Learning to Thrive
On the Learning to Thrive podcast, we share stories, lessons learned, and practical tools to help your business go from surviving to thriving.
Reach us at: contactlearningtothrive@gmail.com
Learning to Thrive
Ep.193 - Hiring & Managing Great Staff : With Special Guests!
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Show Notes:
Your staffing problems rarely start on the schedule. They start the moment you decide what you’ll tolerate. We’re joined by Sarah, our HR director, and Chéree, our facility manager, to get practical about how we build a reliable team in a youth sports and gymnastics business where parents expect safety, consistency, and connection every single day.
We walk through our hiring process, from personality-forward applications to interviews, shadow shifts on the floor, and getting multiple leaders to weigh in before we make an offer. We also unpack what we look for in great coaches beyond technical skill: flexibility, calm problem solving, and the ability to adjust their teaching for different ages and behaviors. If you’ve ever hired someone who sounded perfect but struggled with real kids in a real class, this conversation is for you.
Then we zoom out to operations: onboarding that covers safety and systems, a structured training ramp, and how we pair new staff with strong mentors so they build confidence fast. We talk about managing a teen-heavy team with clear expectations and communication, plus a scheduling approach that starts with non-negotiables. We close with a leadership principle that can save your culture: better short staffed than poorly staffed, because one bad hire can push out your best people.
If you found this helpful, subscribe, share it with another youth sports leader, and leave a review so more gym owners and program directors can find these staffing and retention strategies.
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Welcome And Guest Introductions
SPEAKER_03Welcome to the Learning to Thrive podcast, where we share tips, tools, and lessons from our nearly two decades of business experience.
SPEAKER_01Our mission is to help leaders in the sports industry go from surviving to thriving.
SPEAKER_03Welcome back to Learning to Thrive. I'm Courtney and I'm Michaela. And today we have some special guests with us.
SPEAKER_01Yes, we have not one, but two special guests. We have Sarah and Cherie. Sarah, do you want to introduce yourself? What do you do here at Thrive? And how long have you uh have you been here?
SPEAKER_02Hi, I'm Sarah. I have been with Thrive since 2008, so about 18 years, and I am the HR director here.
SPEAKER_01Yes. 18. You're you're a OG. Like OG. OG, OG. Yeah. Yes. And Cherie, do you want to introduce yourself as well?
SPEAKER_00Say I'm Sheree. I've been here at Thrive since 2016, so 10 years. I am the facility manager. Um, but I am about 21 years in the gymnastics game.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. It's I think we've talked about this in episodes in the past about how we have so many people, so many directors, especially, who have been here like double digits. 10 plus years, you know. So you two are are two of the the longest, right? Not the longest, but two of the longest. Oldest.
SPEAKER_00The old ladies.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I think what's really unique about both of you is that you both started at times where we were growing big time. Sarah came on board when we were, when we had started originally our community center location, and we had started with 63 kids, and then by the end of the fall, we were up to about 200, 300 kids. And I think I called her. She was working for another gym at the time, and I was like, Do you want to come? Do you want to come hang out? Work? Anything? When when? Um, and she actually worked for me when I was working at a company called the Little Gym. She was six, I think 16. Were you 16? 15, 16. 15, 16. Um, and back then we did our interviews in a in storage closets. So I had interviewed her, asked her maybe two questions. Do you like kids? And what's your schedule? When can you start? Because that's how things happened back then. Um, and so she has been an integral part of building everything that we have had or that we've built. Um, and then Cherie joined us when we were getting ready to. So so when we talk about in our leadership episodes, when we talk about that leadership team that did our core values, that helped create our core values, Sarah was a part of that. And then right at that same time, Cherie came on board, and she um is the sister of our current team director. And so she had been also working at another facility, and we were like, we need some big guns if we're gonna go conquer a new market. Um, and she was the exact person, uh, knowledge in the industry, ability to, you know, adjust to whatever comes her way, be able to let us know, hey, if you're gonna get to the next level, this is what needs to happen. This is what needs to happen. She is our eyes and ears on, you know, everything from the Leos that, you know, the how there's how they turn out to, you know, what does a customer need, and can name every kid that comes through the door nearly.
