I am sure that, walking in the street, you’ve noticed many different faces of people coming from different countries and thus different cultures. Those people find themselves working in the same place, eating in the same restaurants and sharing the same wagon train.
We live in a society that looks like a pack of Smarties. In other words: a multicultural society.
“Immigrants”, “Diversity”, “Foreigner” are just some of the words that we often hear pronouncing at television, but also by ordinary people in everyday conversations. However, nobody wants to be considered a “foreigner”, an “outsider”. Everybody wants to be considered part of the group and this is when YOU come into play.
I know, now you’re thinking: yes, nice words, but: how do I create such an atmosphere?
Hold on and carry on reading because now I’m going to give you some tips for making no one feeling excluded by attending your gym or sport center. Your gym will become the place where nobody will feel an outsider anymore!
Attitude
The first thing you need to consider is your attitude towards other cultures. If you’re managing a gym attended by people coming from different countries, or you are working with people with different nationalities, the first thing you should bear in mind is the respect for every culture.
This means creating an atmosphere where no culture is considered to be better than another one. Having an open mind and a curiosity for other ways of living and thinking is very important. The other important thing is flexibility and open communication. Being flexible will help you in dealing with your culturally diverse clientele because then, you’ll be able to easily adjust yourself to different ways of thinking and being.
The other useful thing is having an open manner of communication. When talking with your client, be clear and do not take everything for granted. For example, when making jokes, keep in mind that not every culture has the same sense of humor.
Language
Language is among the most important cultural symbols of belonging to a group. In relation to this, one first tip is using English, which is the lingua franca in a lot of cases. A second tip is trying to translate brochures and booklets about your gym or sports center in different languages, mainly the languages spoken by your (potential) clients.
In this way, they will feel more “at home” . In other words, get to know your (potential) clients as much as you can. Language is one of the most powerful tools for attracting people because they will for sure appreciate your effort to make them feel welcome in your gym. However, besides language, there are other ways to get to know your clients, like hard data. Click here to learn more about using client data.
More information
Some people, especially those belonging to minorities may feel a little excluded by attending the gym as well, because they may be used to different types of facilities and they may not know how the facilities work in the host country (and your club). Thus, as a club owner you could focus on explaining to them how everything works, without taking for granted that they know how things ‘are supposed to work’. An idea is to organize some mini information courses or tours where everything is explained, possibly in different languages.
Financial barriers
Some people, especially those coming from poor countries, do not have the possibility to attend your gym because they simply might not have enough money. Thus, an idea may be lowering fees in order to create the possibility for everyone to attend the gym [2] or setting up some promotions that make people with financial problems enjoy sport as well.
Women
In some cultures, women are not permitted to show too much of their body, especially in the presence of men. Thus, women, are not allowed to attend the swimming pool and wearing a bathing suit. So, think about organizing classes where only women are permitted to attend. In doing this, you could follow the example of a gym in Sesto Fiorentino (Italy) where city hall forbade men to enter the gym for two days per week. This way, women, especially those belonging to the Islamic faith, have been encouraged to attend the gym more often, together with non-Islamic women [3].
Conclusion
Cultural diversity is an inevitable phenomenon in our society, but it is still not clear how we are going to face it and how it will change the way we work and live. For sure, cultural diversity has many positive things to offer us and your role as personal trainer, coach or physiotherapist is creating a welcoming atmosphere in your gym or sport center where nobody can feel excluded. Thus, you’ve a difficult but also nice role in making the sport one of the instruments for eliminating cultural and linguistic barriers.