Outdoor pool lifeguard at the Armadale Fitness and Aquatic Centre.
How Many People do we Need? Michael Butson, Dr John Tower and Dr Eric Schwarz assess lifeguard recruitment and turnover in aquatic and recreation centres
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mployee turnover is the loss of talent in the workforce. High employee turnover is often expensive and disruptive for the aquatics industry. The aquatics industry in Australia and internationally has been described as in a crisis, experiencing unprecedented levels of turnover among pool lifeguards and swim instructors. Studies across numerous industries have determined that effective human resource management (HRM), including the recruitment and selection processes, can positively impact an organisation’s overall performance, including reducing employee turnover. While research into HRM continues to be popular, little exists that explains the HRM process in the aquatics industry. A pre-COVID-19 study that we conducted sought to explain the current recruitment process and identify reasons for lifeguard turnover from the perspective of aquatic and recreation centre managers.
Forecasting involves estimating the size and structure of the workforce required to meet an aquatic and recreation centre’s objectives and goals. Effective forecasting will identify several key concepts, including predictability and ability to accommodate lifeguard turnover, the appropriateness of fulltime, part-time, and casual lifeguards, and manage annual or recurring fluctuations in staffing (such as operating seasonal facilities). With facility managers traditionally not having documented a formal forecasting procedure for the recruitment of lifeguards, current practise is similar to ‘best guess forecasting’ - relying on management judgement and opinion. Information on the requirements and demand for lifeguards is collected from line managers and collated for an overall prediction. In combination with best guess forecasting, aquatic and recreation centre managers could also consider documenting historical ratios. Historical ratios (e.g., time to fill position analysis, cost per
The eight steps in the recruitment and selection process (Chelladurai & Kerwin, 2018; Taylor et al., 2015)
40 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 144
