The Organization Development Intervention Paper.docx

The Organization Development Intervention Paper:
A case study of Central Texas Fitness Center
1
Seth Daniels, Meredith Reardon and Charron Orfanides
MGMT 568-321
Texas A&M-Central Texas
1
A pseudonym. The names of the student authors and all
organization members mentioned in the paper have
also been changed.

Daniels, Reardon, & Orfanides: OD Intervention 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In this report we use an organizational development
intervention and make an attempt
at identifying the key issues Central Texas Fitness might face in
its initial stages of operations.
The method of analysis is planned change based on the Action
Research Diagnostic Model. All
results are based on responses obtained from survey-based
interviews and direct observations
of staff, customers, and management alike. The survey
instruments are attached as appendices
at the end of this paper. After a thorough analysis of the survey
instruments, we find that the
business has done fairly well in its customer satisfaction
ratings, but has overlooked some basic
processes crucial to a fitness facility. We understand that the
gym is doing well, and has not
seen many issues since the last management change. However,
our intervention based on best
practices call for the following: 1) A proper member feedback
system where clients have the

proper channel in place; 2) Establishment of a regular form of
employee evaluation system; and
3) A standard operating procedure (SOP) for injury-related
situations explained during new
member and employee orientations. We also list several
additional recommendations and
propose those as gradual changes in the near future. Due to
shortage of research time, the
report is not free of its limitations. For our action plan we
propose steps as we would have
carried them out, if given the needed time.
OVERVIEW OF THE FIRM
Central Texas Fitness opened in December of 2006 and prides
itself on catering to the
local community, specifically the City of Harker Heights, with a
population of 26,000 according
to 2009 city estimates. According to the owners, the gym has
over 1,000 members and aims at

keeping predominantly Harker Heights residents as its main
clientele base. It is a no-contract
facility and emphasizes focusing on the work-out itself rather
than the membership options.
The owners, Carol and Patrick Jane, make themselves available
on a regular basis, and mostly
Mary visits the premises at least once a day. There is one
General Manager (GM), Salvador
Ramos, and a team of five trainers, as well as three front-desk
and daycare employees. All
trainers are appropriately certified with the International Sports
Sciences Association (ISSA),
National Association of Sports Medicine (NASM), or the
American Council on Sports Education
(ASCSE) and most of them have college degrees related to
sports sciences. Central Texas
Fitness center is a smaller gym than its competitors in the area,
such as Gold’s Gym or Gym X.
However, the smaller size seems to be one of its main
attractions for its members. The hours of
operation are Monday-Friday, 5am-10pm; Saturday, 7am-7pm,
and Sunday, 12pm-7pm. The
classes offered include, Cardio Sculpt, Cardio Mix, Cardio
Kickboxing, Extreme Abs, Hi-Lo

Aerobics, Beginner Aerobics, Step, Boot Camp, HP Power Up,
Athletic Pump and Yoga.
Mission Statement
“HP fitness opened in December of 2006 with the vision and
mission to be a community-
member facility. We set out to offer the latest in nutrition,
fitness and equipment” (Central
Texas Fitness website, 2010).
RESEARCH TECHNIQUES
Methodology
Exploratory/Qualitative research: We attempted a
comprehensive search of fitness-
center or gym-related, empirically accepted secondary literature
to obtain reliable,
generalizable data regarding industry best practices and
operations efficiencies for both
privately owned and nationally franchised facilities across the
United States to demonstrate

their applicability and usefulness to smaller, community- and
family-oriented gyms. However, in
spite of the continuously growing popularity of gyms
throughout the United States, our
attempted secondary-data searches yielded insufficient
empirical results regarding key factors
in successful delivery, execution, and outcomes for the
predominantly customer-centric fitness-
center/gym industry, or for the identification of appropriate
decision variables. We therefore
omitted a comprehensive statistical evaluation.
Further, as a small, community-oriented fitness center with
around 1,000 members,
established only four years ago, and with a target population
consisting predominantly of
professionally employed members residing predominantly
within the immediate vicinity (two to
5 miles), as well as within the greater Killeen and Harker
Heights metropolitan areas, Central
Texas Fitness has not yet accumulated its own data archives to
provide us with sufficient
historical data regarding variables responsible for the
organization’s success. However,

documentation, tracking, and analysis of decision patterns, their
implementation, and
evaluation of their outcomes represent a key element of our
proposed major interventions,
which will help the organization build its own data archive
based on relevant, proven outcomes
of successful execution of directly applicable decision
variables.
Choice of procedure: The unavailability of specific
administrative, financial, or marketing
information concerning the gym/fitness-center industry,
especially privately-owned operations
that are not required to make public their financial statements or
publish annual reports, and
due to the short four-year history of Central Texas Fitness, our
qualitative approach to
obtaining relevant information from credible, reliable sources
led us to informally requesting
personal interviews with the owner, Mary Jane, and the General
Manager (GM), Salvador
Ramos. We also made direct observations. We repeatedly

attempted to personally interview at
least three of the five trainers currently employed at Central
Texas Fitness but completed only
one personal interview with the supervising trainer, Chris Tyler.
All interviews were quite structured, using our detailed
sequence to “guide the question
order and…way questions were asked” (Cooper & Schindler,
2008); however, we deliberately
chose almost exclusively open-ended questions to maximize the
rich data we were certain to
gather especially from members. This method required us to use
our own “experience and skill
to…extract greater variety of data…and elaboration of answers”
(Cooper & Schindler, 2008),
and very time-intensive since an average interview took
between 20 and 30 minutes.
Objective: We considered the lack of any formal protocols for
employee evaluation and
soliciting member feedback about services at Central Texas
Fitness as an opportunity to identify
key activities and functional areas directly related to the
achievement of the stated goal of
increasing membership by approximately 30 to 35 percent, as
well as indicators for, and

benchmarks of, overall performance and improvement. We will
help the owner and GM
establish protocols and standards for achieving measurable,
concrete, valid, evidence-based
outcomes and quality improvement to document the benefits for
both members and Central
Texas Fitness as a successful business.
Data collection: We chose a cross-sectional communication
approach by designing and
administering two versions of one questionnaire, consisting of
two parts each to a convenience
sample of members and trainers in an attempt to achieve the
most comprehensive exploration
of the current state of operations and potential areas for
intervention by encouraging free and
open sharing of ideas and input from participants; we preceded
them by our single interview
with the owner and the GM as a useful guide for probing
questions. We simultaneously
conducted direct observations of the gym environment and

atmosphere, and of general
interactions between members, staff, and trainers.
Due to very constrained time limitations for preparing and
executing our proposal, we
chose not to conduct a document analysis as doing so would far
exceed the scope of our paper.
Advantages of personal interviews/elimination of errors: The
friendly, open
atmosphere facilitated our securing full participant cooperation
and helped eliminate
interviewer error. We further ensured cooperation and reduced
participant-based error by
deliberately not asking participants’ names and providing
confidentiality statements signed by
all parties, which were rejected as unnecessary by 100 percent
of respondents. We further
reduced participant-based error because we were personally able
to explain the purpose of the
largely customer-centric survey and follow up on members’
individual questions or statements.
The respondents appeared to consider their participation as
“important and worthwhile [and]
satisfying” (Cooper & Schindler, 2008) because we asked about
how to continuously improve

their gym and workout experience. We also emphasized that
there was absolutely no implied
or real obligation to participate because we recognized the value
of their time.
We minimized interviewer error by consistently executing
interview procedures; and
physical-presence bias and inappropriate influencing behavior
through our not being
acquainted with any participant and effortlessly containing our
non-verbal communication and
prosody.
Instrument used: Our research instrument of choice was the
survey, administered in
personal interviews. We formatted three types of surveys
(Appendices A, B, & C) with
questions geared towards the management, the customer base,
and the trainers and staff.
However, instead of using traditional surveys which usually
offer dichotomous or multiple-
choice type answers and requiring the respondents to fill out the

responses in writing, we
opted for open-ended questions and used the survey as an
interview instrument.
We segmented our survey into the two parts. We designed Part
I to provide us with a
reliable snapshot of general administrative and operational
protocols, while Part II addressed
specific situations we considered likely to occur frequently in
the course of a gym’s routine
interactions with members, trainers, and among staff members,
to obtain a more in-depth view
of organization-specific conditions at Central Texas Fitness.
Due to time constraints, we chose
not to pretest the questionnaire, knowing we would very likely
adapt question sequence or
wording based on our experience from the actual conducting the
interviews; the adapted
version of the survey then became our interview protocol to
ensure consistency. Our two-part
segmentation attempted to achieve the most comprehensive
exploration of the current state of
operations and potential areas for intervention by encouraging
free and open sharing of ideas

and input from participants. We asked members to indicate their
satisfaction with aspects such
as, but not limited to, reasons for joining Central Texas Fitness
versus competitors; previous
experience with other gyms; management’s and staff members’
efforts at teamwork and
collaboration to facilitate members’ needs; protocols for
member feedback and various key
policies and SOPs currently in place; the perceived simplicity of
the membership process;
preferences for workout frequencies and sessions with trainers;
member recognition; fee
schedules; classes offered; and awareness of safety/security
measures.
We are confident in the survey’s internal validity as it appears
to have measured the
elements we were targeting. We cannot say the same of its
external validity due to the very
small, insufficient sample size which precludes us from fully
generalizing the data. Sample size,
was the reason for our not addressing aspects of content,
criterion-related, or construct validity

since we would be unable to obtain reliable results from the
various ranking, measurement,
and scoring scales required. Hence, we emphasized open-ended
questions, especially since we
would also interpret the information collected, thus eliminating
a need for coding.
We are also confident in the survey’s stability and internal
consistency since even a
larger sample size would likely yield consistent results with
“repeated measurements of the
same person with the same instrument” (Cooper & Schindler,
2008), because of the deliberate
inclusion of similar questions to corroborate key responses and
themes. We sacrificed the
survey’s practicality by reducing its convenience and
interpretability somewhat through its
relatively plain design and layout and the open-ended questions;
however, we were thus able
to place substantially greater importance on obtaining rich,
qualitative data.