SPEAKER_01Um Yeah, I swear you have a photographic memory. You have to.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, in the car line. I don't know their faces, but as soon as they tell me their first name, then I'm like, oh, I got your last name. And the dad will look at me crazy, like, what got it.
SPEAKER_01You you have to have as close to a photographic memory as you can because the way you memorize every single family that comes through these doors is is incredible.
SPEAKER_00So thank you, thank you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So Shuri um took the helm of Annapolis when we moved into the market and has since helped to build that. And now she she oversees all of the locations and makes sure that every location has what they need when they need it. Um Sarah is in charge essentially of making sure that all of those locations are staffed, and not like staffed to body count, you know, ratio, but staffed and happy, right? So she's like, you know, chief harp officer in the sense of checking on people, making sure that they're okay, um, making sure that their lead checks in with them, you know, that kind of thing. So their their intros for themselves were not quite as uh reflective of what they actually do. They they really truly keep this uh organization going and are the reason um that it is so successful. So and we're so glad this is their podcast debut. So they are stepping out of their comfort zone and joining Michaela and I um because we want to talk about the most important thing, I think, in this industry, which is your our staff, right? It this is a people-centered industry, the kids come for the people, the parents come for the people, the knowing having somebody know your name and car line, like and we just did the camp car line together this morning, and literally the parents' face when they hear their kid, like that they that she knew their kid. Um you could just see like the the relief slash like oh, this is like I feel good keeping sending my kid here for eight hours, um, is truly, truly palpable. So we want to help you all with staffing questions, issues, you know, and share our experiences so that maybe something that we've either dealt with or something, it's a philosophy that we have helps you in your staffing in your um program. So we have a couple of questions set up for them, and then we're just gonna see where this conversation goes.
How Big Staffing Gets
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I think let's start by kind of just laying some some background, some context, right? So roughly, Sarah, summer versus school year, roughly how many staff members do we typically have on hand?
SPEAKER_02So currently we're at about 110. Um, and then that ranges anywhere from our junior coaches that start at 14 all the way up to our directors. Um, and then fully throughout the school year, I'd say around 90. So we do a big hiring around April and May for our summer camp staff.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and like you said, you you pointed out a little bit, we've got we've got junior coaches, which are our the under 18s, we've got coaches which are over 18, we have universal coaches, which are over 18s and can coach or teach across multiple programs. And then we have our two levels of our um director tier, correct, our leadership group. So we've got a wide, we've got a lot of people that we that we work with, right? And we've got a very wide kind of gamut of the the types of roles that people have here. Um and I think especially in this industry, we could we could talk on and on about the junior coaches, right? The teenagers and things like that. That's a very um, I think in the youth sports industry you see that a lot is those younger instructors and and things like that. So I guess another question I would have for Cherie are Cherie, when you're looking at like the fall schedule, which you guys just did together, you you staffed everyone. Do you have anything that you're like I rely on this person for these traits because they can be plugged and played like here and there? Like what it would
Traits Of A Rock Solid Coach
SPEAKER_01for you makes a really solid employee.
SPEAKER_00I would definitely say someone that falls in with that smile and pretend it's on the lesson plan, somebody that can kind of roll with the punches. Those are the kind of people that I like to have on the schedule and who I'm looking to make sure every night that I have somebody that you know you can count on, or multiple people that you can count on, and then the supporting staff. So for sure, somebody that's flexible and that's willing to jump in and help however they can. You know that you can rely on them, whether it's for a cleaning job, whether it's helping the kid that hurt themselves, or um simply teaching a different class than what they were actually put on the schedule for that night. So I think that's probably one of the number one things that I'm looking for when I'm plugging in those first people and giving those shifts to the staff.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think I think that flexibility is is huge. Sarah, is there anything that you ask or you look for in uh in interviews and onboarding that kind of gives you the sign of like, okay, this is someone who's gonna blend in well with the group and who's gonna be able to do that. Yeah, what are the tells, Sarah?
