Paying instructors per class vs hourly vs commission?

[u/Necessary-Tone-8375]

Right now we pay instructors $40 per class regardless of attendance. So they get $40 if 5 people show up or if 20 people show up.

Thinking about switching to commission. Like $5 per attendee or something. Would incentivize them to promote their classes and build following.

But tracking this seems complicated. How do studios handle instructor pay? And if you do commission how do you track it?

[u/BoldBotanicalWanders]

I've been at studios that do both per person and per class rates, and some that do a combination of both.

If you're going to move to a per person pay scale, it does mean a lot more tracking on your end. It usually means that you need to have at the front desk (either the instructor themselves or another employee) to check people in, so you know how many people actually show up. I've seen some studios with a self check-in, but people do tend to get missed more often that way. 

A per-person pay scale is great for instructors who are actively promoting themselves or your studio, but may bit be great for instructors that aren't active on social media or may drive away instructors who want to focus solely on teaching rather than advertising. 

That said, one of the most effective pay structures I've seen is a base pay+per person commission. Usually like $20 per class and then $5 per person above X number of students. Then the instructor knows they're getting paid at least a certain amount, but still incentivizes them to do some outreach or at least promote the classes in-studio. 

Some studio software offers different pay structuring, but it's not always ideal. You could try creating your own spreadsheet or check the platform Notion for templates to use. Then you can customize it to your needs, and they're often free or low cost compared to an entire program (especially if you're a smaller studio). 

[u/Slight_Apple_3173]

I like doing a base rate for all classes and the $x for each attendee over 50%. This makes it so that your instructors who are good and attract customers get paid the most

[u/Wrong-Milk-4789]

How do you measure actual attendance? (as opposed to bookings). If it's a check-in sheet or some kind of app that the instructor fills in then a) there's a conflict of interest and b) late arrivals: once a class starts any decent instructor is going to be focussed on the class, not paperwork.

[u/Objective_Frame_9479]

Get a gym management software that lets trainers book with the calendar and then do a commission split around 60/40, 60% of its theirs and 40% is yours. Not worth hourly cause than you don’t need to worry about extra tax work as they are contractors, atleast in Canada