Under less adverse time constraints we would address the
omissions recognized here
and correct any shortcomings of the survey, interviewing
process, or sampling, although doing
so would by far exceed the scope of this paper. Our choice of a
formatted survey for interviews
was therefore based on the following premises:
1) Respondents understand that the interviewer is organized
and prepared when there
are formally typed questions.
2) The respondent feels more at ease when he/she is allowed to
read the questions first,
but does not have to write in the answers on his/her own.
3) For the interviewers themselves, writing down the questions
in a survey form sets the
boundaries of appropriate questions. Due to the open-ended
nature of survey questions, the
interview is still mostly free flowing; however, having a typed
survey style questionnaire based
on a preliminary research of the business, helps in aiding the
process of asking only the
necessary and relevant questions.
4) The respondents who would like to be part of the survey, but

do not have the time
for the interview, can be handed the survey to complete at their
own convenience. It is a
flexible and convenient tool.
5) On-the-Spot Questionnaires result in a captive audience.
Other respondents become
interested, and the response rates are high.
6) Information is obtained immediately, and responses can be
verified.
7) In some cases, where two or more of the respondents are
friends, the surveys can be
done with the group. Thus, on-the-spot surveys can save time.
8) Non-response rate due to loss of survey instrument, and non-
mailing is reduced.
However, we do acknowledge the limitations of a survey
instrument, which we
discussed previously in this section. There is also the
annoyance factor, especially in places
such as a fitness center. The interviewers cannot approach
respondents; the respondents have

to make that choice. Finally, there is also present a possible
bias due to the presence of
management on the premises.
Sampling: As previously mentioned, we are aware that our non-
probability convenience
sample of only ten members is not empirically representative of
the target population.
However, the small size of Central Texas Fitness and its relative
newness still allowed us to
make accurate inferences and recommendations based on factors
we considered generalizable
across the majority of the gym’s membership base.
Each survey was accompanied by a confidentiality statement
signed by all present
interviewers and offered to each participant. 100 percent of
respondents declined receiving a
copy as unnecessary.
Accountability: Under less time-constrained conditions, we
would greatly expand the
accountability measures for our surveys, to include numbering
and, depending on budget
limitations, bar coding each survey for enhanced tracking and
more secure storage. The time

constraints allowed us to eliminate mailing, tracking, and
unimpressive return rates common
with mailed surveys, as well as elaborate safeguarding
measures, further aided by the small
number of completed surveys and their immediate availability to
us upon completion of the
interviews.
Schedule: We were limited to a brief interview period of two
days, followed by
approximately five days for data analysis, identification of our
proposed interventions and
recommendations, and preparation of our paper for submission
and subsequent presentation
to the owner and GM of Central Texas Fitness on or around
August 9, 2010. The interventions
we propose are designed to drill down into most aspects for
improvement or change identified
by members. The frequency of specifically targeted requests for
member feedback about such
aspects should be determined by need; our recommendations are

specified in detail in the
section titled “Interventions”.
Data analysis: Since we only propose interventions based on
long-term evaluation and
CQI to help improve future member and employee satisfaction
and performance, our methods
for useful data analysis are therefore limited to the action
method and content analysis.
Further, the small diagnostic sample size requires conscientious
implementation and execution
of our proposed interventions to allow future generalization
across your entire member
population. Thus, statistical tests are impractical and would
complicate reporting and
presenting of the results yielded by our surveys, and drastically
exceeds the scope and purpose
of this paper. Appropriate statistical methods for the
interpretation of the types of data to be
collected in the future via the proposed interventions and
recommendations include
correlation analysis, Pearson product moment coefficient,
simple regression, chi square test,
ANOVA, or F ratios; measures of dispersion and distribution,
such as standard deviations, mean,

mode, confidence intervals, or p-values (Cooper & Schindler,
2008).
Presentation: We propose to present this paper in its current
format to the owner and
GM of Central Texas Fitness on or around August 9, 2010;
again, due to the insufficient time
frame and sample size, we refrain from presenting results in
rich and visually appealing graphic
models, such as bar, pie, line or area charts, or frequency tables
and histograms used under
normal conditions. We also provide our statement of
confidentiality, as well as the initial
surveys and the specially designed sample forms included in our
interventions to be used at
management’s convenience.
Diagnostic Model
Action Research Model: For the current research paper, we
followed the steps of the
Action Research Model to help us with organizational
development intervention process. The

steps included Problem Identification, Consultation with
Behavioral Science Expert, Data
Gathering and Preliminary Diagnosis, Feedback to Key Client
or Group, Joint Diagnosis of
Problem, Joint Action Planning, Action and Data Gathering
after Action (Cummings and Worley,
2009).
Presenting Problem: As mentioned earlier our client, Central
Texas Fitness, opened its
doors only four years back, and is thus, relatively new for its
industry. Although it has most of
the basic business systems and processes in place, the two main
issues which we came across
were: 1) Lack of a customer feedback system; and 2) Lack of an
employee evaluation system.
DIAGNOSTIC MODEL
Action Research Model
Problem identification: In the case of this research project, this
phase of problem
identification was initiated by our group as part of the academic
requirement, which
approached two different local gyms, and received a positive
response from one, Central Texas

Fitness in Harker Heights, Texas. This step, in regular business
circumstances, would be
initiated by the business itself.
Consultation with an expert: Before conducting any surveys or
taking interviews, we
met with Mary Jane, who co-owns the gym with her husband,
Patrick, and Salvador Ramos, the
General Manager. We explained the purpose of our project, and
they expressed an interest in
the intervention process. After reviewing our survey
instruments, the owner specifically guided
us on some of the questions she would also like to see addressed
in the customer and trainer
surveys. It is during this step of our intervention process that
we were informed regarding the
recent customer-driven management change at the gym. The
manager was also very receptive
to our intervention proposal, and guided us on the best times to
interview the gym customers.
Data gathering and Preliminary Diagnosis: We gathered our

data on three separate
days. The first day, July 27, 2010, all three of us interviewed
the owner and the manager as a
team. We used our survey instrument for managers,
‘Management Questionnaire,’ (Appendix
A) as the basis of our questioning. It was a structured survey;
however, all the questions were
open-ended, and led to other questions during the interview
process. The interview lasted for
about two hours. We stayed at the gym an extra hour, making
observations. The second day,
July 29, 2010, only two of our three-member team visited the
gym and interviewed members
and trainers as they became available. The on-the-spot surveys
were based on ‘Customer
Questionnaire’ and ‘Trainer Questionnaire’ (Appendices B&C).
The survey and interview
process lasted four hours. On the third and the last day, July
30, 2010, two of us again visited
the gym and conducted more informal and structured interviews.
We also observed a new
client induction process first-hand.
On the first day of our intervention process, we conducted a
preliminary diagnosis

based on the data gathered, owner expectations, and our own
observations from being on the
premises for over three hours. The preliminary diagnosis
helped us reformulate and change
certain questions on our client and trainer surveys.
Feedback to key client: On the third and last day we were able
to provide a preliminary
feedback to the owner. We informed her verbally of the
responses to the questions she had
specifically asked us to target in our surveys. We also gave her
an informal feedback based on
what we had observed and heard during the interviews, and
provided an informal data analysis
of the responses to questions to our surveys.
Joint diagnosis of problem: We have informed the owner of our
next step which will
target a joint diagnosis, where we will sit down with her after
August 9, 2010, and show her the
client feedback form and an outline of suggestions for putting
an employee evaluation system

in place which we have developed.
Joint action planning: Our intervention submitted along with
this research project is a
part of our joint-action planning. Once we sit down with the
owner again, we will help her
decide on the best client feedback form to make available to the
customers, and help initiate
the first steps of an employee evaluation system. We will also
make some other
recommendations for the future.
Action: A concrete and established long-term action is outside
the scope of this paper.
Our recommendations list some of the future actions we would
have taken, if we had been able
to follow this project through for a few months.
Data gathering after action: Again, this step of data gathering
after the
implementation of proposed actions is beyond the scope of this
paper. If we were to conduct

an after action review, it would involve administering customer
satisfaction surveys six months
after the proposed interventions and recommendations have
been put in place.
Survey Response Analyses
We administered one survey specifically developed for
management in an informal yet
structured interview with the owner, Mary Jane, and the GM,
Salvador Ramos, to obtain a
comprehensive view of current operations and gain insight into
areas of potential concern or
points informally identified by management as targets for
improvement or change.
We then used two different versions of the same survey to
interview a convenience sample of
ten customers and one trainer. While neither sample is
empirically sufficient to yield reliable,
valid data, especially in case of the latter, we included the very
comprehensive information we
gained because it offered valuable customer-generated input
which serves as a sound base for
our proposed interventions. We were unable to interview any
other trainers due to the
constraints placed on trainers’ time between classes, clients,