SPEAKER_02Well definitely the I mean just to piggyback off of Shereed, the just the flexibility part of it and you know, not only digging into how they've worked with kids or what experience they have, but also just seeing the range of ages that they've worked with and how they handle that, because it's the same thing of there's no two kids that are the same, there's no two classes that are the same, and the way you say it to one kid may not work whatsoever to the next kid. So I think having that flexibility, smile and pretend it's on the lesson plan to okay, scratch this, this didn't work the way I said this, let me say it a different way. Um, and that's why during our interview process we have it in a couple different parts, and one of the parts is shadowing, where we can actually physically see them come in and work with the kids and we get to see them interact, not just sit down and have a meet and greet with me, but actually see how they problem solve and how proactive they are and how much we have to facilitate what they're doing or whether they're proactive about things.
SPEAKER_03So, what is can you can you walk our listeners through what is the hiring process look like for you? Like, how do you how do you know between like, okay, that was that was an average candidate, and then like, okay, that's someone we definitely want on our team. What's the process for what they go through and then what is your like after you know
Hiring Steps That Reduce Guesswork
SPEAKER_0318 years of this, what do you what what is the secret to knowing whether or not they'll stick or not?
SPEAKER_02Well, I think that because we have the interview process in in a couple different parts, they they have to do the online application, which we've gotten creative with with adding some interesting questions about what's your favorite superhero, or you know, funny different questions just to see their personalities come out. Um, but not only how they interact with me, but again on the floor, and then they do a third uh interview um over Zoom with one of our other directors, Haley. So that helps three different people get a different perspective of how they're teaching. And then I always try to make sure when they're shadowing on the floor that it's not a night with me, it's gonna be a night with another director so that they can see it, and that way we can all come together as a team and say, yes, this person would be great. Um, and then you know, from there they get their their offer if it if it goes well. But um, yeah, the biggest things, I mean, it's always it's easy when you talk about it, oh, their schedules are aligned, or you know, I don't have 500 sports, or you know, certain things that we all want their staff to show up to work and and do their job, but it's gonna be more so the flexibility and what they're able to teach.
SPEAKER_03And so you go after schedule when you're in that interview process. Yeah, oh yeah, what their availability is.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, we definitely ask, and especially when it comes to the younger staff that play different sports or have five other siblings, or they are dependent on their parents' transportation too. I try to involve the parents as well, especially with the under 18s, because if they're don't have their license yet, then clearly they're dependent on their parents' transportation.
SPEAKER_03So once you have somebody that is, you're like, yes, this person, like they've been through the interview with you, the shadowing, Haley's said yes. What is your process for getting them up to speed with the other, your other staff? Like, how do you bring them on and make sure that they're just as good and that they have know the ropes and that kind of thing?
Onboarding And The 12 Week Ramp
SPEAKER_02So we do an onboarding meeting to start, which is about an hour, hour and a half of the boring stuff. So it's the documents, it's the policy, handbooks, tax forms, all the things, making sure that they have access to all of our different databases, um, showing them how to clock in. I I walk them through the gym, make sure they know where first aid is and where ice packs are, and pretty much all of just the first hand stuff. Um from there, they go into a 12-week program where they're training and meeting with our training director that helps facilitate that and they learn all of the different class management, the hello song, the stamps, the bubbles, the behavioral issues, the you know, which door do you walk out of where, you know, making sure each kid goes to a parent. So all of the ins and outs, including spotting and everything in between those lines. And so the training director keeps track of that. Correct. And then they follow up with me and we make sure that all of the staff is on the same page.
unknownNice.
SPEAKER_03All right. So when you've got them, what are Shree, what are your strategies for getting, let's say, that junior coach or maybe a maybe a coach that's just you know somewhat nervous or whatever? How do you when you're scheduling them, how do you look at that?
SPEAKER_00So I would say typically me and Sarah would kind of touch base and we would look at the staff schedule and say, who on this team is the right person to pair them up with? Who's got the personality, who's got the patience to train and to teach and to talk and just kind of show them the right way or the expect, you know, the way we would expect the classes to be run. So I think that's one of our biggest tactics is that we have certain staff that we we rely on to help those that have gone through the emerging leaders um program or those that just show an extraordinary, you know, level of teaching and responsibility and and flexibility, all those things. Um so I think that's kind of our biggest way when they're training and they're on the floor and they're learning the ins and outs of just how a class runs is by putting them with someone that is really well versed in that and does, you know, does a good job, whether they're by their self or whether they're, you know, trying to help a teammate out.
SPEAKER_03And then how how quickly do you get them on the floor? Like when do they get their own class?
