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Outdoor pool lifeguard at the Armadale Fitness and Aquatic Centre.

Michael Butson, Dr John Tower and Dr Eric Schwarz assess lifeguard recruitment and turnover in aquatic and recreation centres

Employee 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

Lifeguard at Adventure World Geelong.

recruitment analysis and turnover rate) will capture trends in an organisation’s demand for lifeguards.

Following the forecasting process, aquatic and recreation centre C managers should consider the job analysis. Job analysis is the specification of the duties (e.g., supervise swimming activities) to be performed by lifeguards and the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for successful job performance. Typically, this information can be gathered from one or a combination of the following sources: •Lifeguards, through observation and interviews •Immediate managers (e.g., operations managers/ coordinators) •Aquatic industry specialists •Members and guests (feedback systems) •Previous job analyses

Aquatic and recreation centres have not previously engaged in a traditional job analysis during the recruitment and selection process of lifeguards. Instead, managers often benchmarked and compared with other facilities in their geographic area. Managers considered this appropriate as they explained that lifeguards’ roles and responsibilities are consistent and do not change from one centre to the next.

The job description is the recruitment document that describes the general tasks, roles, responsibilities, and requirements of the lifeguard position. The aquatics industry preferences generic lifeguard job descriptions often used across two or more facilities. Job descriptions were created and distributed from a central location in a top-down management approach.

The job description document contains the job specification details. The job specification section outlines the human qualities needed to carry out the lifeguard job successfully (e.g., personal attributes, experience, training and education, physical requirements, and mental demands). When centre managers were asked what specifications were necessary during the recruitment process, only half indicated that previous lifeguarding experience was a requirement for recruitment. To be considered appropriate for a lifeguard position, managers explained that potential candidates must demonstrate effective communication, the ability to reason, problem-solve and resolve conflict. Managers did not often consider the physical requirements (i.e., the timed 200 metre swim) essential during the recruitment and selection process.

Recruitment documents (the job description and the job advertisement material) should present a realistic job preview (RJP). A RJP indicates both the positive and negative aspects of the lifeguard position. A RJP assists in shaping a candidate’s expectations of the role to better match the reality of the lifeguard position.

Employer branding is the term used to describe the reputation of an employer. Promotion refers to the incentive’s employers create to attract lifeguard candidates. Two fundamental functions of employer branding and promotion are improving lifeguard recruitment and retaining the existing lifeguard workforce. Council/Government aquatic and recreation centres have the advantage of being an employer of choice for most lifeguards. These ARCs often sell the benefits, the wages, leave entitlement that comes with being a lifeguard at a council/government-operated facility. Due to inconsistencies in lifeguard wages, commercial and not-for-profit facilities focus on promotion and incentives to attract the strongest lifeguard candidates. Such incentives include personal development, training opportunities, free memberships, and award programs.

Recruitment seeks to identify and attract a strong group of applicants for filling lifeguard vacancies within an aquatic and recreation centre. Recruitment methods are typically internal, external, online or a combination with facilities predominantly engaging a combination of external recruitment and e-recruitment methods to attract lifeguard candidates. Many managers identified a crucial difference in the quality of candidates when using recruitment websites (e-recruitment). The quality of lifeguard applicants who applied through generic recruitment websites was often inferior to candidates from industry-specific websites (such as www.sportspeople.com.au).

Shortlisting reduces a group of applications to a manageable number of candidates who are likely to succeed at the selection stage. Quality and content of the application, age, and availability of applicants were factors when managers shortlisted applications. If relevant content was missing or the job application was poorly written, the application would

be rejected. Flexibility in availability was crucial for facilities operating seven days a week with extended opening hours.

Lastly, some managers have been reluctant to employ lifeguards under the age of 18, explaining a lack of maturity and the nature of the position (e.g., providing first aid for severe injuries or conducting aquatic rescues because of drownings and near-drownings) makes the role unsuitable for those under the age of 18.

Aquatic and recreation centre management demonstrated a preference for group interviews over one-on-one interviews to evaluate and assess the candidates. Facilities that complete group interviews often assess a candidate’s personality and attitudes, communication skills and intelligence, and capacity for leadership, adaptability, and problem-solving. Less than half of the centres completed work sample assessments (e.g., a CPR scenario or a spinal injury emergency). Those who did not use work sample assessments considered them to be impractical and time-consuming. However, such an approach is missing an opportunity to assess multiple competencies or KSAs, and the failure to provide a preview of the organisation’s culture and value systems and a realistic impression of what the role requires.

This current research also determined the reasons for lifeguard turnover from the perspective of managers. Lifeguards leave their position for these main reasons: lifeguarding being a temporary position, a negative working environment, or to pursue employment in a higher paying lifeguard position.

Lifeguarding is considered a temporary job with managers considering lifeguarding as not a career, rather a steppingstone into other positions. Additionally, these ‘other positions’ were not in the aquatics industry. This may suggest a lack of advancement and opportunities for progression within the aquatics industry. The lifeguards working environment is considered monotonous and unappealing, and it is suggested the role can only be done for a short period (2-3 years). However, managers describe the lifeguard job as appealing for other reasons, e.g., the working hours, length of shifts, and flexibility to work while studying, making it attractive to those building a career in other fields. Facility management also suggests that negative relationships with colleagues and a negative organisational culture have increased turnover within their centre.

The final reason for lifeguard turnover relates to increasing lifeguard wages. The research results identified a significant and worrying discrepancy within the aquatics industry. Lifeguards leave their current position after gaining enough experience to obtain employment in a higher paying role at another venue – a concern managers from both commercial and not-for-profit facilities shared.

Concern among centre managers indicates they experience high levels of dysfunctional turnover, i.e., voluntary resignation of lifeguards who ARC managers would rather retain. More often, the costs associated with dysfunctional turnover outweigh any benefits for the centre as a result of which managers need to address lifeguard turnover so they can retain their lifeguard staff.

This study provided useful insights from centre managers about lifeguard recruitment. Further research needs to gain insight from lifeguards to explore the reasons for turnover from their perspective and clarify why they continue to leave their employment. Understanding the lifeguards’ perspective regarding turnover will create a clearer picture and allow aquatic and recreation centre management to create and implement a set of short- and long-term recruitment and retention strategies. Michael Butson is a PhD Student at Victoria University, Dr John Tower is Managing Director at JRT Leisure and an Honorary Research Fellow at Victoria University and Professor Eric C Schwarz is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Management at Victoria University.

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