Hiring And Firing

Whether through sheer dumb luck, good looks or actually being good at what I do, I now find myself in a position where I'm responsible for a whole department at work. Basically, I'm tasked at heading up and coordinating a whole horde of Fitness Instructors as well as managing the gamut of classes we run at the Health Club. It's an interesting role and a not-at-all-insignificant step from being the plain Ass Whipper and Door Bitch that was yours truly's previous job description.

Being the Coordinator is fun work and one of the most enjoyable things about this new role is being able to hire new employees. It's empowering to have the ability to bring in new talent on board and provide someone that much-needed opportunity. I know from previous experiences of looking for employment, it's often a daunting task to front up and go through interviews hoping to land that job you're applying for. It's nice - and surreal - to be on the other side of that.

But there's also the flip side; the worst thing about this job. And that also involves dealing with employees but in this case, instead of hiring them, I'm firing them. Fortunately, I haven't had to do many of these but the very first time that I had the responsibility to do so didn't pan out so well.

An Instructor that had been at the Club for a number of years had been on the receiving end of some very negative feedback for several months. Basically, the poor girl is no longer motivating nor inspiring in her classes to the point that attendances in her sessions have dropped from twenty per class to four, the latter being her die-hard groupies. Several attempts at coaching and training didn't improve her lacklustre performance and when it was time to let her know that she was being dropped, she instigated a boycott which affected not only the Club but several other employees. She got very bitter, very quickly, and attacked yours truly personally for something that was done solely in the name of business and without a personal agenda. Anyway, that whole sorry saga is now sorted and last I heard, that particular Instructor has also been dropped at other Centres for her divisive attitude. I think she's a check-out chick now.

Anyway, so it was with some trepidation that I had to do the same thing again this week and let someone else know that we're no longer needing his services. Agonizing all week at the best way to approach the issue, I almost worked myself into a state and even started feeling ill at the thought of having to do it. When the time finally came and I sat the Instructor aside for "the chat", I mumbled so much that it was surprising that the guy actually understood what I had said. In fact, he felt so sorry for me that he started apologising - the person who was firing him! In the end, it worked out that he already knew what was coming and was only waiting for me to do something. He thanked me for giving him the opportunity to work at the Club and also for being so considerate of his feelings. When he came in today for his final session, he even brought in a cake to celebrate. How nice is that?!

So, yes, this job is definitely fun and sometimes, it proves to be very interesting.

And as for Instructor, well, I'll definitely be sorry to see his arse go, and I mean that literally. The guy teaches Cycle and has buns the shape of peaches. Now that he's no longer an employee, I wonder if he's single.............