SPEAKER_00So I feel like that kind of it tends to be different depending on the person. Some people may come into our um our program or start coaching here with gymnastics background. So they do already have the background in spotting and all that. That for them training may be shorter only because we're trying to train them in the Thrive way, the expectation of what we do here. They may know how to spot the pullover or how to spot the handstand, but it's those other little things like class management, the behavior, the hello song. Um it's all those little things. So I feel like those uh groups of people, you'll probably see them. I would say they may be ready for their own classes within like four to six week range where they wouldn't need to have a teacher alongside them. I would say some of our other staff that are um coming up and this is their first experience, or maybe they were a cheerleader and so they still have some learning to do on the gymnastics equipment. Um, I would say they're probably looking more at like an eight-week at minimum, you know, crash course on on the on the floor with other staff. And then we also, you know, we'll those that need more help, we'll keep them, you know, training for as long as we feel it's it's necessary.
SPEAKER_03So and so what are your red flags?
Red Flags And Reliability Problems
SPEAKER_03Share with us. I've got I've got a good one.
SPEAKER_01Some something that you're like, no, that's that's not gonna work out. Well, I don't think this is the right fit.
SPEAKER_00Not not coming to work.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I was gonna say the basics, the scheduling, the the ever-changing schedule of every time we talk to somebody, oh wait, no, I can work Mondays. Nope, I mean Tuesdays. But wait, and nope, nope, Wednesday nights. And it just the ever-changing schedule just is hard for us to be confident to put them on their own classes.
SPEAKER_00And and I think in this may be a bad one, but like the series, like the series of misfortunate events, we have those that while it may not be their own fault, it just seems like there's always constantly something that is keeping them from being in these four walls and they're not at work. And it may not be their fault, but they're also not here. And there are kids that are left without their teacher. So I think that is always one that kind of is always every time you're like, oh, they're not here again. This happened to them, so they can't be here. So I think that's a big one for me.
SPEAKER_02That's why I try to wrap their parents in it as much as I can with the younger ones, because it does it does help to have or attempt to have everybody on the same page. And how do you do that? So after they apply, I have them give me their parents' contact info. And then I include them in the onboarding meeting. I don't forcefully make them, but I encourage them. And then once I have their emails, they are they get the same emails out. After I do my onboarding, they get a novel of an email going over all the things that we've done, what you need to do moving forward, and mom gets that as well as the employee. So, and then I always get their emergency contact too. That helps, just in case.
SPEAKER_01Alright, so in addition to the not showing up for work, which I feel like is probably a pain point that a lot of people have, is there is there another which what's your number two of you're like, this is not I'd only teach this.
SPEAKER_02I only I only I only work with three-year-olds. I only do preschool or I'd only do the field house. It's very limiting at what we can put them on rather than having a teacher that can teach pre-K ninja tumbling.
SPEAKER_00And it's not even so much coming in with the knowledge, it's the being able to being flexible to learn. Being a sponge. Or being a team player, I guess, is another way to put it. There's probably a lot of red flags. Some may not be the most appropriate for your podcast.
Managing High School Staff With Clarity
SPEAKER_01No, that's good. Okay, let's let's talk high schoolers for for a quick minute. Um because, right, they're in a special like grouping, you know, because a lot of times, I feel like we've found over the years, you get these high schoolers, and maybe they were former athletes, so they're already super bought into like the Thrive way, or or they're just coming in and they're they're they want a job, but they can only work part-time, but they want to do something fun, right? So they they're excited a lot of times, not all the time, but a lot of times, they're excited to teach. They enjoy the teaching. Um, but they're high school students, so maybe they don't drive. Maybe they are solely, you know. I I love the ones that are like, and they it just is what it is. But I love the ones where it's like, my parents booked a last minute vacation. We're getting on a plane tomorrow. Can anyone cover me?
SPEAKER_03Which is an honest, like that is their truth.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that is their truth.
SPEAKER_00And but it's the pain point of that.
