Parents Gym/Coach Performance Review Process?

[H.J.]

Would like to know if and how your gyms go about giving parents (and gymnasts, for that matter) a chance to provide feedback in any sort of formal way, like an annual survey or something like that. I so wish our gym would send out a satisfaction/health-of-the-organization survey of some kind. There's never been any kind of review process that I know of -- but maybe that's the norm? I can imagine 1000 reasons a gym wouldn't want to do this since it can just become a dumping ground for sour grapes and complaints (i.e., my suzie-doesn't-get-enough-attention-this-and-that) ... but still. A survey can be written in a way to solicit feedback on what they're doing well along with potential weaknesses. So just curious -- any experience with or examples of how this might work?

 

[ProudDad]

Our gym has no formal process outside of having an 1 on 1 with the coach, and if that doesn't resolve it can escalate to the owner - if its still a problem you either accept it the way it is or vote with your wallet. There is no perfect gym (or gym family) and no way to please everyone, so there will always be room for improvement - that said I feel the gym DD attends is generally responsive to respectful and reasonable requests/concerns.

 

[Scotsgirl]

Dd came home the other night and said she will be getting a report card every month to bring home , dd is 8 and trains for 14 hours a week and I think this is a great idea as they have my daughter for many hours a week so will be nice to know how she is getting on . We are in Scotland and never get to see them train I think its unheard of here to watch the kids train .

I asked dd what the report card is for and she said its to show if they have met their targets and how they are coping with conditioning etc .

 

[3gymgirlsmom]

Dd came home the other night and said she will be getting a report card every month to bring home , dd is 8 and trains for 14 hours a week and I think this is a great idea as they have my daughter for many hours a week so will be nice to know how she is getting on . We are in Scotland and never get to see them train I think its unheard of here to watch the kids train .

I asked dd what the report card is for and she said its to show if they have met their targets and how they are coping with conditioning etc .

Love this idea , but not sure the coaches have time for it

 

[Scotsgirl]

There is also a score sheet put up and the girls all get a number at the end of each night, 5 being the lowest and 1 being the highest , the scores go towards the gymnast of the month award , I think this is great for motivating the girls and helping them achieve their goals .

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I think you would be hard pressed to find any gyms that do this.

 

[gymgal]

Our gym has done it in the past. I honestly can't remember how often though. I don't think it is annually, unless I just have chosen not to fill it out that often because I think I would remember writing it out each time. questions like the 5 or 10 point scales with how satisfied you are with various aspects of the gym, personnel, etc. Then more questions with write in responses. I found it very helpful way to give my input without a formal meeting.

 

[H.J.]

Our gym has done it in the past. I honestly can't remember how often though. I don't think it is annually, unless I just have chosen not to fill it out that often because I think I would remember writing it out each time. questions like the 5 or 10 point scales with how satisfied you are with various aspects of the gym, personnel, etc. Then more questions with write in responses. I found it very helpful way to give my input without a formal meeting.

That's exactly what I'd like to see our gym do. I know in a world where grown-ups talk to grown-ups in grown-up ways if/when problems or issues arise such a thing wouldn't be be necessary but it just seems like a good idea to give everyone (parents) a chance to just let them (the gym) know what the general vibe/attitude is. Not just negative but positive too. (For that matter, the gym could fill out surveys on each parent to let the parents know what the gym's attitude toward them are. )

 

[Gymmommy71]

It would be nice, but no - no gym that I know of asks parents/gymnasts for feedback about that stuff. Sadly, I think the primary way that owners/coaches find out that their customers aren't happy is when they leave the gym. Some parents may make an attempt to complain/discuss things before leaving, but many don't. I think for every parent that actually goes out on a limb complains about something, there are usually 5 or more that are upset about the same thing.

And honestly, I think in my area being seen as a chronic complainer parent has worse of a stigma than it is to be seen as a gym hopper. So everyone smiles and acts like they are happy all the time, then boom! next thing you know the season ends and you hear about how so and so has switched to the gym down the street and it's a complete shock .

 

[duyetanh]

No gyms in our area do it, and I can't imagine them doing it either. It would be interesting though to see what peeps wrote if it was anonymous...

 

[Gymbee06]

Dd came home the other night and said she will be getting a report card every month to bring home , dd is 8 and trains for 14 hours a week and I think this is a great idea as they have my daughter for many hours a week so will be nice to know how she is getting on . We are in Scotland and never get to see them train I think its unheard of here to watch the kids train .

