Developing An Organizational Development Plan For Lonsdale Fitness

SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis consists of four main areas including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis of Lonsdale Fitness has been taken into consideration here.

The biggest strength of Lonsdale Fitness is that this is a very fast growing company in the country. The company is giving many additional facilities to its customers like free parking, free Wi-Fi facilities and the fitness centre remains open for 24/7 access (Dao and Vu 2016). The dance and yoga classes are bringing in more women customers in the gym. The location of the center is in itself its biggest strength. The cost of doing exercise is also very less and affordable (Muennig and Bounthavong 2016).

Since the gym is very popular, it remains overcrowded all the time. New people hardly get the opportunity to do their exercise under a trainer as they are engaged. The staffs are very rude to the customers. This has created resentment among the customers. The fitness center is not properly maintained for a long period (Fritz et al. 2014). The washrooms are not very clean. The music which runs in the center is not properly selected.

There are many opportunities for the fitness center. The center is located in the area where there are a number of hotels, business parks and supermarkets as well. The gym goers do not like to drive for more than 10 miles for exercise (Chan 2014). This is an opportunity for them to attract more customers in the fitness center. The fitness center can make proper utilization of other promotional tools like banners, advertisements in the newspapers and in radio.  

Many renowned fitness institutes in the industry are able to generate more revenues (Kim and Mauborgne 2014). They are having up-to-date equipments. Lonsdale fitness has the greatest disadvantage of having very less franchises all over the country. The competitors of Lonsdale sell various nutritional products and various items of retail sports from their centers for generation of more revenue. Lonsdale is not so much ahead of them. Another threat comes from unfavorable government policies, downturn in the economy that can have adverse effects on the spending of the consumers. New competitors are emerging around the same location where the center of Lonsdale is situated.

The change has become inevitable due to various reasons. The behaviors of the staff were not good. Complaints were coming from them on a regular basis. On the other hand, Lonsdale fitness did not have many franchises in the country. They were needed to expand their business and also revenue. Lonsdale wanted to enhance brand loyalty and attract more customers. So, they have opted to bring in these changes in the organization.   

This organizational development will help the company in business expansion and increase the brand awareness. This would lead to generation of more revenue. The centralized decision-making will help to operate the centers in different locations effectively (Hrebiniak 2013). There will be uniformity in all the branches. The vision of the company remains focused. There is a chance of faster execution of all activities. Conflicts among the heads of different franchises may be drastically reduced through the centralization process. The top management, taking the initiatives and implementing the critical decisions, tends to reduce the burden of others (Wu, Ellram and Schuchard 2014).

Strengths

Some people will never respond to change management, to be implemented in any organization. In this scenario, some trainers from some franchises might have the chance to resist these changes. The management should look into the root cause of the resistance. The trainers feel that they create better routines than the people at the head-office do. The management should discuss with them and try to mitigate the issue. They should be made to realize the importance of change management. The trainers must take into account one fact that work will be much smoother because of centralized decisions and there will be no conflict.  

Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder Name	Awareness H/M/L	Degree of Support or Challenge	Influence H/M/L	Plan for greater support
Trainers	H	I would expect great support from them.	H	Meetings will be held every month with the trainers and all kinds of support will be provided to them.
Front Desk employees	H	I would expect good behaviour from them.	H	Compensation will be provided to them as per their service.