and other professional and
academic obligations.
The surveys yielded several common themes which we
summarize and discuss in the following
four sections.
Management survey (All citations herein from Parker &
Whitmire, Personal communication,
2010)
Owners Mary and Patrick Jane are builders who also own other
businesses in the local
area. They developed and designed the facility which they
opened in December 2006 with the
market-research input from a professional appraiser to guide
their upscale interior design
decisions. Mary described their competitors as Gold’s Gym in
Killeen and Fitness Express in
Harker Heights, and their target market segment as mostly
women in their 30’s, and “Army
wives”, who reside in a three-mile radius of the gym and match
national statistics referred to by

the GM which show that three times more women than men
become members of gyms, and
are in the between 30 to 50 years old. Mary and Salvador
consider as their competitive
advantage their excellent management-staff relationships, the
quality and friendliness of their
entire staff and fitness instructors, as well as the superior
cleanliness and overall appearance of
their facility, which Mary described as “a lot cleaner than
anyone else”. For example, when a
female member’s “fussy child” threatened to interrupt her
workout, a trainer offered to help
with the child so that she was able to finish her workout.
Central Texas Fitness’ mission is to provide a community and
family-oriented
atmosphere and “top-notch service and staff”, and to “facilitate
the needs of the Harker
Heights community”. Staff is encouraged to “take things a step
further” by continuing their
education; Mary described their staff as “good people”.
Stated short-term goals are a focus on increasing membership
by approximately 30 to
35 percent, depending on the growth of the local market. Mary

mentioned that “more money
from more customers” would mean “better equipment”, but,
when asked about plans to
expand the facility or open a second one, she replied that
“bigger is not always better”. They
were also pending approval of a mini-grant, due in August,
which would be used to expand
their collaboration with Scott and White’s diabetes clinic of 200
members in an effort to
encourage and facilitate the important treatment component of
exercise and gain more
members. Long-term goals are similar to and heavily dependent
on the outcomes achieved
from the short-term goals at this point.
Mary stated that Salvador Ramos’s, the GM, typical
responsibilities include budget
keeping, payroll, overseeing trainers, and “some of everything”,
even empting dustbins.
General personnel hierarchy is based on experience and
incorporates “much input from

trainers and other employees”, and collaboration among
management and staff was described
as very strong.
The total number of employees was broken down as follows: as
mentioned, Mary and
Patrick are owners; Salvador Ramos (GM); three part-time staff
members for the front desk;
five trainers (two full-time and the remainder part-time,
depending on business loads and
demand); three part-time staff members in the playroom. When
asked to describe the
qualifications or qualities most important to them in a manager
or supervisor, Mary replied that
“Salvador is perfect” because he is “always here”, i.e. seven
days a week, and he checks in via
mobile telephone on weekends; has great interpersonal skills;
and is knowledgeable in all
aspects of management, training and nutrition, all of which
helps facilitate ease of operations.
We personally observed him checking the facility even on a
weekend day. Mary stated that she
is always available to the GM via her mobile phone although
she is not always present in the
gym.

She said that trainers are required to be nationally certified and
keep their certification
up to date; the owners’ preference for quality certification is
NASM but they accept ISSA or
ACSE. Trainers are responsible for building their own client
base. In case of a conflict over
access to equipment during crowded peak hours, trainers usually
“accommodate their clients
and members”. She admitted that under crowded conditions in
the spring of 2009, crowding
had briefly been a problem when all treadmills were occupied
all the time and members had to
wait to use them; management resolved this matter by
purchasing additional equipment and
emphasizing the different classes that are being offered at no
charge to all members (with the
exception of functional fitness) at Central Texas Fitness as
alternate workouts to relieve some
of the peak-hour ‘busy-ness’.
She reported that she has not found any great need for

implementing ongoing or in-
house training for current staff but that it would be a “good
idea”, especially since she admitted
to not having established a formal employee evaluation system.
The GM conducts “one-on-
one” evaluations when employees are first hired. Another key
aspect of day-to-day operations
she admitted to not being in place is the SOPs; some apparently
used to exist in the beginning
“but not anymore”.
Regarding information technology (IT), Mary stated that they
are using QuickBooks for
billing; a CPA they retain apparently uses other software and
files their taxes electronically; they
also retain the services of Aphelion, a Temple, Texas, IT
consultancy firm, for a flat fee monthly
fee to provide off-site file backup, all IT maintenance, and on-
call services to resolve any
pressing issues as needed. Security measures in place to ensure
the safety of members and the
facility consist of 18 closed-circuit cameras equipped with
night-time motion-activated sensor
and a digital recording device (DVR) to record any suspicious
activity. Mary also reported a very

good relationship with the Harker Heights Police Department
which was established after a
series of break-ins at the adjacent tanning salon they used to
own. Staff is to call the police at
any sign of suspicious activity, and police recommended they
ask unauthorized persons to sign
“no loitering statements”.
To safeguard member and client information stored on site,
such a billing, credit card,
and contact information, she said that it is locked in a safe to
which only Salvador has a key. As
for safety on the gym floor, “everyone knows” how to fill in an
injury report which documents
the events leading to the injury or accident; if a member passes
out, staff know to call 911.
If the GM were unavailable for any reason, the manager of the
co-owned closely located
storage business would temporarily step in to fulfill the
administrative functions until
appropriate replacement could be found because the system is

“transparent enough” to allow
“winging it”.
Mary confirmed that a front-desk staff member is usually the
first person of contact for
a potential new member, and that especially Brittany, who is a
“people person” and outgoing,
“follows up independently on potentials”. Marketing or
advertisement for Central Texas
Fitness is limited to items included in gift bags for soldiers
during Hood Howdy or other
community events.
Regarding cleaning and facility maintenance both stated that a
“regular cleaning
person” comes in between there to four days a week, depending
on time of year, and that
front-desk staff continuously spot-check for cleanliness and
attend to anything that needs to be
seen to. The gym is inspected by the Bell County Health
Department and the local fire
department. When asked about zero-tolerance policies, they
unanimously stated inappropriate
client-trainer interactions, derogatory statements, or too-
personal questions; they added that if

something is not “personally relevant”, then “we don’t need to
know because we don’t “pry”.
We asked about formal member feedback/suggestion boxes
since we had not noticed any
during our initial walk-through of the facility; Mary admitted
that none currently exists but that
members know that they can always approach the GM or the
owners, and they may send e-
mails or letters if they prefer. Written input is always answered
regardless of the content. Mary
agreed that they need to implement some form of customer
feedback/input system.
As for special considerations for long-time members, they
stated that they generally do
not provide special offers because they value all their members
the same but at times allow it
on an individual basis, e.g. to accommodate special medical
conditions or a “break in the kids’
rate” for daycare for parents or trainers with multiple children.
The daycare is open from 8 a.m.
to 8 p.m. except during the hours of noon to 4 p.m., and costs

$15 per child, with reduced rates
for additional children.
When asked about how trainers are being assigned to new
members or clients, they
stated that “Salvador knows the times trainers are in the gym”,
and if one trainer falls ill or
becomes unavailable, another will “pick up” that client; usually,
though, trainers communicate
directly with their clients. Occasionally, one trainer’s clients
may work with another trainer
during absences.
Customer Surveys
Staff and management-staff cooperation: Unanimously, all
respondents mentioned the
staff with positive descriptors such as helpful, knowledgeable,
friendly, always present, and
courteous, at all times. Further, respondents appreciated the
staff’s frequent checks
throughout the facility to ensure cleanliness and availability for
any questions or concerns from
customers.
We noticed that a small percentage of respondents mentioned
that the staff’s positive

attributes appeared to be a direct result of largely customer-
driven changeover in management
in November 2009; previous conditions were described as
substantially lacking consistent front-
desk staffing and greeting of incoming existing and potential
customers, and an easily
recognizable, obvious uniform and name tags to identify staff
members. Overwhelmingly,
respondents described the cooperation between staff and
management, and their efforts to
maintain utmost customer satisfaction high, as very good.
We found the consistently high quality of management and
staff members to be a
competitive advantage that sets Central Texas Fitness apart
from its competitors.
Cleanliness: Eighty percent of respondents positively noted
overall, consistent
cleanliness as an attribute of significant importance in
measuring customer satisfaction. We
also found it to be a factor that distinguished Central Texas

