Jonas Leisure runs virtual meetings to aid professionals during Coronavirus crisis

Jonas Leisure recently held a virtual meeting for industry professionals to discuss COVID-19 and some of the actions being adopted across the leisure industry to manage staff remotely, keep members engaged, and plan for re-building visitor numbers once the virus is under control and restrictions are lifted.

The video-conferenced ‘Coffee and Catch Up’ event was held on Thursday 26th March, attracting more than 20 leisure industry professionals who use Jonas Leisure software at their facilities.

Leisure and fitness facilities and services across Australia and New Zealand have temporarily closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 with both the Australian and New Zealand governments having declared nationwide lockdowns requiring everyone to stay at home as much as possible.

Managing workers during temporary closures

One of the immediate questions raised by the leisure facility closures has been how to manage staff. Keeping people productive while working from home isn’t always simple – in some cases workers are not enabled with technology or systems that make remote work possible, while in other cases workers have care responsibilities. What’s more, many workers aren’t easily able to work from home due to the nature of what they do – think pool lifeguards, swim teachers and personal trainers.

To overcome these challenges, many councils that manage leisure facilities are having to think outside the box.

Some of those attending the coffee session said their councils had sent questionnaires to all staff to gather an up to date picture of their current skills. Armed with this information, these councils hope to temporarily re-deploy some staff into new roles if they are unable perform their normal duties at the moment.

In many cases leisure staff are taking the time to do tasks that can still be done while facilities are closed to the public. Lifeguards are spending their time on maintenance and cleaning of pool areas, and back office staff are working to ensure all staff and customer email addresses are up to date to ensure they can be contacted promptly.

Keeping members engaged

Another major challenge during the Covid-19 closure period is keeping members motivated and on board with your facility and their own recreation or fitness goals.

Many participants at the Jonas Leisure virtual coffee session mentioned e-newsletters and SMS messages as key channels they were using to reach members, along with regular updates on their websites.

Some attendees working for universities said their institutions had set up COVID-19 update pages to make information on facility closures and study options, as well as mental health, available all in one place. These pages were being regularly updated to provide a go-to for students seeking information during the virus outbreak.

One West Australian council had forged a partnership with Les Mills to run virtual fitness classes for members. Swim Schools at the council’s facilities were also using video to provide lessons that could be done from home, such as swim stroke practice on the couch, or swimming exercises for babies that can be done in the bath.

Other steps being taken by leisure facilities included nutrition advice and virtual challenges to members and hiring out fitness gear so members could keep exercising from home.

Engagement will be particularly important given the number of leisure centre members who have suspended or even cancelled their memberships over the COVID-19 closure period.

Leisure industry insights company, Active Exchange Chief Executive, Alex Burrows shared data showing that leisure centre visits by people under the age of 40 declined more than any other age group in the weeks leading up to recent leisure centre closures. However, those aged 49-70 had been the most likely to suspend their membership once the temporary facility closures became obvious.

An attendee from a South Australian council said they were responding by stepping up communication and seeking to capture the precise reasons behind any suspension or cancellations. The council was accepting membership cancellations as a result of their facility closures but was actively promoting the option to suspend memberships as an alternative. This would make it easier for people to launch back into their recreation and fitness once facilities re-opened.

Jonas Leisure Customer Success Manager Dushayant Dhar said one of the keys to keeping members engaged throughout the closure period was to keep communicating and added “we should be looking forward but also sideways, to see what other facility managers are doing during this time. We should be having more conversations as an industry so that when we can come back online, we do it with a bang, bigger and better than before.

Bringing visitors back once facilities re-open

Getting members and visitors back through the door will be the number one focus once leisure facilities re-open following the current COVID-19 closures.

While people will be eager to return to physical activity, there will also be a period of unease as people overcome their social distancing habits that have been drummed into them over the past few weeks and re-adapt to more social modes of recreation.

Jonas Leisure Sales Manager and ALFA Queensland board member Bryn Whales noted that communication across the industry would be key. 

In particular, Whales said there was an opportunity for leisure operators to work together to tell a united story with shared messages focusing on the measures the industry had put in place to ensure the safety of leisure centre participants once doors were open again and emphasised “don’t wait until you re-open to communicate. Send a message out now.”

Jonas Leisure Professional Services Consultant Nicole McCartin highlighted the challenge some facilities would face when they sought to make large numbers of suspended memberships live again.

McCartin said there was a risk that this process may not be seamless, or that facilities might lose track of some of the money owed by members who were previously on payment plans.

This could be mitigated by having solid leisure management software in place and communicating with software providers to work out the best and most user-friendly way of re-activating memberships when facilities re-opened their doors to the public.

Click here to contact Jonas Leisure via their Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory entry.