The backbone of any martial arts business is its staff. Great instructors will help create excellent students who will then spread the word about the quality of your school. For this reason, it’s of the utmost importance that you keep your instructors happy and to ensure that they feel appreciated. Here are five ways to keep and grow your best team members.

1. Attract Good People

The first step is to build a great team. Attracting the right people, ones who align with your martial arts school’s mission, is an important starting point. Building the right team will take time and it will require the patience to interview potential instructors until you finally find the right ones

If you are looking for individuals who are passionate about martial arts, consider recruiting at tournaments over a general post on Craigslist. Make clear to your prospective staff exactly what you’re looking for, to ensure that there is no confusion as to what you’re looking for in an instructor.

2. Make It Competitive

Healthy competition can be a great way to motivate and grow your best team members. Especially for athletes, this can be a fun way for them to challenge one another and themselves. Consider providing some sort of chart that keeps track of your instructors’ progress; it can help them stay engaged and also improve their skills as both martial artists and instructors. This can include the number of their student who have recently received new belt ranks, number of private lessons booked, positive reviews received, or a number of other accomplishments.

3. Keep Them Motivated

A high salary—while attractive—will only get you so far; it’s not always enough to ensure loyalty. Offering incentives can help them perform at their best and benefits packages that fit the needs of each instructor can be very appealing. Unsure where to start when it comes to meeting the needs of your staff? Ask them! Open communication is the best policy.

4. Reward Good Work

No matter the work place, all staff should be rewarded for their good work. In addition to ensuring that this will make them feel appreciated, this positive reinforcement will encourage your staff to continue the good work that they’re doing. It can be as small as a gift card to your local coffee shop or an intimate dinner celebrating those who are helping martial arts students achieve their goals.

5. Foster Their Growth

When your business starts to grow, it’s important to make sure that your staff grows with you. Fostering growth, encouraging them to learn new skills, and potentially even offering partial coverage of courses or classes that can help them improve as martial artists will help your staff feel cared for. Your business can only grow so much without its backbone growing simultaneously.

To ensure that you are effectively managing your staff, Xplor Recreation’s martial arts management software allows you to create different profiles for each instructor, with varying rules, permissions, and customized pay. Staff and instructors can administer the system, receive updates, and make changes to their profiles using any device. Learn more about the management software here.