Fitness from other gyms in the
greater metropolitan area. Twenty percent of respondents stated
that overall cleanliness was in
need of improvement, especially in the women’s locker/bath
room; however, the small overall
sample size and the relatively small percentage of negative
responses in this regard show a
strong tendency that overall facility cleanliness to be highly
satisfactory for the overwhelming
majority of customers.
Atmosphere: Unanimously, respondents expressed preference
for the community and
family-oriented atmosphere and the diverse, more mature,
affluent clientele over the
atmosphere noted in competitors’ gyms, which was described by
both female and male
respondents as resembling a “meat market” and
“uncomfortable”, i.e. men staring especially at
young women in skimpy outfits while trying to work out; men
attempting to chat up women
regardless of their marital status or having expressed
disapproval; men making women of all

ages distinctly uncomfortable by trying to show off, invade
personal space; or men feeling
distracted in their workouts by the afore-mentioned women in
skimpy outfits.
Female respondents especially emphasized their preference for
the comfortable, non-
threatening atmosphere at Central Texas Fitness.
The quality of the amenable, positive, family-like atmosphere at
Central Texas Fitness was
found to be a competitive advantage that sets the gym apart
from its competitors.
Proximity to home and/or work: The majority of respondents
mentioned the
convenience of close proximity to their place of work or their
homes, often within five minutes
or less, as an attractive attribute in their choice of fitness center
because it appears to serve as
a distinct motivator that helps them to not skip workouts as they
would be more likely to if they
had to spend a long time driving to the gym on their way home
from work and navigate the
notorious rush-hour traffic. The responses confirmed

management’s target clientele’s
preference for a community/neighborhood-oriented fitness
center close to home and work,
and their definition of intended target market segment.
Workout frequency: The average number of times members
work out at Central Texas
Fitness appears to range from three to five or six times per
week, with men falling into the
latter category more than women.
Membership process: One hundred percent of respondents
described the process of
becoming members as very simple, uncomplicated, and easy.
All consistently mentioned a brief
tour of the facility led by front-desk staff or the General
Manager, followed by an explanation of
the terms and conditions and either month-to-month
membership or annual, prepaid
membership options; and the different documentation to be
signed, as well as explanations of
information requested and collected from members. We found

the general duration of the
entire process to be between 15 to 30 minutes. A smaller
percentage of respondents stated
that they had joined when the gym first opened, but a larger
percentage appears to have joined
either shortly prior to or after the 2009 management
changeover.
Classes: Of the female respondents who participate in various
classes offered by Central
Texas Fitness, most stated that they are satisfied with the
current class menu and times. A large
percentage mentioned Zumba as one of their favorites.
The majority of male respondents stated that they do not
participate in any of the
offered classes but 90 percent expressed that they would be
highly likely to participate in
martial-arts or boxing-based cardio/fitness classes if they were
offered.
Some respondents mentioned that they would like to see classes
or programs geared
specifically towards members over age 40.
Mission statement
One hundred percent of respondents did not know Central

Texas Fitness’ mission but
mentioned that it may be “somewhere on the website”. Further,
the mission statement is not
posted anywhere in the facility of Central Texas Fitness, as is
customary at competitors’
facilities (Evans & Wagner, Personal observations, 2010).
Ninety percent of respondents
admitted to hardly ever utilizing the website for any purpose;
the remainder stated that they
only use it to check opening hours and/or class times.
Member feedback system/lodging complaints: The unanimous
response from members
was that, in case of any customer concerns or complaints,
members would address them
informally to the GM or the owner. All stated feeling very
comfortable with this process should
it become necessary due to the positive relationships between
management and staff, and
management, staff, and customers in general. Ninety-five
percent of respondents confirmed

that there is currently no member feedback system in place that
would provide a more
anonymous means of allowing members to give input or
feedback regarding the gym and its
staff but stated that they would like to have such a system at
their disposal although client-staff
relationships were described as very open, trusting, and
congenial.
The unanimous response from members was that, in case of any
customer concerns or
complaints, members would address them informally to the GM
or the owner. All stated feeling
very comfortable with this process should it become necessary
due to the positive relationships
between management and staff, and management, staff, and
customers in general.
Internal announcements: Although not specifically enquired
about in our customer
surveys, a small percentage of respondents expressed a lack of a
gym-community bulletin
board to announce special events or classes advertise equipment
for sale, or to post members’
business cards to create an internal networking opportunity.
Additionally, several members

commented about a lack of any material posted throughout the
gym related to the correct
performance of weight-bearing exercises, e.g. kinesiology
charts. Both are considered
important components of the community orientation emphasized
in the mission statement.
Zero-tolerance/customer-related policies: Ninety percent of
respondents admitted
they did not know any of the zero-tolerance policies in place at
Central Texas Fitness, nor could
they remember having been informed of any, or standard
operating procedure (SOP). A small
percentage attempted to give examples, such as, “Oh, you mean,
like sexual harassment or
inappropriate stuff with trainers and clients”. When asked if
they had witnessed any infractions
involving zero-tolerance policies, all responses were negative.
When asked to describe the
process they would follow in case of such an occurrence (either
personal or as a witness), the
unanimous response was to I’d tell Salvador”.

Hours of operation: The overwhelming majority of respondents
stated that they are
satisfied with the existing hours of operations; however, a small
percentage of respondents
mentioned that the shortened weekend hours of operations
during the fall are highly
inconvenient, especially to independent business owners/self-
employed members who often
only access the gym after 7 p.m., regardless of the time of year.
Awareness of security measures: Eighty percent of respondents
admitted to not being
aware of the full extent of the security measures in place, i.e.
the closed-circuit camera system
monitoring all rooms in the facility and the outside parking lot;
they stated being aware of only
of “a camera”.
Trainer qualifications: Most respondents admitted to not
knowing the specific
certifications required for trainers at Central Texas Fitness but
all said that they “have to be
nationally certified”. Some mentioned that they liked it when
pictures and certificates of the
trainers were displayed prominently for all members to see but

are not currently.
Discounts/incentives for long-time members: Approximately 85
percent of respondents
stated that they would very much like to receive some sort of
discount or special consideration
for being long-time members; the qualifying time frame for
being a long-time or loyal member
most referred to was one year. Discounts repeatedly mentioned
were memberships discounts
(either one-time or monthly fee reductions), free
shakes/smoothies or free tee shirts, or
discounts on sessions with trainers (either one-time or after
purchasing ten sessions and paying
up front). We found an overwhelming consensus of members’
clear desire for being
acknowledged as long-time, loyal members, in addition to the
member-of-the-month mention
on the website.
The remaining 15 percent declared that all customers/members
are valued the same

and therefore, discounts should not be applied. However,
discounts exist for municipal, Killeen
Independent School District (KISD), and Scott and White
employees.
Accommodations for military families: The majority of
respondents reported that they
“think there is something” in place to accommodate military
families’ unique needs, but only a
very small percentage was able to correctly point out the
options available to military
members, such as the ability to cancel without penalty any
membership contract upon
presentation of official deployment or permanent-change-of-
station (PCS) orders. Most also
mentioned that “a lot of members are military”, either retired,
active duty, or family members.
Fitness goals: The majority of respondents stated the
improvement of their overall
fitness and health as primary fitness goals, with weight loss,
addition of muscle mass, and
toning as key elements of their workouts. However, a
significant percentage specifically
mentioned their need for rehabilitation of severe joint injuries
or after life-threatening events,

such as strokes.
Member injury/accident response procedures: The
overwhelming majority of
respondents were unable to state the response procedures
implemented by Central Texas
Fitness in case of a member’s injury or accident while working
out/on the premises of the gym.
The common theme in member statements ranged from, “I’m not
aware of any, but it’s an
important question”, to, “I assume the staff would handle it”,
and, “I don’t recall anything but
I’d hope the staff would help”.
Equipment availability/access: Approximately 70 percent of
respondents described “no
problems” regarding access to or availability of equipment, or,
“It hasn’t really been an issue”,
when asked about access to, or availability of, the gym’s
equipment. Thirty percent of
respondents stated that at certain times of the day, especially
during after-work peak times,

access to much of the weight equipment sometimes involves
having to wait for other members
to finish working out before it becomes available. Further,
almost all respondents stated that
few or no alternate machines appear to be available.
When asked about whether trainers working with clients have
priority of access to
equipment, most replied that trainers are usually very
considerate and always know how to
work on another machine or find a way to work a muscle group
using a different exercise or
equipment.
Individual progress evaluation: The methods most members
appear to use to evaluate
their own progress in attainment of their fitness goals include
weighing themselves, judging the
fit of their clothes, or the increase in weight lifted per exercise,
as well as improvements of their
one-rep max.
Competitors considered for membership: Almost all
respondents admitted to checking
out other area gyms, predominantly Gold’s Gym, Gym X, and
several fitness centers on Fort

Hood, before becoming members at Central Texas Fitness.
Reasons for their decision were
unanimous: superior cleanliness and appearance; the friendly,
helpful staff; the community-
/family-oriented ambience; overall diversity of members,
specifically socioeconomic status
(perceived and known).
Trainer Survey (All citations herein from Tyler, Personal
communication, 2010)
The training supervisor, Chris Tyler, has been employed with
Central Texas Fitness since
August 2006. His motivation for becoming a trainer was to help
people achieve their fitness
goals and meet his clients’ needs; he expressed excitement over
Central Texas Fitness as a new
fitness center in the Harker Heights community. His personal
experience with fitness includes
playing college football, power lifting, and bodybuilding.
Competitive advantage: He specifically mentioned the family
atmosphere, which he

describes as one where “everyone knows each other’s name”
and the “cut-throat aspect is
taken out”.
Trainer qualifications: According to the supervising trainer, the
minimum qualifications
required for employment as trainer at Central Texas Fitness
include, at minimum, a nationally
accredited certification to ensure credibility (preferably NASM,
but also ACSE, ISSA, various
yoga or group-fitness certifications), and a probationary period
of 75 hours of on-the-job-
training (OJT); clients are significantly involved in providing
input to management’s decision
whether to retain a trainer beyond the probationary period.
Additionally, trainers are required
to continue their professional education to ensure they remain
up-to-date on the latest fitness
trends and be able to provide clients with the best possible
training to help them achieve their
goals. All trainers are CPR certified. In his opinion, all trainers
at Central Texas Fitness are well
trained and educated.

