Don't just take our word for it, read what our clients have to say about us.

Total Fitness was founded in 1995 to develop a chain of health and fitness centres with the concept of health and well being. With a total of 24 clubs across the UK and Republic of Ireland, Total Fitness seek to provide 'total' bodily well being resulting in 'TOTAL FITNESS'.

When Donna Nicholson, Training Manager for Total Fitness Health Clubs, was looking to develop employee skills and training, her criteria was simple; professional and effective training for all.

With training needs for all levels of the organisation, from Duty Managers to Cleaners, she needed a training provider who was up for a challenge!

After speaking to various industry insiders Donna approached Trafford College and their Workforce Development in Sport department. The expert team of fitness professionals, proved to be the ideal partner for her business development needs. In just 12 months the department has secured Central YMCA Qualifications status and established a reputation for fitness and leisure training excellence. We asked Donna more about the training partnership.

Trafford College was recommended to me by a reputable company who had experience of training delivery with the College. The quality and range of the training on offer was great. They offered above and beyond what we were currently implementing, and they even outlined bespoke programmes for our entire organisation. One of the main areas we wanted to develop was our customer service, so Trafford College adapted their award winning customer service excellence campaign, 'The Manchester Way' to fit to our organisational needs. Our fitness staff are set to take on the Central YMCA Qualifications at levels 2 and 3 and the College is even providing us with a leisure management course, which has never been on offer to our staff before.

The Solution

Initially the College sent us a template in which to input all the qualifications staff currently had. From this the College was able to conduct a Skills Needs Analysis, which highlighted the training targets for staff members. Trafford College then put all the plans together in terms of what they believe would benefit the company, allowing us to concentrate on the business in-hand.

The Result

I think the training will be a fantastic staff retention tool for Total Fitness. Traditionally, the fitness and leisure industry suffers problems with staff retention; this is due to a distinct lack of training opportunities for employees. Now, it's hoped that from the day they start new employees will have a clear training pathway, encouraging them to stay with the company. Good staff retention will mean our customers see a familiar face, which is obviously good from a customer service point-of-view and hopefully will have a positive effect on customer loyalty.

The Future

The pathway designed by Trafford College is going to be built into our original interview process, so goals for new members of staff will be stated straight away. Senior Management has really bought into the idea of training with Trafford College and the collaboration between two outstanding organisations.

Everybody should want to develop, no matter what position they hold within an organisation, and in order to keep staff you have to offer them a development pathway. Trafford College has got everything a business could look for. The College is even delivering training to our juice bar staff, located throughout our clubs. If you want to keep your staff, you've got to give them something back, and this is a great way to do it.