SPEAKER_01And then what are you gonna do? You know, like they didn't book their plane ticket, their parents booked their plane ticket, you know. Um and maybe they only work one day a week, too, right? Because they have they're in school or they do another sport, so there's definitely more grace in some areas that you have to have with them. Um but also I feel like we do a pretty good job of setting expectations and maintaining expectations. So do you have any, I guess, advice or tips for maybe people who also have a very young staff and are really feeling the pain points? Like what are what is some what if you could just talk to someone who's like, oh, I've got all these high schoolers and I never know who's in and who's out, and you know, I've only got this one for a year, and then she's going off to college, and you know, it's a very like not I don't think transient's the right word.
SPEAKER_03Like there's yeah, you have yeah, what is your what's your secrets?
SPEAKER_02Um, one thing, and you know, this is something that Courtney has drilled into my head of, you know, when something is posted, or hey, we have a meeting, or this is happening, how many different places have you put this? Okay, it's on the dry erase board, it's on the staff news, I've texted everybody, it's on the group me. So it's written in 17 different places so that even if they heard the first three, they're hearing it 10 more times. And it's it's because that young group has a thousand things going on at once, and even if they only work that one day, it's just so many layers of things that just the over-communication really helps with them.
SPEAKER_00That was the first thing that popped in my head was communication, yeah. Is that you've gotta say it a lot and that you have to make it a point to communicate with them and to meet with them and to to do all the things that they might you might think they're not listening to, but it's gonna hit home if you do that. So definitely communication, I think, is the biggest thing for the younger crew, and then it's looking out for I think some of those red flags, like where all of a sudden they've missed a lot of shifts. Well, maybe I need to dive a little deeper and find out why. Um I think also being flexible that they are gonna randomly just be like, I decided to try out for basketball. And that you just have to understand that that is just what comes along with it. And, you know, if for us, sometimes it's teaching life lessons of like, well, you've committed to this. You need to, you know, commit through this time, or that will be what the expectation, or I guess putting the expectations out there. And some of them may come back to you and surprise you and be like, you know what, my coach said I can still work one day. So I'm gonna miss this one practice. So I can still work. So I think it's being us being flexible but communicating and but also not
Volunteer Pipeline And Limiting Early Hours
SPEAKER_00necessarily bending on your values or what your expectations, even though they are teenagers.
SPEAKER_02The volunteer program helps a lot with that as well. I would say we start um we start a volunteer program at 12 years old, and then that makes them eligible to be hired at 14 uh once they have put in volunteer work. And you gotta think some of these 14-year-olds walking in with two years of prior experience, and some of them have done gymnastics for 10 years prior to that. Um, some of our 14 and 15-year-olds can now teach plenty of other teachers on the floor. So giving them that opportunity of responsibility first. Um, honestly, we get some of our best coaches from our volunteer program and from word of mouth of our athletes and all the other coaches here.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and it's a source of pride for them. We just got one thing we added to our volunteer program this year was getting them shirts. Yeah. And like the pride in the shirt is like like it's like a coveted thing. Like, and then they wear it around their schools or whatever because like they want to show it off to their friends and that culture. And then, but then when they get the coach shirt, right? Then the coach shirt becomes the coveted thing and it and it builds and it builds. And so a lot of times they are our best because they were raised in the culture. And you can raise them in the culture, and then they they want they it yeah, it just flows out.
SPEAKER_02They want to be here. Nobody comes to work for free for two years to a place you don't want to be at. Yeah. They're bought in.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that does help. And I I would say one of the things that we did, I think, that changed the game on our junior coaching is a lot of times when they were in an interview with Sarah, they'd say, I want three, four days a week. And honestly, back then, four or five years ago, we were we were like, great a body, right? Like, or great a, you know. Um, and then they would go three months and then they'd start missing work and they'd start, you know, and then it'd be like, oh, they so we start them out one, one is our preferred two days max is what we tell them. And then if they want to work more than that, they can pick up shifts, but we start them out pretty small, regardless of what they have asked for.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_03Um, and even our seniors who, you know, they might have half days, we try to limit them as well because they they don't understand what's coming down the road, right? They don't understand what their schedule actually looks like. They're just looking at the two weeks they've got right now, they're wide open and free. But then once we depend on them for four nights of classes, then we're in a bind. So I think that has been that was a turning point, I think, for the junior coaching was when we did when we limited them from the from the get-go.
