Job satisfaction of self employed trainers and personal trainers employed at commercial gymnasiums: a comparative study

Abstract

Personal trainers are responsible for the effective delivery of health and fitness programmes. Their roles are of importance to the fitness industry and therefore, the degree of job satisfaction they experience is of prime importance. The purpose of this paper is to identify the various factors that play a role in determining the job satisfaction levels of personal fitness trainers employed at commercial gymnasiums and self employed trainers. A total of 353 personal trainers from South Africa formed the target population for the survey. A structured questionnaire was sent to the entire population. A response rate of 85% (n=300) was received using the mail survey method. Key results revealed that the majority of the trainers at the commercial gymnasiums expressed low levels of satisfaction with their salary, opportunities for promotion and growth, commission structure, ranking system and working conditions. More importantly, a major finding was that self employed trainers experienced greater levels of satisfaction than commercially employed trainers.

South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation Vol. 28(2) 2006: 105-112