I was recently chatting with a friend who is a fitness industry veteran, and they compared the fitness industry to the forestry industry. 

Their point was that the industry is busy cutting down trees with little regard for the future. 

We say all the right things, but when it comes to taking a sustainable approach to our core resource, people, we really have a horrible track record.

Fitness industry team attrition consistently approaches 60-75% turnover annually, sharing the lowest rung of the retention continuum with hospitality and retail.

Additionally, over 50% of fitness members drop out in the first 6 months of membership and annual turnover rates of 60-70% are also not unusual. And yet most industry CEOs accept this as the norm…as the cost of doing business.

There are exceptions to these norms, but they amount to a very few unicorns. 

So what’s the answer?  

Originally driven purely by extraction, the forestry industry has evolved, replacing the linear take-make-waste model with a regenerative system focused on reusability, longevity, and minimizing waste.

This is a model where sustainability, community, and long-term value have come to outweigh short-term profit. 

If an industry as old and slow to change as the forestry industry can make those kinds of sweeping changes, why can’t we?

Instead of putting profit first and people second, I am suggesting putting people at the heart of profit.

By embracing a circular economy model, replacing the linear take-make-waste model with a regenerative system focused on attract-engage-retain, we can increase profits by minimizing turnover. We reduce hiring and training costs plus member acquisition costs, which all goes to the bottom line.

If we treat team members as valued, purpose-driven partners, and members are not seen as a commodity but as beneficiaries of the product we purvey, we actually increase profits. 

I heard the answer beautifully summarized by a very successful entrepreneur from Byron Bay recently, who has incredible team and customer retention. She simply said, “LISTEN – LEARN – PRIORITIZE”.

When we listen intently to what our team and members are saying, and learn from that, we can prioritize our allocation of resources more effectively and retention follows.

At AFFINITY OS™, our entire AI system is based on that premise. Our model is CONNECT – EXPLORE – PRIORITISE – RETAIN – GROW.

We listen constantly, in real time, to team and member sentiment and distill those learnings into usable information for executives to direct their efforts to engage their team and attract and retain members.

We have many clubs with team attrition rates in the 20%-30% range and member attrition in the 3% per month range.

If the forestry industry can change the way it manages its resources, the fitness industry can too.

The question is:
Are we ready to stop cutting down what we should be cultivating?

Let’s lead the shift from extraction to regeneration. From attrition to alignment. From transactional to truly transformational.

The future of fitness is people-first. Let’s build it that way.

#1 Secret to Your Wellness Business Success in 2025

Interested in learning more about how to transform your organization’s approach to team member engagement and customer experience? Reach out to our team at AFFINITY OS, specialists in AI-driven customer experience and team member engagement optimization.