LIV North Aquatics is dedicated to offering the highest level of fitness programming and activities to enhance our leading High-Rise Building Amenity Management services. As part of LIV North, Canada’s leading fitness management company with over 75 managed facilities, LIV North Aquatics is setting a new bar in managing and programing our condo fitness clubs.
We are pleased to announce Eliana Henriquez has been hired is Fitness and Recreation Program Manager for LIV North Aquatics. This position reports to Phil Knight, Regional Recreation Manager, who is overseeing the development of our condominium fitness facility management and programming.
Eliana will be based in our Absolute Clubhouse in Mississauga.
Over the last 7 years, Eliana has been a Group Fitness Manager, and has been a Certified Group Fitness Instructor for 10 years. Teaching and programming have been Eliana’s passion allowing her to and interact and impact many different people in a variety of communities. Complimenting her experience in programming and instructing, Eliana is very experienced organizing and running special events, including children’s activities, which is essential in a high-rise residential community.
Having worked with every age demographic Eliana is excited to elevate the standards in programming LIV North provides to Condo Clubs. Together with her experience and expertise, we are looking forward to providing events and programs that will cater to any and everyone.
LIV North is placing a high level of importance on the need to provide unmatched service to our staffed account and this appointment is a large step in meeting our objectives.
The topic of the presentation – how to rebuild and re-engage users of aquatic and fitness facilities post pandemic.
Below is a short summary of the presentation as prepared by Jaclyn. If you would like to learn more or have questions about the presentation, be sure to contact Jaclyn or Shelly at jneumann@livnorth.com or sstranaghan@livnorth.com.
A few takeaway points for the presentation include:
3 Pillars : Power of Member Engagement
Connect – the power of the first impression
Every interaction needs to be a first impression.
To build friendships, to enjoy exercise, to have fun.
Apply first impressions to everything you do (space, experience)
Inspire – the power of the personal involvement
Create an emotional connection.
Support – the power of positive results
Creating the habit of exercise, showing-up, defining what success looks like, helping them to achieve goals – and supporting them on their journey.
Build a “like/know/trust” relationship at every interaction for the member from the front desk, to the floor.
Another key takeaway is to Create a Culture of Conversation.
Effective member engagement, plain and simple, is when your members are having meaningful, face-to-face interactions with your staff AND with each other. There is a range of factors that promote a Culture of Conversation, as shown in the presentation. The probability of a member visiting the next month after 1 interaction with staff is 20% more likely, after 2-3 interactions is 60% more likely and after 4+ interactions a member is 80% more likely to return.
Member engagement is a complicated issue for organizations. It takes focus and work to maintain a membership. By understanding the pieces that make up the member’s thought process, we can take the RIGHT steps to solve the retention puzzle.
October is recognized in Canada as Healthy Workplace Month! Every year, LIV North Fitness Management staff set out to assist our corporate clients creating a culture of health and wellness in the office. This year, that assistance included a virtual challenge!
Mission:LIVWell is a challenge that includes elements of physical, mental, social and emotional wellbeing, and includes physical fitness, nutrition and mindfulness components.
During the 4 week challenge, participants were asked to select tasks from a carefully curated list and report back to LIV North on their completion of these tasks. All of the items on the list were selected as they would not only help to improve the individuals health and wellbeing, but would also provide some transference to co-workers and others in the office.
Below is some data collected using self administered questionnaires at the start and end of the challenge. As you can see, most participants reported positive changes in their lives which in turn always helps to improve attitudes and behaviours in the workplace!
If your workplace is interested in improving employee health and wellness and could benefit from a challenge such as Mission:LIVWell, reach out to the LIV North Fitness Management team at virtual@livnorth.com to arrange a time to chat!
Managed Fitness Amenities Lead to Greater Tenant Satisfaction
Providing health and fitness amenities is not a new trend, however it continues to be one of the highest sought after amenities! Whether it be an onsite fitness centre, virtual wellness solutions or wellness programing. For property owners and managers, a fitness amenity is designed to achieve 2 outcomes:
Attract/Impress prospective tenants
Create value for current tenants to renew leases
In a recent study, findings show that access to health and fitness is a top priority for employees. When employees were asked which aspects or perks would be most likely to make them stay if they were considering whether to stay or leave, nearly 40 percent said health amenities. (1).
