Retain talented pool employees with good guidance

Retain talented pool employees with good guidance

Members of pool management services know the difficulties of retaining talent. Many lifeguards and swimming instructors are teenagers and young adults looking for summer employment, and there are many other businesses that have peak attendance during these months, so encouraging them to return every year can be difficult.

However, your pool offers a unique atmosphere that can’t be found elsewhere. You recognize the one-of-a-kind opportunities and rewards of working at an aquatic facility, but how do you inspire that passion in younger workers?

Spot talent and offer guidance
The key to retaining talent is developing a good relationship with your employees. You’ll quickly learn who has the natural ability to work with the public, teach children and ensure safety. Rather than leave these individuals alone, you can reach out and see if they have any interest in remaining in the aquatics industry.

If they do, it doesn’t mean jumping right into further training. Give them a better understanding of pool operations as a whole by inviting them to shadow the person whose job they’re interested in. They may discover that they aren’t as attracted to the position as they’d thought, or they may find that they want to pursue an aquatics career. Doing this also shows other young employees that you’re willing to be a mentor, likely strengthening your professional relationships with seasonal workers.

Aquatics International pointed out that pools miss out on many opportunities to retain talented employees because aquatics careers aren’t very well publicized. This means that it’s up to you and other permanent staff members to make young employees aware of what the industry has to offer.

Leave it to the professionals
It’s likely that you have plenty of responsibilities to tend to and don’t have the time to observe and guide would-be pool professionals, but you don’t want to lose these individuals either.

Working with a full-service pool company is the solution to this problem. Since the businesses house all aspects of pool operations, you can be rest assured that your younger team members can learn about every area of the pool business.

Developing a good relationship with workers will ensure that when they become certified professionals, they’ll return to your pool, allowing you to reap the rewards.