Stakeholder group	What?	When?	Format	Means of delivery and recording
Government	It should be communicated that the company will be opening more franchises in other places.	It is to be communicated before opening the fitness center in other areas so that the government can check whether the policies and procedures have been followed.	It needs to be communicated in form of writing to the government officials (Lundgren and McMakin 2013).	It should be delivered in hard copy and let the others know by giving advertisements in television and newspapers.
Employees	The employees in the existing branches need to be communicated about the change management.	The employees need to be communicated about the change management before making any official announcement.	They should be communicated in person, over phone, in writing and in the social group in social media like Facebook. There can be another option of holding meetings and letting them know.	The employees will come know that over phone, social media or in person.
Investors	The investors will be the first stakeholder who needs to know about the change to be implemented. An expansion program of a fitness center needs to know about this strategy since he will be planning for proper allocation of funds.	The investors should be communicated when the top management has already taken the decision.	The investors need to be communicated over email, in writing or through holding of meetings. This may include soft copy as well as hard copy.	The mean of delivery will be over phone, mail or in meetings.
Suppliers	The suppliers need to intimated that Lonsdale will be diversifying their business and the suppliers need to provide more equipments.	The suppliers will be communicated after the decision has been finalized and the investors have agreed to make further investments.	The suppliers will be communicated over email, phone and in writing. It includes both soft and hard copy (Bloomfield and Antopholi 2015).	The means of communication will be email, phone and in person.
Opposition	They will be communicated that the company is going for diversification.	It is to communicated when the decision has been taken.	The format will be either over phone or through mail.	The mode of delivery will be hardcopy, email or meetings.
Family and friends	The friends and family members of the customers or then employees will be able to know that Lonsdale will be opening its centers in other areas.	The friends and families of the employees or the customers will be intimated after the decision of diversification has been taken.	Format in this case can be soft copy as well as hard copy.	They will be communicated over phone, SMS, in person, social groups in social media, banners, signage or in magazines.

The government officials need to be trained properly to let them know about the policies and procedures of opening a gym or a fitness center. Sometimes, they do not have the adequate knowledge about the legal issues of a fitness center.

The employees of the center need to be trained to properly behave with the customers, to keep the center clean and look after the equipments.

The investors need proper training in order to allocate the money properly in different segments like equipment, building materials and purchase of other resources.

Training should be given to the suppliers so that they can provide the equipments and other resources on time and maintain their qualities.  

The opposition of the center needs training about how and when to raise issues in the meetings when there is any illegal activities being carried out.

The friends and family members of the employees need to be trained about the usage of new fitness equipments and the different types of yoga to be practiced at home.

The development of the training activities include showing the employees about how and when to use the first aid if anyone gets hurt in case of any emergency. The training activities will also include arranging seminars for demonstration of how to behave with the customers, how to do exercises, how to ensure the safety rules and showing alternative ways of doing exercise. The investors will be invited for a separate session where different financial analysts will sort out the best ways for allocation of money.

Separate interactive sessions will be arranged for the employees, investors, friends and family members and leaflets will be distributed to them where everything will be there in writing. People will be trained through online media also. Awareness about the proper usage of fitness equipment will be ensured through the supply of soft copy as well as hard copy materials.

Stakeholder Group	Known Concerns (Suspected basis for resistance – if any)	Response to concerns
Government	The government might raise questions about the policies and procedures being met properly or not (Dunn 2015).	The government should be made to believe that Lonsdale has followed the norms and procedures.
Employees	The employees may feel they will be neglected or may be retrenched. In that case, there is a possibility of agitation from the employees.	The management of Lonsdale must organize meetings with the employees and assure them that their job will be secured and will be paid the appropriate remuneration.
Investors	The major concern can be because of the investors who might not be ready for any further investment.	The management needs to make the investors feel that they will able to generate more revenue.
Suppliers	The suppliers may not be ready for immediate supply of instruments and the problem lies there. In the absence of proper instruments, it will be difficult to start the new branches.	The suppliers need to be intimated at a very early stage so that they get the enough time for the supply of the equipments according to the order. Any problem based on the quotation about the cost of equipments needs to be solved at the earliest by discussing with them.
Opposition	The opposition is the stakeholder who is at the forefront for opposing anything that the management will decide.	The top management of Lonsdale needs to hold meetings with the opposition and make them believe that this change management strategy will be beneficial to everyone associated with Lonsdale.
Family and friends	The friends and family members of the employees may agitate with the issue that they need to be inducted for some positions in Lonsdale fitness center. Another concern can be about the area of set up.	The management must bring in some policies that will prevent the friends and family members of the employees to get into the management or any other positions in the company.

Management position	Proposed Supporting Actions
Owner	The owner invites support from the different types of stakeholders. He wants all the employees from different franchises to work as a team to accomplish the common goal. The owner might also request all the employees to keep the center clean and behave properly with the customers.
Senior Manager	The senior manager wants support from the employees and the investors so that the new franchises can be operated smoothly.
Investors	The investors may want support from the employees and friends for some sort of donations in the center so that their burden is eased to some extent.