Good Intentions don’t deliver Great Results
Armed with this knowledge, it is important to note one important fact- a “build it and they will come” approach may be misguided.
Providing fitness space and equipment is a nice intention. However, many of the tenants likely already own or have owned fitness equipment in their homes that ended up never being used. This is often the same outcome for unsupervised fitness centres offered as a tenant amenity. It can also become a low value amenity causing frustration for owner/managers and tenants with unmaintained equipment or lack of centre care potentially resulting in limited use and an unsafe environment.
Many building owners/managers are realizing investing in a fitness amenity and leaving it unstaffed is a mistake. Those who invest in proper design and provide a professional atmosphere are achieving better returns on their investment.
Initially the first impression of a fitness facility is judged by the condition, variety, layout, moderness and maintenance of the equipment. Also by the general feel for the facility, the colours, the music (is it welcoming, does it represent the building tenants demographic, etc.). These are all key areas to consider during design.
Deliver Ongoing Value and Build Long-term Relationships
Once an initial impression and expectation is set, it is critical to maintain a positive, lasting impression. The follow up to ensure you do not over promise and under deliver includes details like etiquette enforcement, safety and services (available services and classes) .
In many cases tenants will justify paying an additional fee (membership) if the value is there.
Tenants who would typically never use a “self-serve” or un-supervised facility, will join and use a staffed facility. On-site staff provide the necessary comfort level, connecting tenants with tenants and recruiting new tenants to be engaged all creating more value in the building.
When looking at staffing your fitness amenities, the team you have in place is also important to consider. Here are a few key benefits to hiring a management company, such as LIV North, versus leasing space to a private fitness operator:
Consistent Service
Professionally Managed
Access to additionals resources and programming
Equipment Maintenance and Procurement
30-40% of tenants use a professionally managed amenity vs only 8-10% for unstaffed fitness amenities
Decreased liability risk
Revenue and expense management
Shared vision with Property Owner/Manager
Help build community within companies and buildings
With over 45 years of experience in club management across Canada, LIV North is prepared to work with your team and develop plans and programs to meet and compliment your organization’s goals. Whether the goal is engagement, usage, revenue or tenant retention, we can help.
If you would like to learn more about LIV North’s Fitness Management division, don’t hesitate to contact us at amenities@livnorth.com or visit us online at www.livnorth.com.
It is no surprise that when employees are highly engaged they are highly productive, and that’s a good thing for businesses. On a more realistic note though, when we look at the numbers, according to latest Gallup report:
51% of employees are disengaged
13% of employees are actively disengaged
they spread negativity about the organization to their colleagues
Only 36% of employees are engaged
Another interesting number is 21%! Organizations with more highly engaged employees see profits increase by over 21% due to the commitment and productivity of their employees.
So how do we start to create more engagement? More staff meetings? More bonuses?
You may be surprised to hear that employee wellness programs play a large role in boosting employee engagement, particularly when delivered by an organization outside of your own.
Engaged employees can lead to increased profits of up to 21%. Employee wellness programs can help increase employee engagement.
By offering employees an outlet to relieve stress, whether through an onsite fitness centre or wellness program, or through a virtual offering such as LIV North’s Virtual Services, it can greatly impact engagement levels. These programs help to lower stress levels, create non-work related connections with peers and develop a sense that the organization does care about the employees and their well being.
By having a contracted organization deliver these services, it also allows the employees to feel as though they are stepping away from work and they feel more free to be more receptive and fully benefit from the activity. Also, the contracted organization typically specializes in employee wellness, like LIV North, and knows exactly what needs to be programmed and how to engage the employees at a higher level.
LIV North Fitness Management works with many clients in the corporate sector, providing fitness services and working alongside their Human Resources and Wellness teams to deliver impactful, meaningful programming. All of these services are flexible and customizable to any organization. We work with our clients to determine their desired wellness outcomes, size and scale of their programing, marketing, and more.
We also provide reporting data to verify the effectiveness of a program and to aid in future planning. For more information on our planning and reporting, see our blog post Programming with a Purpose.
If you would like to learn more about employee engagement through wellness programming, contact us at virtual@livnorth.com and a LIV North consultant will be in touch with you shortly to discuss your organization and offer some solutions for you.
