How-To - How to Prepare Your Staff for Management Positions

How to Prepare Your Staff for Management Positions

Encourage employees to achieve their full potential.

By Amy Ashmore, Ph.D.
February 24, 2011

Comments (5)

Many athletic, fitness and recreation facility operators manage lower-level employees who are themselves management material. They have years of valuable practical experience on the job and are familiar with protocols and equipment management. But they may not have the proper certification, education or other training to be properly prepared for the management aspects of a career in the industry. Be sure to encourage your employees to follow these tips to help them achieve their full potential:

Earn a bachelor's degree. In order to even be considered for a management position at a legitimate facility, you must have at least a bachelor's degree in some type of fitness-related area, including exercise science or recreation and leisure studies. In today's competitive marketplace, that is a fundamental key to obtaining a management position. While asking employees (many of whom are full-time) to return to school may be a large request, there are a number of online and distance-learning programs in these fields that are cost-effective and allow employees to keep their current hours. Several universities, including American Public University, offer online education options with sports-management and business-training courses that qualify lower-level staff for management positions.

Get certified. Most personal trainers and others who work at fitness and athletic facilities already have at least a base level of certification. But those who do not should take steps to do so before they become eligible for a management-level position. Some certification programs, like the one offered through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, are only open to individuals with bachelor's degrees.

Expand education to include business skills. Some of your employees may already have both a bachelor's degree and proper certification. Is there anything else they can do? If they haven't had any formal business training, it would be important for them to take some business classes — particularly in accounting, management and human resources — or even earn an MBA. A master's degree in sports management is also a great option, and many such programs offer business courses as part of the curriculum. Any exposure to practical business practices will make your employees more attractive candidates for management positions.

Amy Ashmore is an adjunct faculty member at the American Public University System, where she teaches exercise physiology, strength training and conditioning, and kinesiology. She is also the founder of Amy Ashmore Kinetics LLC.

Comments:
The opportunity to demonstrate determination, effort, integrity, initiative and to get real world and business experience is achieved by post secondary education, the more education the more opportunity - the more opportunity more money Ryan Hallam Student/Position Seeker 4/22/2011 10:56:43 AM
I'm troubled by the sales agenda that is so evident in this piece. One can, in fact, become a manager in a "legitimate" facility without a bachelor's degree. If a working adult chooses to make the investment in a degree - whether to advance in the fitness industry or to personally or professionally progress elsewhere - I would suggest looking to your (good value) state university rather than this kind of predatory college. I would also suggest a broader major, e.g., biology with a concentration in exercise science rather than paying for a bachelor's that is essentially a glorified vocational certificate. (I have a degree in psychology from Stanford and a certification from ACSM.) Barbara Saunders Trainer/writer 2/26/2011 4:30:38 PM
I think the 2 above comments are missing the point. They are right in that there are soft skills necessary to be a manager that go beyond what can be learned from a book, but the title of this article is "How to Prepare Your Staff for Management Positions". If you've hired correctly for staff positions, you have someone who is honest, works hard, and has the genuine desire to progress. So the staff member who you are developing already should have those skills mentioned. Yes, a 4 year degree does not trump everything, nor does an MBA, but it does give a testimony to the baseline knowledge a management candidate has. Combine this with business experience and a honest, hard working personality, you have the makings of a solid performer in the upper ranks. To discuss all of this in an article would take a long time. This article was meant to be a very high-level view of what you should do. No need to be so cynical. Jeff General Manager 2/24/2011 3:20:24 PM
Go figure. A teacher, and faculty member, at American Public University with a Ph.D. writes an article stressing the "importance" of post secondary education for "advancing" into a management position. As someone with a college degree I can comfortably say that desire, determination, effort, and real world experience, go a lot farther than "education" for advancing into or above management positions. Want to be successful? Just take my grandmothers advice, "Don't lie, don't steal, don't hurt anyone, and don't be lazy!" . Her advice is all the "education" you will ever need to be a decent, honest and reliable co-worker / manager. Michael Sales Manager 2/24/2011 11:49:07 AM
I'm disappointed that this article states nothing about actual merit and the interpersonals that are the most important factor in management. Aside from the perseverance and discipline required to complete a 4-year program, just about anybody can complete a modern bachelor's in fitness-, sports-, or business-related degrees. I find experience, integrity, and initiative often don't show up on tests. Anyway, that's my two cents. I genuinely believe the modern bachelor's degree is secondary to four years of quality work and experience. Robert Project Manager 2/24/2011 11:09:23 AM

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