SPEAKER_01I think another thing with the junior coaches, and this is something that I think you guys have developed over the last couple of years, but when we fill out our fall schedule requests and you ask the kids, they're like, if you know you want to do a winter sport, put that on the request that way. Or we we also have people who they do a fall sport, so they can't teach in the fall, but then they get freed up in the by the winter. And and now after doing that for a little bit of time and knowing some of these teachers for as long as we have, I feel like you almost kind of have a plan before you even know that someone's going out. You're like, okay, I know we're probably gonna lose a few high school age junior instructors in the winter for basketball, indoor track, theater, you know, whatever it is. But I also know that I've got three or four instructors who are gonna be looking to pick up hours and looking to pick up shifts because their false sports will be wrapping up and kind of being able to anticipate that and having people that you at least have a rough idea.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think I think that's the refinement over the years is instead of being mad about it, which we spent a solid, I think one decade maybe annoyed, you know, at the choices. Yeah, it's like, okay, that's this is just what it is at this age. And and that's the same thing if you're hiring, you know, there's things that come with people in their 20s. There's things that come with like there's things that come with all kinds, so I think our overall philosophy has
Building The Schedule Like Tetris
SPEAKER_03switched to as much as we can of meeting people where they are in their life, and then how do we make work work around there? Sheree, can you speak to the to the way that you send out the requests and how you look at that as far as when you're doing this the schedule?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like what's the system? Like, how do you actually do it? Because that so could be replicated.
SPEAKER_00So typically, Sarah would put together our list. Um, she typically puts everybody's names in and then they have to go in, they'll request which location they're looking for. If they're flexible and they would like to do both, they'll put that in there. We tend to ask them to be, especially our our part-time employees, to be as specific as possible. If you know you can't work Monday night, please put that on there. If you know it's I can only work Tuesday starting at this time, put that on there. Um, that's makes it a lot easier. If you just put on there, I want to work, you know, four days a week. Well, you know, how many hours do you want to work? Um, are there certain days that are off limits? So the more details, the better, especially with the part-time employees. So then that way I'm not giving them a schedule that they're gonna turn right back around and be like, well, I can't do that. Um, so details definitely work. Once that's all in place and we have everybody's request in, I will I typically start with our full-time employees. Anyone that's a director or full-time, I try to fill them in since they're gonna, you know, take a lot of those daytime hours, making sure that they have what they need. And then I kind of start to plug and play the part-time employees. I will just start at the top of the list and I'll go down. And sometimes I may find, oh, well, this person already worked this shift, so let me give them their shift back. So it it really is starting at the top, working my way down, plugging people in, and then as I get to a name and I need to change something, then it's kind of following back up with the person that I might have put in their spot and moving them, you know, moving that person to a different class or moving that person to a different night because they were a little bit more flexible and they could work, you know, a different day. So it is just a work through the non-negotiable people and then go back to the flexible people and then kind of move people around until you kind of have a schedule that works for for everyone for both locations, making sure we have leaders and directors, you know, at all times and we're not leaving um, you know, the gym without somebody that can be in charge and make sure that everybody's safe and good to go. So it's just kind of a it's a it's Tetris. Yeah, yeah, that's a good way to put it. I'm actually very good at Tetris.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. I see that.
SPEAKER_00When it comes to, you know, a lot of things. But so it just, yeah, it's just a start at the top and work your way down and then just kind of keep repeating the same thing until you get back um until your schedule's full.
SPEAKER_03It's and just to put that in perspective, it's 366 classes. 10 teams practicing anywhere from two to to five days a week, plus death shifts, plus um like floor managing. So you're talking roughly 450 sub spots that she's looking to fill. So um not an easy task by any means. And then she does rotations, yeah. So so Excel spreadsheet is how we do that. Um, but that time that she takes to sit there and sift through is not a have to. You could just assign everybody a a slot and say tough luck. Right. And we have learned from the past that when we put people in slots that they don't want to work, it then becomes a uh leadership nightmare.
unknownYes.
SPEAKER_03Turns out people don't want to do things they don't want to do. Right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's definitely much easier to much easier to put them where they're requesting. I mean, and that's that's always the goal. So that way when the schedule goes out, there's no surprises.
SPEAKER_03And then we copy that every week. And so then the subs and stuff go on. So so each week gets its own sheet of that, and then we sub people out week by week. Um, and you take care of that on Fridays or you like you look ahead to the next one.
