Case Study: Fitness Australia’s Commitment to Increasing their Member Value Proposition

Fitness Australia is the peak health and fitness industry association, providing a range of support services and solutions to over 30,000 Registered Personal Trainers, Registered Fitness Instructors and fitness businesses and suppliers Australia-wide. The association recognises the growing importance of the fitness industry in Australia, both to the economy and maintaining the health and well-being of the Australian community. Fitness Australia is committed to supporting the growing innovative fitness industry that embraces knowledge sharing, professionalism and high standards of customer care and service.

CEO of Fitness Australia, Bill Moore, is a life time exerciser with over 25 years of experience in the fitness industry. “Most people want to make their hobby their profession, I was lucky enough to achieve that,” explains Bill. Having worked on both sides of the equation, from owning his own health club to working on the association side, Bill has an in-depth understanding of how associations can add the most value to members. Providing members with the greatest value proposition drives growth in the association, which helps Fitness Australia meet objectives for a Fitter, Healthier Australia.

The growth of the fitness industry over the past decade has increased the need for standards across Australia. In addition, Australia’s complex employment law landscape is challenging for any employer to navigate. These two factors make having an HR Consulting Telephone Advisory Service (TAS) line crucial for all businesses in the Fitness Industry. Therefore, providing this service to members through an association solves issues of compliance and ensuring set standards across the industry.

Cost-Effective

HR Assured’s Telephone Advisory Line was the most cost-effective, quality solution for Fitness Australia. Having tried other workplace relations advisory lines on the market, FCB offered the best value to the association. According to Bill, HR Assured is superior, “certainly in terms of cost, not a compromise in service but a lot cheaper”. Member benefits and services are a direct cost to the association, therefore finding the highest quality solution for the lowest cost is crucial. Also, staging payment over a couple of years served as an easy entry point for Fitness Australia.

Accessibility

Accessibility is key to providing members with valuable workplace relations advice. Members consistently enjoy the accessibility of HR Assured’s Telephone Advisory Line. HR Assured’s team of qualified workplace relations specialists are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to provide consistent advice to clients. “Members routinely come back receiving quality advice,” says Bill, “they come off with a great breadth of knowledge”.

Bill himself enjoys this feature, “I love that I can get off work at 7 O’clock and call Wes (Workplace Relations and Advisory Manager at HR Assured) and receive advice I know is best practice. HR Assured is highly professional, we receive a review each month, and the professionalism of Wes is what really speaks volumes”.

Quality

Fitness Australia is a national organisation, therefore it covers businesses of various shapes and sizes across multiple States and Territories. Association members vary from mom and pop shop to large franchise health clubs with hundreds of employees. Therefore, association members need workplace relations advice tailored to their specific jurisdiction and unique needs. Fitness Australia delivers tailored solutions to its members through HR Assured’s Telephone Advisory line, so members receive quality and relevant advice whenever they need it. Bill explains, “We are a national organisation. Things are so different for each state and business. There is lots of complexity”.

Also, providing an HR consulting line inevitably creates a relationship between Fitness Australia and the HR managers. Bill enjoys the fact that, “I know that I can call up at any time and get advice that is consistent with the advice that is given to the members”.

Relationship with the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO)

“HR Assured has been great facilitating our relationship with the FWO,” says Bill. A number of Fitness Australia’s members are franchisors, therefore recent proposed legislations changes including the Protection of Vulnerable Workers Bill have been of particular interest. According to Bill, “In terms challenges, the issues around liability of franchisors are front and centre for our industry. HR Assured are very good with that”. After attending one of HR Assured’s informative Breakfast Briefing sessions which featured a Fair Work Ombudsman guest speaker, HR Assured facilitated a workshop for Fitness Australia’s members.

“This one of the great things about HR Assured, they are proactively improving the value proposition for our members”

Savings for members

Through providing a 24/7 Telephone Advisory Service to members, Fitness Australia offers a proactive tool to save on thousands of dollars in fines. Bill recalls one instance when one of his members was fined over $40,000 due to an argument over the intellectual problem of a brand name. “If she had just picked up the phone and called HR Assured, the whole situation would have been avoided and she would still have that $40,000 in her pocket” says Bill. For this reason, Bill encourages members to call HR Assured’s Telephone Advisory Service.

“When you need it, you really need it. We like to think that we have our members covered in terms of HR advice and legal services also”.

Continuous improvement of the Value Proposition

Continuous improvement of their value proposition to members is Fitness Australia’s primary objective. Keeping members engaged in the association creates a high standard across the fitness industry in Australia, which contributes to the overall health and well-being of the nation. “HR Assured underpins some of the principle elements of our value proposition”, says Bill. “I think legal hotlines are arguably the greatest benefit because the ability to be able to pick up the phone for 20 minutes and get workplace relations advice for free, I mean what’s that worth? The amount of money you can save in cost is exponential.”