Today, it can be difficult to scroll through social media pages without seeing fitness-related posts. From friends sharing their fitness journeys and gym selfies to celebrities practicing yoga with a beautiful view, the wellness trend in Indonesia continues to thrive. According to the Global Wellness Institute, Indonesia’s wellness economy, including the fitness sector, is ranked #19 out of 218 countries worldwide and valued at $36.4B, making Indonesia the leader in the South East Asia region. This number is believed to have risen in the wake of the increasing healthy lifestyle awareness, with more businesses coming into the market.
One example is FIT HUB, a technology-driven health and wellness company that was just founded in August 2020 during such a challenging time, yet it is able to not only maintain but also expand its offline fitness centers to 50 branches across 15 cities by the end of 2022. The company’s team has grown massively and today is made up of nearly 400 employees in a diverse range of roles, from personal trainers and apps engineers to sales and club staff. But with this growth also comes challenges.
As we are expanding quickly, we find it a bit challenging to acquire new experienced and knowledgeable talent in the tight fitness labor market. Hence, how successfully we navigate this challenge largely depends on creating a strong employee value proposition which puts us in a unique position to compete in the talent war with both mega and small boutique gyms
- Raditya Wicaksono, People Operations Lead at FIT HUB.
Raditya explained that while compensation and benefits remain critical components, culture has become an increasingly important factor in attracting and retaining top talent in the fitness sector. In the old days, he elaborated, people might be able to tolerate a toxic culture and stick around as long as they are getting paid. But now, as times have changed, when people are not happy or engaged they will leave. The sentiment was evident in a study by FlexJobs showing the number one reason people quit their job was toxic company culture.
When it comes to employee wellbeing strategy, many employers focus on employees’ health benefits. But to FIT HUB, employee wellbeing is much more than just improving employees’ physical health. Raditya said FIT HUB chooses to focus on several pillars of wellbeing for a more holistic approach that benefits their people including their mental, physical, social, and financial health conditions. He believes employee wellbeing contributes to higher levels of productivity and engagement as many studies have proved.
As a business that provides other companies with access to the physical health pillar of wellbeing, we are also committed to our own employee wellbeing. Obviously, our employees have free access to a gym membership at all FIT HUB’s clubs in any city. We also have a program called ‘Bonding Session’, in which employees are given a certain budget that can be used to hang out with their teammates outside of work,"
- Raditya Wicaksono, People Operations Lead at FIT HUB.
adding such a program is a great way to help employees get to know each other while sharing ideas and laughter.
Financial wellness is another key pillar that FIT HUB is thoughtfully focused on as employee financial stress has far-reaching effects far beyond the employees’ personal lives, impacting the employers’ bottom line from business productivity and attendance at work, to employee retention and engagement. For that reason, Raditya said, FIT HUB has partnered with wagely since last year to roll out a financial wellness platform that lets its employees access their earned salary whenever needed.
We understand a monthly pay cycle can be challenging for employees, depending on their current living situations. Those living paycheck to paycheck can’t afford unexpected expenses, some might fall into the costly trap of illegal pinjol, and the others are sandwich generations who are taking care of both children and parents. By offering wagely, our employees get to eliminate the need to rely on the traditional monthly payroll cycle and the platform also provides tools to educate and increase the financial literacy of our employees,"
- Raditya Wicaksono, People Operations Lead at FIT HUB.
As a result, not only FIT HUB has a very low employee turnover rate and high levels of employee satisfaction but also did receive great feedback from employees who instantly embraced the benefit of earned wage access. One came from Naufal Maulidza, a personal trainer at FIT HUB’s Menara Duta club. The 23-year-old man, who has been with the company for two years, said that using wagely over the last year has helped him save more money and live debt-free.
Every payday, I set aside my money for savings first. I will always try my best to not dip into savings, which is why I would withdraw my earned salary through the wagely app if unexpected expenses may show up, for example, when I had to go see a doctor some time ago,"
- Naufal Maulidza, Personal Trainer at FIT HUB’s Menara Duta
adding that the withdrawal process was very easy and super fast - less than a minute. He also said the financial tips provided via the education page within the app were really helpful for beginners to learn about money management.
In addition to implementing wagely, FIT HUB offers employees a suite of benefits including health insurance, performance incentives such as commission and bonus, and career development opportunities, among other essential benefits. “At FIT HUB, we believe that behind a happy gym member experience is an inspiring employee experience, and therefore we will always try our best to create a working environment that supports our employees, listen, and respond appropriately to the challenges they face both inside the workplace and outside,” Raditya concluded.