Fitness/professional goals and most pressing concern: He stated
a desire for “constant
learning” as short-term goal and to “help the gym’s reputation
and provide more services” as
long-term goals. He also actively works out at Central Texas
Fitness. Childhood obesity and time
constraint, i.e. not enough time to spend with clients, are his
most pressing concerns.
Client assignment: Trainers may be requested by members who
are familiar with them
or have heard of them, and potential clients are able to try out
several trainers as part of a
session with several other members also looking for personal
trainers as a group. Another way
clients are assigned trainers is after undergoing an initial fitness
assessment upon joining
Central Texas Fitness.
Mission statement: Contrary to the official mission statement,
published on the
company’s website, he wants to “provide a clean and safe
environment” that does not “put the
client in jeopardy”. He identifies with the mission by “showing

the client that you care”, by
providing “feedback and response”, and by helping the client
“reach the goal”.
Improvements: He stated that the existing equipment should be
replaced at least every
four years to “re-invent the image of the gym”, and group
fitness should be expanded
substantially. He also mentioned extension of hours of
operation, and the addition of heavier
weights, especially dumbbells.
Training/Instructing/Average workday: He stated that he trains
an average of five
clients per day on every day of the week and occasionally
(rotating basis) instructs Bootcamp
and Youth Fitness. His average workday involves checking
schedules and verifying trainers’ time
and “shuffling the game daily; professionally, he places utmost
importance on employees being
on time.
Individual progress evaluation: Chris stated that there is no

official, standard procedure
in place for evaluating clients’ progress but that trainers do
provide feedback to their clients
individually, depending on the trainer’s preferences. Chris
reported that he often offers
informal feedback to clients who no longer train with him in the
course of a conversation when
encountering them at the gym. Chris provides formal, detailed
progress feedback, as well as
nutrition and training plans specifically to his clients who are
deployed or work overseas via the
Internet.
Personally important aspects: He stated that personal space is
very important to him,
as well as cleanliness, which, in his professional opinion, could
be improved.
Awareness of security measures: He stated that he is fully
aware of the security system
in place, i.e. the closed-circuit camera system monitoring all
rooms in the facility and the
outside parking lot, and that member information is locked in a
safe in the office to which only
Salvador has a key.

Internal training and performance evaluation: Chris stated that
trainers critique each
other’s performance and are required to enroll in continuing
education units (CEUs); all trainers
are CPR certified and must keep it current. Additionally,
trainers are evaluated by their clients
on a monthly basis, using an evaluation form developed by the
GM who provides it to clients
when the trainer is not present.
Membership process: He described the membership process as
consisting of a brief tour
of the facility led by front-desk staff or the General Manager,
followed by an explanation of the
terms and conditions of either month-to-month membership or
annual, prepaid membership
options and pricing, and the different documentation to be
signed, as well as explanations of
information requested and collected. He added that the “gym’s
wow factor is that it sells itself”.
Zero-tolerance/customer-related policies: He confirmed that he
is very well-informed of

all customer-related and zero-tolerance policies but failed to
mention specific policies beyond
the mention of ”inappropriate” things occurring between trainer
and client; on the rare
occasions he witnessed such inappropriateness, he said that the
trainer was dismissed as a
result. Clients or members who face such concerns should
address them to management or the
owner, and trainers should attempt to resolve any such issues
with their clients professionally
first.
Member injury/accident response procedures: The supervising
trainer stated that all
trainers are CPR certified; additionally, an AED is prominently
installed near the front desk. In
case of injury to a client during a training session with a trainer,
the response would be to
immediately stop training once pain or pronounce discomfort is
announced; the injury or pain
would then be evaluated for severity or seriousness, and
appropriate help, such as emergency
medical technicians (911), be summoned, or the emergency
contact listed in the member’s file

called. The staff and trainer would also be required to complete
an internal incident report of
the injury to keep with the client/member file.
Equipment availability: He stated that equipment is operational
most of the time but
that no out-of-order signs are posted if a piece of equipment
becomes inoperational. He
admitted it would be a good idea to implement such a procedure
although equipment is rarely
“down”, or only very briefly. Regarding priority of access to
equipment by trainers working
with clients, he replied that that all trainers are very considerate
and always know well how to
work on another machine or find a way to work a muscle group
using a different exercise or
equipment.
Staff/ Management-staff cooperation: He said that staff is
absolutely helpful, friendly,
forthcoming attitude and behavior of all staff at all times. He
described as positive and

functional the cooperation between management and staff.
Discounts/incentives for long-time members: He was not in
favor of any special
considerations or discounts given to long-time members, stating
that “prices change all the
time but dues stay the same”, and “all people are treated the
same” at Central Texas Fitness.
Lodging complaints: In case of any concerns or complaints not
resolved at lower level,
he stated that trainers and staff should address the GM or even
the owner. He added that he
feels very comfortable with this process should it become
necessary due to the positive
relationships between management and staff.
Competitors considered for employment: Chris categorically
reported that he did not
consider any other local competitors for employment, adding
that he helped open Central
Texas Fitness and has remained employed there to this day.
INTERVENTION
Hypothesis #1: An effective Employee Evaluation System will
not only improve quality of
service offered, increase retention rates, and reduce liability

costs, but also create added
value for the business in the long run.
Model: Our intervention is based on the Total Quality
Management (TQM) model of
workplace management. It is the management approach which
seeks to achieve quality
through the participation of all organizational members
(DeKnop, Hoecke and DeBosscher,
2004). In a fitness-center type business, where employees come
and go according to their
individual schedules with clients, and very few of the
employees are full-time, it becomes even
more imperative to ensure employee participation in workplace
management. This is best
done by reinforcing and reiterating workplace policies,
discussing safety issues, revisiting
employee hours and employee performance, and addressing
employee concerns on a regular
basis through a quarterly employee performance evaluation.
Although Best Practices suggest that employees receive

evaluation at least once per
year, in realistic terms it is not enough (Clausen, Jones and
Rich, 2008). We based our figure of
‘performance evaluations once every quarter’ on the survey
results obtained from the study by
Clausen, Jones and Rich. A survey of the some accounting
employees targeted the question
regarding how many times they would like to receive an
evaluation, and if they are satisfied
with their current evaluations. The highest satisfaction rate was
among employees who
received evaluations three to four times a year. The employees
on the two extremes, with
either “zero evaluations” or “13 performance evaluations
annually” were most dissatisfied.
We suggest conducting an initial survey of the employees to see
which performance skills they
consider most important. The employees can be asked to weigh
various performance criteria,
which would help management tie in their own expectations of
the employees as to what the
employees would like to be tested on. A focus-group meeting
could help create a common
platform on which to base the performance evaluations.

Once established, the formal Performance Evaluation System
will provide the
management with the necessary tools for keeping records, and
being well prepared in case of
employee complaint and liability issues. For the employees,
too, it will form a basis for
maintaining a written record of job descriptions, expectations,
and quarterly performances. It
will also help in preventing any future concerns over unfairness
in scheduling or pay raises. Any
organization which hopes to grow has to put some essential
business practices in place. And,
even though Central Texas Fitness is still a fairly new business,
and still in the stage of
establishing the “Creativity-Leadership” cycle, as in the case of
any other business, the
“Conflict” stage is inevitable (Cummings and Worley, 2009).
Again, since in its current stage,
our intervention is only a proposal, Central Texas Fitness has
the flexibility of adjusting the

proposal to suit their needs, especially regarding the number of
times the evaluations should be
conducted. However, as Organizational Development
consultants, we strongly recommend
putting a system in place as soon as possible for an added value
to the business.
However, for our model to be successful, Central Texas Fitness
will also need to put a
well defined and documented Job Description and Employee
Expectations System in place. In
the absence of a clearly written and communicated job
description system, the employees
cannot be expected to know how to gauge their own
development and improvement, and
respond to the performance evaluation questions to their best
ability. The system itself, along
with the main component of the job descriptions themselves,
could include features such as:
Job Description Supplements, Job Description Review Tracking
System, and E-mail Notification
System to keep track of and notify any changes in job
descriptions which occur before a
performance evaluation is due. Communicating the
expectations clearly, and reiterating them

through quarterly performance evaluations, will also help in
establishing an effective job
description system.
Sample Form #1: We have formatted and attached a sample
Staff and Trainer
Quarterly Performance Evaluation form for the Central Texas
Fitness supervisors and senior
management to use as a reference. We also release our
copyright to this form, and make this
form available for the gym to use, in its entirety or in part, if
they prefer.
Sample Form #2: We have also formatted and attached a
second form for the
convenience of the supervisor. This form can be used as an
overview of individual employee
performance evaluations and presented to the owner for record
keeping and current
information purposes. We also release our copyright to this
form, and make this form available
for the gym to use, in its entirety or in part, if they prefer.