SPEAKER_00Sometimes it feels like a daily task. Every time I go, there's a new name at the bottom, and I'm like, oh, where did you come from? Um But yeah, so it's it's I would say definitely every Friday it's an overview for the entire next week. But then I am constantly checking it just to make sure there isn't some last minute ad because we've been really working hard to make sure our subs are in the system so attendance can be accurately tracked. So missing somebody isn't isn't helpful when it comes to that. And then it just adds another layer for the front desk staff to to deal with if I don't stay on top of it. So yeah.
SPEAKER_03All right, so
Better Short Staffed Than Poorly Staffed
SPEAKER_03as we wrap this up, go back five years to or go back ten years to when we were start like starting up Annapolis or when we were starting up Arnold. Go you have to go back 15 for that. But um, what do you if if we're talking to leaders that are in those places now, so we're still operating, it's you know, lower a smaller enrollment, it's still maybe that spoken wheel where you're piecing things together. What would be your best advice for them as far as beginning to grow or continuing to grow a solid staff of people that are invested in what they're doing?
SPEAKER_02Um, I know one thing we learned from a conference years ago was you know, you'd rather go um short staffed than poorly staffed. And that's something we've had to learn the hard way. Same thing that Courtney was mentioning earlier was like, oh yeah, I want to work four days. Great, we need that. Let's put you on the schedule. And then we have a nightmare that it leads into, versus, you know, keeping our standards where they are, knowing what we want and drawing those boundaries. And if they don't meet that standard, that's just not just not the right fit right now. Um, so I think knowing that we just may need to be flexible if we're short staffed, or hey, we're gonna rotate staff through this day, or hey, we need some extra leaders to help out for this, doing that versus putting just a body there that's gonna end up being an issue is is more important.
SPEAKER_00Right. And that's gonna in the long run hurt the progress that you're trying to make if you're not putting the right staff member in. Like it, like you say, don't want to be poorly staffed, you would rather go with less people and do more with less. And, you know, move people around um to best fit, you know, what you need. And then I think that you'll kind of naturally see that process of like when you're got a good staff, then other people want to come work here because they're telling their friends about how great this place is. And then that's when you start to, you know, get more people in the building and then you're able to continue to build and grow your program because you have the staff to do it, but you have the good staff to do it.
SPEAKER_02And then picky. You know, you can probably not what you should say, but I'm just gonna say it. But you can be picky about who you want in the building versus, oh my gosh, an application, someone wants to be here, I need this. Right. Versus, nope, this just isn't for us.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We spent a lot of years like that. Many. Yeah. Yes, yeah. A lot of meetings. Yeah. Lots of meetings.
SPEAKER_01There's also a saying, um, that's like the fastest way to get rid of a good employee is to tolerate a bad employee. I think that goes back to the better to go short staff than uh than poorly staffed. You know? Sometimes you gotta make adjustments and make it work for a little bit without a person, then kind of feeling like, well, now I'm stuck with this person who maybe we shouldn't have hired in the first place. We hired because we were panicking. And now we're kinda stuck. Because if we want to get rid of them, then that process is not a fun process or not a you know, super easy process. So yeah.
SPEAKER_03Well, and to Sharia's point, taking care of the staff that you do get.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Because then there's all your friends, you know, people, the five people you are the five people you hang out with. So if you've got a good staff and then you're like, hey, who has friends? And the staff is happy, they're like, Yeah, of course I want my friend to come. And then if they have friends at work, they're also more likely to show up to work. Right.
SPEAKER_02Word of mouth.
SPEAKER_03Which is great. The only way that bites you is when they all go on vacation together. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Last week.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00I was gonna say, because how many of our staff here, you know, are either siblings or that's my friend from school, so and so told me to come, you know, apply here. So and I feel like we've gotten a lot of great staff because of our great staff.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So we gotta take care of them. Yeah. Exactly. Well, you guys, thank you so much for for meeting us here and for uh for hopping on the podcast and sharing what you know. Yeah, I think I think our team our listeners will really appreciate this and hopefully got some good things that they can take and apply to what they're doing for this upcoming school year. Thanks for having us. And we uh we hope you'll come back. Maybe all right, everybody. Keep on thriving, and we'll catch you in the next episode.