Communication and Training Strategy	Stakeholder Target	Skill required/exists	Timing	Purpose	Method
The owner needs to be communicated to improve his interpersonal skills.	Owner	Good interpersonal skills and analytical skills.	3 hours per day	He can interact with the employees of different branches and there is a smooth flow of information.	The probable method can be arranging sessions with the owner.
The training needs to be given by top financial analysts of big institutions.	Investors	He should have knowledge of risk assessment and proper allocation of funds.	2 hours per day	The investors will be able to assess the amount of money needed for the investment.	There will be seminars with the investors.

Department	Existing policy	Change to policy	Timing: Urgent Medium Low	Purpose	Training or information required
Top Management	The existing policy is managing only one center.	The new policy will be a centralized decision-making.	Medium	To make the business bigger and integrating all the functions.	He must know about the ways to control many franchises from a single position.
Trainers	The timing of the trainers is 7 hours per day.	The policy needs to be changed	Urgent	New instruments have to be inducted in the new branches. The trainers must work for one more hour and get trained themselves with the instruments.	The trainer must be accustomed with the rules and procedures of exercise.
Front desk	The current policies may be about offering salary to the employees or interacting with the customers.	The changed policy may include a hike in the salary of the employees and good behaviors with the customers.	Medium	This initiative is due to establishment of good relations with the customers to turn them into loyal.	The front desk employees need to given trainings about customer relationship management.

The risk response plan helps in mitigating the different types of risks associated with a fitness center. Any new initiatives from a fitness center would involve risks whether it is from the cost of implementation or any other outlays. The risk management plan needs to be used along with a risk register (Pritchard and PMP 2014). The risk register is used as a log to jot down the risks, to be identified by the company.  The probabilities of risk will be identified, their consequences need to be assessed and countermeasures need to be planned.

The sources of uncertainty can be inefficient and ineffective human resource management, inability to attract high quality trainers, unable to attract more customers in the new branches and the probability of the center to meet the objectives as stated (Booth 2015).

There are opportunities for promoting the change using the various marketing tools. The different types of threats need to be considered and ways need to be found out to mitigate the risks.

A new team is to be built who can communicate with the trainers, the front desk employees and with the customers in person, through mail or over phone.

They will be interacted in person, as it is the best way to convince them about the changes.

The potential users will be asked to provide their feedbacks through questionnaires and reviews in the social media.

I shall ask the groups to provide their reviews in social media groups, over mails or creating a website for lodging any complaints or requesting any modifications.

References

Bloomfield, M.C., Antopholi Software, Llc, 2015. Facsimile to E-mail communication system with local interface. U.S. Patent 8,941,888.

Booth, S.A., 2015. Crisis management strategy: Competition and change in modern enterprises. Routledge.

Chan, P., 2014. Barriers and facilitators for physical activity and exercise among adult Indian American women in central Texas (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas School of Public Health).

Dao, N.L. and Vu, A., 2016. Customers’ purchasing behaviour between Airbnb and hostels when travelling to Helsinki.

Dunn, W.N., 2015. Public policy analysis. Routledge.

Fritz, T., Huang, E.M., Murphy, G.C. and Zimmermann, T., 2014, April. Persuasive technology in the real world: a study of long-term use of activity sensing devices for fitness. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 487-496). ACM.

Hrebiniak, L.G., 2013. Making strategy work: Leading effective execution and change. FT Press.

Kim, W.C. and e Mauborgne, R., 2014. Blue ocean strategy, expanded edition: How to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant. Harvard business review Press.

Lundgren, R.E. and McMakin, A.H., 2013. Risk communication: A handbook for communicating environmental, safety, and health risks. John Wiley & Sons.

Muennig, P. and Bounthavong, M., 2016. Cost-effectiveness analysis in health: a practical approach. John Wiley & Sons.

Pritchard, C.L. and PMP, P.R., 2014. Risk management: concepts and guidance. CRC Press.

Wu, Z., Ellram, L.M. and Schuchard, R., 2014. Understanding the role of government and buyers in supplier energy efficiency initiatives. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 50(2), pp.84-105.