Nothing follows on this page.
Central Texas Fitness
Staff and Trainer Quarterly Performance Evaluation
Form #1: Face-to-Face Employee Evaluations
Employee Name_____________ ____ _ Position Title__
__________________
Evaluating Supervisor____________________
� Employee should provide supporting information in the
comment field for each performance factor.
� Supervision and Leadership performance factors apply to
personnel who supervise F/T or P/T employees.
� A handout of current job description for the employee being
evaluated should be available.

Evaluation Criteria Employee Responses Supervisor Comments
Position Description:
1. Does your position
description accurately reflect
your job? (Yes/No)
2. If “No,” discuss the
changes that you believe
should be made?
3. What could I, as your
supervisor, do differently to
help you better perform
your job?
Education and Training:
1. How would you
summarize your
improvements on the job in
the past quarter?

2. Are you planning on
taking additional
certification / training?
3. Are you current on your
CPR and other certifications?
Performance Factors:
1. How do you rate your
communication with the
clients?
2. How would you describe
your initiative taking?

3. On a scale of 1 to 5, 5
being very poor, how would
you rate your job
knowledge?
4. How do you think you are
prepared with regards to
Security and Safety
compliance issues at our
gym?
5. Please comment on
workplace diversity.
6. Comment on your
scheduling this past quarter.
Were there any absences on
your part, and if yes, then
please explain.

7. What do you believe are
your best customer service
attributes?
8. How well do you think
you perform as a part of a
team?
Supervisory Staff Only:
1. Comment on your
resource management skills.
(For instance, in the case of a
community event organized
by our gym.)
2. How would you rate your
understanding and
performance of billing
functions?

3. What do your
administrative functions
entail? Please comment on
the most challenging part of
your job as an administrator.
4. What are your future
plans for enhancing
community relations and
increasing membership?
______________________ _______________
Employee Signature Date
______________________ _______________
Evaluator Signature Date
Keep original in the employee
file……………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………

Staff and Trainer Quarterly Performance Evaluation
Form #2: Overview for the Owner
Employee Name_____________ ____ _ Position Title__
__________________
Evaluating Supervisor____________________
5= Exceeds All Expectations (Consistently achieves results
superior to expectations.); 4 = Exceeds Expectations
(Occasionally exceeds job requirements); 3 = Meets
Expectations (Normally achieves job expectations); 2 = Below
Expectations/Needs Improvement (Work is below average and
requires improvement); 1 = Unsatisfactory/far
Below Expectations (Work is unacceptable and dismissal is
recommended).
Rating Factors Comments Rating
PROFESSIONAL ATTITUDE
5 4 3 2 1
� � � � �
ATTENDANCE

5 4 3 2 1
� � � � �
QUALITY OF WORK
5 4 3 2 1
� � � � �
QUANTITY OF WORK
5 4 3 2 1
� � � � �
KNOWLEDGE OF JOB
5 4 3 2 1
� � � � �
CUSTOMER RELATIONS
5 4 3 2 1
� � � � �

______________________ _______________
Supervisor Signature Date
______________________ _______________
Owner Signature Date
Keep original in the employee
file……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………..
Hypothesis #2: Establishing a two-tiered Member Feedback
System will provide a
valuable feedback system for the business, which will give an
insight into customer
attitudes towards services and products offered, and in turn,
provide the basis for
product and service development.
Model: Our intervention is based partly on the TQM model of
workplace management,
but equally so on the frameworks of Program Evaluation and

Continuous Quality Improvement
(CQI). “Program evaluation can help…determine if there is a
need for programs…, how
processes and procedures are working…, and if [they] are
achieving [their] goals” (Smith, 2002,
p.757), especially in highly customer-centric organizations. In a
fitness-center type business like
Central Texas Fitness, it is imperative to “routinely conduct
program evaluation by asking
[members] to evaluate the service they have received [so that
they] can be… given a voice…if
both their positive and negative experiences…are reported and
taken seriously” (Smith). We
further emphasize our scientifically based approach to the
proposed interventions presented to
management in this paper by basing them on program evaluation
model since it is “essentially
the application of…research methods to assess the planning,
implantation, and outcome of
[interventions]” (Smith).
CQI helps emphasize the importance of clearly documented
quality improvement
initiatives to customer-centric organizations, as proposed in our
interventions, “to provide

evidence that [all stakeholders] received a clearly defined value
for their time and capital
investment” (Yeager, 2002, p.766). This is especially useful in
helping management reduce
expenditures while maximizing available resources to ensure
long-term viability by
documenting and tracking the value and outcomes; to
benchmark the gym’s performance and
customer satisfaction levels against competitors, which is
critical with regard to recruitment of
new members and achieving the stated goal of increasing
membership by 30 to 35 percent; and
to ensure long-term financial sustainability. CQI is a strength-
based approach to coordinating
quality initiatives with an emphasis on feedback from
management, staff, and customers, as
well as from external stakeholders. Yeager (2002) also stresses
that the focus of successful CQI
should be on key activities and processes that either directly or
indirectly impact outcomes by

“implementing effective performance measures designed to
collect reliable data”, and on
“continuing improvement of services versus implementing
problem-solving processes”.
Management responsibilities are identified primarily as
“providing support for quality
initiatives, identification of priorities, monitoring data that
impact each aspect of [the
interventions], and monitoring [processes and] services related
to the [service delivery to the
customers] and effective use of organizational resources”. This
necessitates the establishment
of process and outcome quality indicators as consistent
measures of the short- and long-term
results of the interventions implemented by the organization;
examples are scaling, frequency
or trend analysis, or control charts. These indicators must be
assigned practical, realistic ranges
and carefully balanced thresholds that act as triggers for
proactive responses with the
management (Yeager). Sustained improvements provide
documented proof of intervention
quality and aid in obtaining additional funding to ensure future
growth and opportunities for

increasing market share (i.e. membership) and revenues.
Once established, the formal Monthly Member Feedback
System and the Post-Intake
Member Feedback System will provide the management with
valuable tools for ‘checking the
pulse’ of its customers’ satisfaction with the effectiveness,
efficiency, and quality of services
provided by Central Texas Fitness by having at its disposal the
direct, frank input from its
members regarding the key aspects we identified as most
important to members, according to
our analysis of the survey responses. This is critical in a
customer-centric organization such as a
fitness-center type business, especially one that is still in its
early stages, and helps
management to establish its own database archives by
documenting and tracking customer
input, the implementation of management’s responses, and the
outcomes achieved.
To preserve the anonymity and confidentiality of members
wishing to utilize the

suggestion-type Monthly Member Feedback System, we advise
that you locate the ‘suggestion
box’ (you may wish to use a different term to your liking to
label the necessary receptacle)
discreetly, e.g. in both male and female locker rooms or
unobtrusively near them. The
‘suggestion box’ must be locked and accessible only to the GM.
It should, at minimum, be
designed to feature a slot for members to deposit their feedback
forms/cards that is small
enough to prevent anyone from retrieving any forms/cards
already deposited by another
member. Feedback or comment forms should be readily
available next to the ‘suggestion box’;
we include a useful sample of such a form for your convenience
in the following section titled
“Sample form”.
Again, since in its current stage, our intervention is only a
proposal, Central Texas
Fitness has the flexibility of adjusting the proposal to suit their
needs, especially regarding the
number of times the recurring feedback should be solicited from
the Member Feedback

System. The frequency of immediate responses gained from our
Post-Intake Feedback System is
inevitably determined by the frequency and number of new
members joining the gym.
However, as Organizational Development consultants, we
strongly recommend putting a well-
defined and documented system in place as soon as possible for
an added value to the
business. In the absence of a clearly written and communicated
Member Feedback System,
which should describe both our proposed types of feedback
systems, the customers cannot be
expected to know how to actively contribute to and evaluate
improvements, and respond to
the feedback questions to their best ability.
Sample Form #1: We have formatted and attached a sample
form for the convenience
of the management. This form can be used as basis for ongoing
individual customer evaluation
of the gym’s state of operations and added to your database for
record keeping and outcome

evaluation purposes. We also release our copyright to this form,
and make this form available
for the gym to use, in its entirety or in part, if they prefer.
Sample Form #2: We have also formatted and attached a second
form for the
convenience of the management. This form can be used as a
valuable tool for management to
obtain immediate feedback from each individual new customer
regarding the process you have
in place for signing up new members. This allows accurate,
unbiased evaluation of the outcome
of such a process and should be added to your database for
record keeping purposes. We also
release our copyright to this form, and make this form available
for the gym to use, in its
entirety or in part, if they prefer.

