knows about your climbing gym – he does not necessarily have to know the offer of your passes. However, it is good to know what zones you have in the club, whether you have a sauna, gym or another zone additionally paid. Another thing which increases the chances of a candidate to be admitted to a given position should be the knowledge of the classes conducted in the club.
• Ask questions about the industry, sport and climbing – to increase sales and positive customer experience, you need a person who has knowledge about this area.
• Do a simulation of the conversation with the customer – when you are recruiting a reception desk worker or a climbing clothing store worker.
• Verify details of the experience – in some areas, you can train an employee. However, the experience is very valuable, for example in the case of a climbing trainer, store with climbing accessories worker or dietician.
• Tell about future benefits from work – use of the climbing center without additional fees, the possibility of promotion. Additional benefits will encourage the candidate to take the proposed position seriously and, if the cooperation is undertaken, will improve the employee’s motivation to work.

Remember that choosing a candidate to join the team is not the end of the recruitment process. Take care of the image of your company and bring the recruitment process to the end. All candidates you have not selected should be informed. Inform them about the result of recruitment, give feedback and thank them for their time.

 

Recruitment of a staff member of the climbing gym reception desk

Climbing gym reception worker is an extremely important person. It is he who makes the first contact with the customer. It is important that the reception staff is a competent person who knows the industry well. However the most important in the case of this position are the features related to interpersonal communication. How an employee talks to a customer, how he establishes interpersonal relationships is a greater advantage than the knowledge he can acquire during training and continuous practice.

 

What are the characteristics that are desirable for a reception desk worker in the climbing gym?

• Patience
• Ingenuity
• Courage and curiosity
• Assertiveness
• Willingness to develop
• Personal culture
• Logistics skills

Remember to consult the prepared offer with current employees, on the particular positions. They know best how the offered work looks like and what skills should a new employee have.