Selecting a Discount Fitness Club Network

If your needs assessment indicates that a discount fitness club Network (DFCN) would be a useful service for your employees, the next step is to identify a fitness club network that suits your needs. Also, if you have few or only one employee location, you may consider an arrangement with one or more specific fitness clubs or chains instead of a large network.

Selecting a DFCN includes the following activities and considerations:

Determining Selection Criteria

Decide what DFCN qualities are important to your organization. For example, if you want the DFCN to help you with the evaluation, be sure to include that in the selection criteria and agreement. Below are some sample questions to ask that will help determine your selection criteria:

What discount level is of interest to our employees?
Will the employer or employees pay for the service or memberships?
What geographic locations must be included in the network service area to meet the needs of our employees?
Should the service be made available to only regular (e.g., non-contractor, full-time) employees or should we include other types of employees (e.g., contractors or fellows, retirees or adult family members)?
What scope of services is required to meet the needs of our employees?
Is it important to require a special Web page and/or telephone number for our employees?
What scope of services is required to meet the needs of our program (e.g., administrative duties, customer service, usage data, promotional programs and materials)?
Will the DFCN provider collect utilization data and provide periodic reports?
Will the fitness club network provider require a minimum number of participating employees?
What quality standards must the network meet?

Conducting a DFCN Search

After you’ve identified key criteria for a DFCN, it is important to seek the assistance of your human resources, contract, or legal department to conduct a proper search for the right DFCN. If you determine that there are no internal procurement or ethical requirements, the following resources might help you identify appropriate DFCNs for consideration:

Internet search
Work site health promotion organizations or coalitions
Your employee benefits manager

Selecting a DFCN

Once you have identified all available DFCNs, apply your criteria identified above to select the appropriate DFCN for your agency/company within the procurement and ethic rules and regulations for your organization.

Next Steps

During the planning phase, you can begin developing a communication plan for promoting the launch of your DFCN and maintaining employee interest in it.

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