Monthly Member Feedback
Customer name: _________________________________
Month/Year:______________
The Central Texas Fitness staff is always looking for ways to
improve the quality of its service. Please take a few
minutes to answer the following questions. Your comments and
suggestions will be used to improve processes
and our ability to respond to your future requests for better
service.
Questions Very satisfied Very dissatisfied
1. Are you satisfied with the overall
cleanliness of the gym?
5 4 3 2 1
� � � � �
2. How would you rate the equipment
maintenance?
5 4 3 2 1

� � � � �
3. Are the hours of operation still
convenient for you?
5 4 3 2 1
� � � � �
4. Are you well informed about the
monthly specials offered by the gym?
5 4 3 2 1
� � � � �
5. How would you rate the staff this
month?
5 4 3 2 1
� � � � �
6. How would you rate the overall service
provided?
5 4 3 2 1

� � � � �
7. How would you rate the classes currently offered? Please
provide us your ideas or
suggestions regarding any other classes that should be added to
the program.
8. Please provide any additional feedback on how Central Texas
Fitness can better meet your
needs and improve the quality of the gym.
Post-Intake Member Feedback
Customer Name: ______________________________ Date:
_____________________
The Central Texas Fitness staff is always looking for ways to
improve the quality of its service. Please take a few
minutes to answer the following questions. Your comments and
suggestions will be used to improve processes
and our ability to respond to your future requests for better

service.
1. Please rate each of the following:
Rating Factor Well Below
Expectations
Below
Expectations
Met
Expectations
Above
Expectations
Well Above
Expectations
The membership
process
The materials
provided
The orientation

The length of the
sign-up process
The point of contact
The facility
2. What else would you have liked to know?
3. Were your questions answered appropriately?
4. Did you have any questions we did not answer during the
sign-up process? Please list them
here.
4. Would you like someone to get back to you regarding your
questions? If yes, please check
the means by which you prefer to be contacted:
� E-mail
� Telephone
�Letter

5. Please check the topics that you were provided information
on:
� Liability � Safety brief
� Injury related procedure � Brief introduction
6. May we contact you for additional information?
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
In addition to the major interventions we identified in the
previous sections, we further
suggest management consider, at their convenience,
incorporating the following
recommendations we make based on our analysis of the survey
data.

Policies needed
Based on the results uncovered by the survey and discussed
above, we discovered that a
large portion of the members are unaware of the existence of
several key policies that should
be in place at Central Texas Fitness. Most also do not recall
having been provided them during
the membership process when first signing up. We strongly
recommend you establish such
policies in writing and incorporate them into your official SOP
since they are key components of
the safe, community and family-oriented gym environment you
strive to provide. Doing so may
also reduce potential liability or insurance issues in case of
legal proceedings brought against
Central Texas Fitness or one of its employees by a member in
spite of the liability waiver(s)
already in place.
Zero-tolerance: These should include relevant federal
mandates, such as how to define,
recognize, and address sexual harassment or discrimination due
to gender, race, religion, etc;
as well as internal policies you may wish to establish as

guidelines for interactions between
staff and members, clients and trainers, or among staff. Some
internally followed unwritten
rules appear to exist but members and staff must be well
informed regarding such policies to
prevent any misunderstandings, misperceptions, or disparity in
the application and
enforcement of such policies.
Safety/Accident response: These should clearly state the steps
members and staff need
to know and be able to take in case of an accident/injury of
another member, or during sessions
with trainers. There appears to be a distinct gap between what
staff currently know they should
do (either call 911, complete incident/injury report, and/or and
call the emergency point of
contact noted in members’ files) and what logically has to occur
until those steps known to
them are actually taken, specifically how to assess an injury and
its severity; how to interact

with the injured person until help arrives or he/she can walk off
on their own; and how to
operate the AED, as well as critical time frames to be observed
under certain conditions. We
also make the recommendation to keep an easily referenced
record of members who are
trained first responders (e.g. doctors, nurses, firepersons, EMTs
etc.) and know them by sight so
that they can quickly be called upon in case of an emergency.
Security: This should, at minimum, include a description of the
security measures you
currently have in place, i.e. the closed-circuit camera system
monitoring all rooms and the
parking lot, and the measures for safeguarding of member
data/information stored on site or
off site.
Rules of conduct: These should include the “do’s and dont’s”
of allowable/tolerable
behavior and dress while working out, but also what many
respondents generally termed “gym
rules”, or gym etiquette, such as courtesy toward others, putting
up weights when finished with
them, wiping down machines after use, asking to work in with
another member if all machines

are busy, etc.
Member feedback system: Please see the section titled
“Interventions”.
Member of the month: This should provide a concise
description of the program details
and its rewards, if any; we further suggest you provide either a
hyperlink to this program in
your current website design or a separate tab under which to
provide such details.
Policy postings
We further recommend that you post, as applicable, all policies
referred to in the section titled
“Policies needed”, as well as your health inspection record, and
other federally or municipally
mandated laws, or internal rules, throughout your facility, e.g.
in both locker rooms and in one
prominent, easily visible location on the gym floor.
New-member policy awareness
When signing up new members, we strongly suggest you

provide them with clear,
written copies of all important policies/ SOPs (Please refer to
the sections titled “Policies
needed” and “Policy postings”) currently in place at Central
Texas Fitness for their own records,
and as a reference and in order to adhere to them. We found that
the overwhelming majority
of members were unable to recall such policies, or whether they
had been informed of any
when signing up for membership. While many members may file
such policies with their
contract, they are easily forgotten; making them constantly
visible helps serve as an
unobtrusive reminder.
Equipment performance/maintenance standards
Although not a prevalent problem in your gym, as confirmed by
member responses, we
do recommend you put in place a system for identifying
inoperable or malfunctioning
equipment. This should at least consist of uniform signs (e.g.
computer-generated paper copies)

that tell members the equipment is out of order, the date it
became inoperable, and an
estimated date for repair/return to service.
Website development
Mission/vision statement: We strongly recommend you clearly
distinguish your mission
statement on your website to stand out from any other
welcoming information you wish to
provide. All respondents were unable to define Central Texas
Fitness’ mission statement, or
where exactly to locate it on your webpage; this may be done by
establishing a separate tab on
your home page and/or a hyperlink to the reference to the
mission statement in the body of
the text.
Class calendar: We further suggest you make your calendar of
classes much easier to
read so that members are able to obtain all necessary
information with a quick glance; this
should include a more comprehensive, visually easy to read
time-of-day section to ensure that
am and pm classes are listed at their appropriate times and the

schedule is not only correct, but
at the same time very simple to read and visually appealing. For
example, your August schedule
currently shows your am classes for Tuesday, August 3, in the
slots you appear to normally
reserve for pm classes. Also, the design of the calendar could
be improved by providing a
hyperlink to the “classes” tab on your home page to cross-
reference the class a memberis
interested in.
Member-of-the-month: On your welcome page, we noticed that
your section for the
member of the month does not contain a hyperlink to explain
the details of this program to
potential members browsing your website, nor does it have its
own tab on your home page to
provide program details. Doing so is likely to increase existing
members’ pride in “their” gym by
emphasizing the family-/community-oriented atmosphere you
strive to provide, and entice

potential new members to check out Central Texas Fitness,
perhaps because they recognize
one of your members of the month.
Trainers tab: The “trainers” tab only shows one trainer’s
picture even though you
currently have a total of five trainers on staff. It would also be
important to list trainers’
certifications. Bringing this part of your website up to date may
be an important factor for
potential members wanting to train with a particular trainer they
have heard about or know.
Photos: We highly recommend you bring up to date all the
photos you have posted in
the various tabs on your website since many show members of
the former management and
staff (i.e. prior to 2009) who are no longer employed at Central
Texas Fitness. These photos also
show only some staff members wearing uniform shirts whose
design and color have since been
changed.
Online newsletter: We recommend you consider creating a web-
delivered newsletter to
be distributed monthly or quarterly to all your members to
communicate to your members any

special fitness and community events, new classes or
promotions you’re planning to offer,
collaborations within the local communities, and to provide
collective feedback to your
members regarding some of their input provided to you via the
System proposed in the section titled “Interventions”.
Regular updates: We would like to impress on you the
necessity and importance of
regularly updating your website, checking all tabs and
hyperlinks for content, such as photos,
names etc., which is especially time sensitive and can quickly
(out-) date your facility and its
staff.
Since you mentioned to us that your advertising consists of
mostly word-of-mouth and
limited advertisements in the Harker Heights Evening Star and
the periodic flyer in welcome
bags provided to soldiers at Hood Howdy, your webpage
becomes an important element to

advertise your facility and services to potential customers and
thus needs to be current,
appealing, informative, and easy to use.
Classes for male members/over-40 fitness
Overall, members expressed great satisfaction with your
current menu of classes;
however, especially male respondents distinctly stated that they
would be more likely to attend
cardio/fitness classes that are based on (mixed) martial arts or
boxing if they were offered.
Other respondents specifically mentioned that they would like
to see classes or programs
geared towards members over age 40. We suggest you use the
System proposed by us to find out more about how you can meet
those members’ needs.
Staff and trainer pictures
Based on several comments from members, we suggest you
consider posting all
trainers’ and staff members’ photographs and certifications they
posses in one easily visible
location; this reinforces the community-/family-oriented
atmosphere all members appreciate

and value.
Kinesiology charts
To enhance the gym’s fitness-focused ambience and provide
members with accurate
information about the exact workings of each muscle group used
in various exercises, we
suggest you post kinesiology charts detailing various exercises
and muscle groups throughout
your workout areas. They could also be utilized as training aids
by the trainers and the GM to
help illustrate to clients or members the correct from for
specific exercises or explain
rehabilitative connections between muscle groups.
Staff and trainer uniforms
Some respondents expressed that not all staff members wear
uniforms or name tags to
work to easily identify them to members who may need some
assistance. This response was
made in spite of members’ unanimous appreciation for the small