I asked dd what the report card is for and she said its to show if they have met their targets and how they are coping with conditioning etc .

Not unheard of both gyms my daughter goes to parents can watch as little or as much previous gym we were at only allowed watching a couple of times a year, one of the gyms we go to does a tick sheet for skills

 

[kitkat]

Our gym does an annual survey. They ask about the facilities, the office staff, the coaches and your satisfaction in general. It's about 10 guestions in total and under each section there is a comment section. It done through monkey survey.

We also get a report card at the end of the year. At our new gym it's about attitude, attendance, ability and listed a couple of skills.
Our old gym had a very comprehensive report card. Skills they have now to fill their current level and skills they are working on in their next level.

I also have one on ones with the coach at least 3-4 times a year.

Awesome communication.

 

[JessSyd]

My daughter's gym does it annually. Like the previous poster's gym they use Survey Monkey so it can be completed online anonymously. I enjoy filling it out but that is because I really only have nice things to say.

 

[TOPSmom715]

Our gym doesn't do a survey but we have an anonymous question box for any concerns that parents may have.

 

[HoldThePhone]

I used to manage a sports program (not gymnastics) and a few times a year, at the end of a session, I'd give surveys to the parents. It had them rate everything from the cleanliness of the facility, to the instructor and other staff. They could choose to be anonymous, but if they put their name on it, they received a $10 credit for a future session. No names were ever shared with my instructors, but I went over everything with them. If there was a common remark, there was likely some vailidity to it, whether the instructor and I agreed with it or not. It was a great way to make sure we were all doing what we needed to do, and be there for our customers.

I so WISH gyms would do this. I don't know why gyms seem to be such an exception when it comes to normal business practices. Communication is often across the board, terrible. It'd be nice to feel like a place I entrust my kid to for so many hours, cares about what the people paying them think. Good, or bad.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

I so WISH gyms would do this. I don't know why gyms seem to be such an exception when it comes to normal business practices. Communication is often across the board, terrible. It'd be nice to feel like a place I entrust my kid to for so many hours, cares about what the people paying them think. Good, or bad.

I was just talking to my dh about this tonight and I totally agree. After tons of changes and rumors and just general unhappiness around the gym from the parents, we finally were granted a team meeting last week with one of the head coaches. It went exactly like I expected. No real attempt to understand the parents concerns, but rather just a general explanation that they were "working on" some of the concerns,that "sometimes things just happen" and that basically they have a lot going on with the higher level girls and once Easterns and Nationals are done, then they would be able to start working on our issues. One of the concerns is the fact that we will start a new schedule next month and they will not even hint at what it will be. I do understand that scheduling can be a challenge, but it's the expectation that no matter what schedule they come up, the parents will just make it work that bothers me. With a week or two notice. It really makes me angry. It's like they think they are doing us a favor. I also get the feeling that they could care less whether the girls at our level stay or go, which bothers me. I don't know many other businesses that can get away with the lack of communication and just general unprofessional business practices like they can.

 

[bookworm]

I think you would be hard pressed to find any gyms that do this.

I agree....I have never seen it in all my years in gymnastics, nor have I ever heard of it at other gyms. Heck if you're the gym owner, you've got people streaming through the door for rec and teams ( and some places with waiting lists), why would you solicit any type of negative feedback? I'd figure if you didn't like my gym, you'd leave but you're here and continuing to pay, you must be happy...

 

[wgagym]

I have done it a few times. I send out a quick survey monkey. But we have been moving and growing at a very fast pace. Went from 1500 sq feet to 11,000 in four year and me running all classes to over 20 coaches so parent feedback was important to make sure we continued in the right direction. Now that we are more solid I probably won't do it unless I feel like there is a problem that needs to be addressed.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

One of the concerns is the fact that we will start a new schedule next month and they will not even hint at what it will be. I do understand that scheduling can be a challenge, but it's the expectation that no matter what schedule they come up, the parents will just make it work that bothers me. With a week or two notice. It really makes me angry. .

We had team meetings and huge discussions in June about what the fall hours would be at our old gym. We had to do certain summer hours based on the decisions we made about the fall. Come the end of August, we were told of schedule change for Sept. Not the hours and days we agreed to. Coach got snarky and said these are the hours and they are pretty much the same no matter where you go.

We moved to our current gym less then a week later. And they cost my kid a season, because she didn't train over the summer at our now gym. Three yrs later I'm mostly over it