Anonymous
Forum Replies Created
-
In reply to: Grip Strips on Steps of Pool Slides
Jamie,
My recommendation would be paint like this: https://slipdoctors.com/collections/anti-slip-products/products/non-slip-epoxy-paint
Good luck!
In reply to: Lifeguard Shortages
Fortunately I am doing pretty well on staffing levels. One huge help has been a shift leader that is a teacher. He is a great recruiter for us. Can you get your current staff to recruit their friends? Or find a way into the school to draw attention to the opportunity.
When we really had a shortage in 2017 we started helping staff cover the cost of certification and that really helped. We started with free certification, then transitioned to where we are now with staff paying $45 to cover the Red Cross fee plus a few bucks to help cover the cost of materials. If you don’t already do this, is that something your City would support? When the class was free, we had no-shows. I think the $45 fee is a nice compromise where the applicant has some buy-in but it’s not as big of a barrier to work as a $200 class.
Good luck!
In reply to: Private Swim Lessons
We do it two different ways in Ames: scheduled private lessons and unscheduled private lessons. The scheduled lessons are similar to group lessons – advertised as a session and signup available through our registration software. Typically a session is 4 lessons but it can vary depending on the situation.
The other option is to fill out a request form. We match with an instructor and they coordinate lesson times. They can set it up lesson by lesson or start with a commitment of several lessons and go from there. Typically these private lessons are offered during our open swim times.
Either way, the fee is the same – $27 per 30-minute lesson.
In reply to: Lifeguard Fees
In 2017 we were in dire need of guards. We switched from staff paying full price ($190) to offering it for free. In 2019 we transitioned to staff covering the Red Cross cert fee. This year we are going to staff paying $45 to cover the cert fee plus materials (essentially paying for the PPE they use in class).
I know we gained some staff who would have otherwise not be able to accept the job due to the upfront cost of certification. I did not see any negative effects from asking them to pay for their direct costs. When classes were free we had a number of no-shows and even had to cancel a class once because we only had two people show up. When I tried to follow up, several never replied and a few said they decided to take another job because they could start working sooner. I think we’re at a happy medium now where we’re both invested.
Our finance department does not like to do payroll deductions for things like this so we had to find another way.