size and familiar atmosphere
they specifically value about Central Texas Fitness; we thus
suggest you consider designing at
least uniform shirts to be consistently worn by all members of
your staff, the GM, and trainers,
e.g. the classic and casual polo shirts some staff members and
the General Manager wear. They
should also distinguish staff by their different roles and
functional areas, e.g. by retaining the
same design but choosing different colors for each functional
area.
CONCLUSION
This intervention project is based on the premise that businesses
are never in a
completely perfect stage of growth. In fact, all businesses have
some inherent issues
depending on the stage of business cycle they are in. This
project has not been initiated by the
client/owner, but has had full support of the client/owner who
also owns many other
businesses and agrees with and understands the above
mentioned premise. Through our first
day observations, it was clear that Central Texas occupies a
special image in the minds of its

regular members, and they are not willing to see the model
itself being changed much.
Everything seems to be going well, and the manager reported no
having any serious ongoing
issues.
However, we believe that the job of a good Organizational
development consultant is
not only to look at the current scenarios and solve current
issues, but also work with the
owners/management towards establishing best practices for a
total quality management. We
believe in the old adage “Prevention not cure,” and have made
our intervention proposals
based on the same. Our surveys were more open-ended and
exploratory in nature to find out,
as an observer, if any issues did exist, which might not be
considered issues, as yet, by the
management. Our interventions are based on Total Quality
Management type theories for
business. It is crucial for a business, especially a customer-

centric business such as Central
Texas Fitness, to have, at the least, a member feedback system
in place. Again, the employee
evaluation system is extremely important in a business where an
employee’s, especially a
trainer’s performance decides the clients he/she gets. Lastly,
but not the least, we have made
other recommendations, purely based on customer responses,
which are by no means any less
important. However, these are purely strong suggestions and
the management and the owner
have the flexibility of prioritizing the same according to their
business convenience.
REFERENCES

Allender, H. 1995. Reengineering employee performance
appraisals the. Industrial
Management, 37(6), 10. Retrieved from Business Source
Complete database.
Ash, R., & Levine, E. 1985. Job Applicant Training and Work
Experience Evaluation: An
Empirical Comparison of Four Methods. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 70(3), 572-576.
Retrieved from Business Source Complete database.
Clausen, T., Jones, K., & Rich, J. 2008. Appraising Employee
Performance Evaluation Systems.
CPA Journal, 78(2), 64-67. Retrieved from Business Source
Complete database.
Cooper, D., & Schindler, P. 2008. Business research methods.
(10th ed.). New York: McGraw-
Hill/Irwin (Asia)
Cummings and Worley 2009. Organization Development and
Change (International Student
Edition, 9
th
Ed). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
De Knop, P., Van Hoecke, J., & De Bosscher, V. 2004. Quality
Management in Sports Clubs.

Sport Management Review (Sport Management Association of
Australia & New
Zealand), 7(1), 57-77. Retrieved from Business Source
Complete database.
Central Texas Fitness website 2010. Retrieved July 30. 2010,
from http://www.(omitted).net.
Koziel, M. 2000. Giving and Receiving Performance
Evaluations. CPA Journal, 70(12), 22.
Krug, J. 1998. Improving the performance appraisal process.
Journal of Management in
Engineering, 14(5), 19. Retrieved from Business Source
Complete database.
1997. Performance Evaluations. Journal of Accountancy,
184(4), 8. Retrieved from Business
Source Complete database.
Sauser Jr., W. 1980. Evaluating Employee Performance: Needs,
Problems and Possible

Solution
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Complete database
Smith, M. 2002. Program evaluation. In A.R. Roberts & G.J.
Greene (Eds.), Social workers’
desk reference. New York: Oxford University Press
1992. What You Choose Is What You Get. Journal of Sport
Management, 6(3), 237-238.
Yeager, K. 2002. Concepts of continuous quality improvement.
In A.R. Roberts & G.J. Greene
(Eds.), Social workers’ desk reference. New York: Oxford
University Press

Appendix A
Management Questionnaire
(Additional spaces/double-spacing deliberately omitted to
contain Appendix size)
Management Questionnaire

Central Texas Gym – Killeen, Texas
Organization Development & Change/MGMT 568
Dr. Brad Almond
Intervention Proposal
Texas A&M University-Central Texas
Meredith Reardon, Seth Daniels, and Charron Orfanides
PART I: General
1. When was your facility established and what drove that
decision?
2. Describe the type of business your gym is officially
registered under.
3. Who is your competition?
4. What do you consider your primary/target market segment?

5. What do you consider to be your competitive advantage?
6. (a) What is Central Texas Gym’s mission and strategy?
(b) What do management and staff do to incorporate that
strategy and accomplish the
mission?
7. (a) What are your short-term goals (2-5 years)?
(b) What are your most pressing issues as a manager?
(c) What are your long-term goals (5 to 10 years)?
8. What specific ideas do you have in mind to improve quality
and/or services provided?
9. Who determines the short-term and long-term goals, and the

financial and strategic
objectives for your gym?
10. Describe the personnel structure/hierarchy/rank system in
your organization and how it was
decided.
11. How many total employees do you have?
12. How many are employed full-time?
(a) What functions/positions do they fill?
(b) What is the average number of years a full-time employee
is expected to remain with
the organization?
(c)How long does a full-time employee actually stay on with
the organization?
(d) How many hours on average does a full-time employee
work per week?

13. How many part-time employees do you have?
(a) What functions/positions do they fill?
(b) What is the average number of years a part-time employee
is expected to remain
with the organization?
(c)How long does a part-time employee actually stay on with
the organization?
(d) How many hours on average does a part-time employee
work per week?
14. What qualifications must a manager or supervisor possess to
be successful in leading the
Central Texas team?
15. What minimum qualifications and certifications must
trainers and instructors possess?
(a) ISSA etc., CPR, degree

(b) If you interviewed a potential hire who is qualified in all
aspects but lacking a
particular certification or skill, is there a new-employee
training program in place that
would provide it?
(c) If so, who bears any associated costs?
16. Does existing staff receive ongoing or regular training?
(a) If so, please explain what it entails.
(b) Does it in any way target employee development and sense
of ownership among the
employees?

17. How is employee performance evaluated?
(a) What are some of the systems in place?
(b) How frequently are employees evaluated?
18. How, and how frequently, is employee satisfaction
measured?
19. (a) For day-to-day operations, is there a standard operating
procedure (SOP) in place?
(b) Does it address issues such as trainer-client interactions,
legal liability, and federal
or city code compliance?
20. What are your expectations of a manager?
21. (a) Please list your most important day-to-day
responsibilities and duties.
(b) What are your average hours worked per week?
22. Does your role as manager include the setting of goals or

targets, and planning and
implementing them? Please give some examples.
23. What information technology solutions are you utilizing in
the management and daily
operations of your facility?
24. (a) What physical security measures are in place to protect
customers?
(b) How do you ensure digital security of your customers’
data/information, e.g. how
would you handle loss of information due to a system crash?
25. If current local management leaves or changes, how is

appropriate replacement determined
and continuity ensured)?
26. How do trainers find their clients?
PART II: Day-to-day operations and interactions with members
and trainers
1. Who would be the first point of contact for someone who is
interested in becoming a Central
Texas Gym member?
(a) Please describe the process for enrolling a potential new
member.
(b) How do you usually address any customer complaints
regarding customer service
during the enrollment process, and what is management’s
approach to resolving them?
2. Imagine the following situation: a new member wants to work
with a particular trainer s-/he

has heard about but that trainer is unavailable. How do you
proceed?
3. How would you resolve issues regarding access to or time
spent on equipment, e.g. do
trainers working with clients have priority over someone who
just wants to work out on their
own?
4. (a) What measures do you have in place to try to prevent
injury or accidents to
members?
(b) What procedures are in place in case an injury or
accident occurs?

5. Who is responsible for the maintenance and cleaning of the
facility?
6. Are you inspected by an external agency for cleanliness?
7. (a) What are your zero-tolerance policies regarding trainer-
client and staff-client
interactions?
(b) How would you handle any such concern/complaint?
8. What should a customer do if she/he is dissatisfied with the
service provided by a trainer or
any employee of Central Texas Fitness?
9. Does Central Texas Fitness give special considerations or
discounts for long-time members?
Please explain your answer.
10. Do you allow for special considerations for military
personnel and their families regarding

membership contracts?
11. (a) Do you have an established complaint process in place?
(b) If so, please describe it.
12. How are issues regarding trainers’ workloads or scheduling
resolved?
13. How are trainers equipped to deal with angry customers?
Additional comments:

Appendix B
Customer Questionnaire
(Additional spaces/double-spacing deliberately omitted to
contain Appendix size)
QUESTIONNAIRE for CUSTOMERS
Of
For:
Organization Development & Change/MGMT 568
Dr. Brad Almond
Intervention Proposal
Meredith Reardon, Seth Daniels, and Charron Orfanides

Texas A&M University - Central Texas
PART I: General
1. When did you join Central Texas Fitness and what were your
primary reasons for joining the
gym?
2. What was an alternate choice of a local gym for you?
3. In your opinion, what are the competitive advantages of
Central Texas Fitness?
4. How easy or difficult did you find the process of actually
signing up and becoming a member?
Please describe the process you experienced as a potential new
member.
5. (a) What are your short-term fitness goals or most pressing
fitness concerns (3-5
months)?

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