Half Your Team Will Be Gone By Next June (Unless You Fix These 5 Things)

And when a new team member starts and hears, "Oh yeah, you'll probably be here for a couple weeks," that's not just bad culture. That's a death spiral.

But here's the good news: retention isn't mysterious. There are five strategic pillars that keep top talent. And if you're not getting the retention you want, you can diagnose exactly which pillar needs work.

Why Retention Matters (More Than You Think)

Before we get to the how, let's be clear on the why. There are five critical reasons retention should be a top priority:

1. Institutional Knowledge

I've got team members like Eric Disco and Matt Limo. A lot of what we've built over the years came from them or with their help. If they were to exit, that creates a challenge.

You probably have people like that too. People who know how things really work. Who remember why you do things a certain way. Who have relationships that can't be easily replaced.

Now, here's a plug for Mastermind but it's also true and gives me extra sleep at night: because everything is housed within Mastermind, if we lose somebody with great impact, we have it all documented. It's like the cloud where institutional knowledge is stored. If you lose a team member, you didn't lose all that knowledge because you have it documented and can upload it to someone else.

That safety net is valuable. But even with documentation, you lose something when experienced people leave.

2. Cost

High turnover leads to increased recruitment costs. You're paying for job postings, recruiting platforms, and most expensively, the time it takes your best team members to sit down with potential hires.

Every interview is hours. Every onboarding is days. Every training period is weeks. That adds up fast.

3. Productivity and Performance

If you retain your top team members, they're performing great. If they exit, you have to replace them. That means you're going to lose production—maybe for months while someone new gets up to speed.

Even the best new hire isn't as productive as an experienced team member who knows your systems, your members, and your culture inside and out.

4. Culture

Culture isn't just for members. It's for team members too.

When a new hire starts and someone says, "Oh yeah, you'll probably be here for a couple weeks," what message does that send? That this isn't a place people stick around. That something must be wrong. That they should keep one foot out the door.

That's toxic. And it becomes self-fulfilling. People leave because they expect to leave.

Retention creates culture. When people stick around, new hires see stability. They see commitment. They see that this is a place worth investing in.

5. Recruitment

Success breeds success. When you have a great team that sticks with you, you're able to recruit more team members because they see people who've been there for 5, 10, 15 years. There must be something to it.

And here's a powerful stat: up to 30% of staff can come from referrals. That's huge because referrals say great things about your culture, and you get better team members who are less likely to leave in the beginning.

Your best retention strategy is also your best recruitment strategy.

The Five Strategic Pillars to Keeping Top Talent

Think of this like LASER for member acquisition. If you're trying to drive traffic: Leads, Appointments, Shows, Enrollments, Referrals. You can look at each step and figure out what's broken or what needs improvement.

Same thing here. Use these five pillars as a diagnostic tool. Maybe you've got really good collaborative culture but no growth paths. Now you know where to focus.

Pillar 1: Assess and Set Goals

Just like anything that matters, you've got to measure it. If it doesn't matter, don't bother measuring it.

So measure the things that are important. Otherwise, you're either telling your team those things aren't important, or you're putting too much on your measurement stick.

What to measure:

Retention rates - How many people are staying with you and how long are they staying? If you don't know this information, that's your first action step. Go figure out your retention rate on team members.

Reasons for leaving - Whether your turnover is low or high, what are the reasons people leave? Other jobs? More money? Bad culture? Better culture elsewhere? Make sure you're doing exit interviews and tracking the patterns.

Clear retention goals - Once you have your rates and reasons, set specific goals. If yours is at 60% rolling for the year, how do you get it down to 50%? Then 40%?

If you have a 50% retention rate, half the people with you today won't be with you next June. That could be a challenge for your business. Set a goal to change it.

Team engagement - Analyze how engaged your team actually is. Are they just showing up, or are they invested? We'll talk about how to measure this.

Pillar 2: Build a Positive and Collaborative Culture

Culture isn't an accident. It's intentional.

Are people excited to come to work? Do they collaborate or compete? Do they support each other or undermine each other?

New hires can feel culture immediately. They know within days whether this is a place they want to be long-term.

Pillar 3: Offer Growth Paths

If someone can't see where they're going, they'll go somewhere else.

People don't leave jobs that are taking them somewhere. They leave dead-end positions where they've maxed out and have nowhere to grow.

Show your team members the path. From coach to lead coach to manager to GM. From front desk to sales to operations. Whatever the progression looks like in your organization, make it visible and achievable.

Pillar 4: Good Pay and Benefits

Let's not pretend money doesn't matter. It does.

You don't have to be the highest-paying gym in town, but you can't be significantly below market either. And benefits matter—health insurance, paid time off, gym memberships for family, whatever makes sense for your business.

Compensation isn't everything, but it's something. And if all the other pillars are strong but pay is weak, you'll still lose people.

Pillar 5: Reward and Recognize

People want to feel seen. They want to know their work matters and that you notice.

This doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. Public recognition in team meetings. Handwritten thank-you notes. Small bonuses for hitting goals. Celebrations for milestones.

Make people feel valued, and they'll stick around.

The Diagnostic Framework

Here's how to use these five pillars:

Go through each one and honestly assess where you are. Rate yourself 1-10 on each pillar:

• Assess and set goals: Do you know your retention numbers? Do you have goals?

• Culture: Is it positive and collaborative?

• Growth paths: Can people see where they're going?

• Pay and benefits: Are you competitive?

• Reward and recognize: Do people feel valued?

Identify your weakest pillar. That's where you start.

Maybe you're great at recognition but terrible at growth paths. Spend the next 90 days building clear career progression.

Maybe your culture is strong but your pay is below market. Time to reevaluate compensation.

You don't have to fix everything at once. But you do need to know where the gaps are.

The Bottom Line

If half your team will be gone by next June, that's not just turnover. That's a systemic problem.

But it's also fixable.

Measure what matters. Understand why people leave. Build a culture people want to stay in. Show them where they're going. Pay them fairly. Recognize their contributions.

These aren't secrets. They're disciplines.

And the gyms that master these five pillars? They don't just retain team members. They build dynasties.

They create environments where people stay for 5, 10, 15 years. Where 30% of new hires come from referrals. Where institutional knowledge compounds instead of evaporating.

That's the difference between constantly rebuilding and consistently growing.

So ask yourself: what's your retention rate? What are your reasons for turnover? And which of the five pillars needs the most work?

Because the team you have next June depends on the answers to those questions.