The Dangers Of Poor YMCA Employee Training

Upon hire, every new YMCA employee is required to take a certain amount of training. The training varies by job, but it’s a known fact that training is part of the deal if you want to work at the Y. It probably goes without saying that not everyone loves to go through employee training, but what no one ever talks about is whether or not the training is actually any good. And since Ys rely heavily on employees to engage with the community and, in many cases, keep members and program participants safe, good training isn’t just necessary—it’s vital. Today, we’re going to look at what can happen if your YMCA employee training is anything less than outstanding.

Unsafe Work Environment

It’s no surprise that untrained workers are more susceptible to injuries and workplace dangers than those who have undergone rigorous training. Simply put, if your Y employees don’t have the skills and knowledge required to safely perform their jobs, they are putting themselves and everyone around them in danger. While safety is perhaps less of an issue for the person working the front desk, proper YMCA training is vital for sports camp employees and lifeguards, when a mistake can be fatal.

Unhappy Employees

We know that YMCA employees work hard, are proud to represent the Y, and help their communities. And like employees at every organization around the world, Y employees take pride in doing a good job and being recognized for their hard work and dedication. But all of these things are hard to achieve when they’re not properly trained (or if they’re not trained at all). When Y employees are happy, everything will run more smoothly, and management can focus on other things. Not giving employees the tools they need to be successful in their job leads to low morale, high levels of work-related stress, poor performance, and unhappy workers, all of which results in turnover (a different but very costly problem).

Lack of Production

It goes without saying that when YMCA employees don’t know how to perform the jobs well, production will decrease. This happens for a number of reasons: Untrained Y employees may feel hopeless in their jobs and lose interest or they may spend more time asking for help than actually working. Worse yet, they may perform so poorly that errors and injuries occur. Along the same lines, managers and other YMCA employees with more experience are unable to concentrate on their job duties because they’re forced to spend so much time helping the untrained workers. Simply put, employees who lack proper training are not motivated to perform because they lack the ability to do their jobs. And when YMCA employees underperform, members won’t reach their full potential and our impact on the community is lessened.

Lost Members and Program Participants

There’s a common saying among YMCA executive leadership: “If you don’t feed the staff, they’ll eat the members.” This theory can be applied to many facets, including employee training programs. From day one, untrained employees are unable to perform their jobs in the manner that is expected. Poorly trained employees can’t produce high-quality products, professionally represent your Y, or help better the community. Which means they probably aren’t providing the expected level of service to members and program participants. And when your employees aren’t serving your members, it’s inevitable that you’ll start hearing from unhappy members or losing participants altogether.

Turnover

We mentioned it before, but turnover is a big problem for YMCAs that don’t properly train their employees. When employees quit, you have to replace them—on top of hiring seasonal employees and filling any new positions that are created. Every time an employee leaves, you’re basically starting over from scratch, which is frustrating, time consuming, and costly. Additionally, if word spreads that no one wants to work at your Y, your reputation may be damaged in the community. One simple way to cut down on employee turnover is to implement a strong YMCA training program that teaches employees what they need to know to succeed in their jobs.

Poor employee training not only leads to diminished morale, it impacts the safety and satisfaction of your members and program participants. If your YMCA training plan is lacking structure or the right training materials, there’s no time like today to update your employee training process.