How Big Blue Swim School Helps Franchise Partners Secure the Industry’s Best Swim Instructors

If you’ve been paying attention to the business world over the past two years, you are no doubt aware of the ongoing labor challenges affecting virtually every industry. The swim lesson category is no exception. But there is a solution to this challenge, and it's one that fast-growing learn-to-swim franchise Big Blue Swim School has used to assist its franchise partners in becoming fully staffed with talented instructors in the industry. That solution? Training. And lots of it.

Erin O'Brien, Big Blue Swim School's learning and development manager, leads the brand’s innovative training model. Although she comes from an advertising sales background, she transitioned to the franchising industry to pursue a new career path that she was more passionate about - leading her to become an instructional designer at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.

“The team I managed at Popeyes was focused on operations training content,” O’Brien said. “We did the planning for limited-time offerings, and we trained the crew on how to make the new products and how to effectively sell them.”

O’Brien joined Big Blue in 2019. And her new role was the perfect opportunity for O’Brien to continue to pursue her passion in instructional design, while also moving to a mission-driven business.

“I just loved Big Blue’s mission of showing kids they can do anything by unlocking their full potential in the water,” O’Brien said. “This type of franchise model and how it can positively impact not only the kids but the franchise partners, as well, is amazing. I just knew Big Blue was on a rapid path to growth, and it was something I wanted to be a part of.”

All-Encompassing Franchise Partner Training Prepares Locations for Success 

When it comes to swim lessons, parents should feel absolutely confident that their children can swim safely. So at Big Blue, the corporate team has placed a lot of emphasis on ensuring all franchise partners have undergone expert training, ensuring top-notch pool safety and precautions. O’Brien described the “robust process” as starting from the moment the new investor signs the franchise agreement and continuing throughout their career with Big Blue.  And one of the first training modules new franchise owners undertake is the brand’s Operations Training, held in a group setting in Chicago.

“We bring our franchise partners and their pool managers to Chicago, which is where Big Blue is headquartered,” O’Brien said. “It's a three-week, on-site training program, and we use our learning management system to assign them some pre-work e-learning modules to do before they are on-site. And then once they get there, they can put what they've learned online into practice as far as the curriculum goes.”

There’s a lot of training packed into their three-week visit. During their time in Chicago, the new trainees gain hands-on experience in the water and learn more about the curriculum, so they are better able to teach their managers and staff. They’re also taught best practices for scheduling, capacity planning, pump room management and grassroots marketing, and they earn their lifeguard certification.

“The third week is when they're actually shadowing or working directly with a manager at a pool,” O’Brien said. “So they're involved in the day-to-day operations piece for that last week.”

Franchise Partners Learn To Hire Quality Employees

One factor behind Big Blue’s dominance in the industry is its expertly-trained instructors, which is why O’Brien says new franchise owners are trained extensively on hiring.

That training begins, O’Brien said, with learning who to look for. By targeting the right swim instructors and wording job postings in a way that appeals to the right audience, locations are more likely to receive high-quality applicants.

“You have to really know who you're looking for because this is not a job just anyone can do,” O’Brien said. “You're spending five hours straight in the pool with young kids. So you need to find people who are passionate about working with children and who really want to do this type of work. And when you find those people, it’s fulfilling and satisfying for them.”

And as long as the employees bring their passion, Big Blue ensures they are well-trained. O’Brien noted that swim associates train for four weeks in order to learn all 10 levels of the curriculum. She also explained that all associates are cross-trained so they know how to perform every function. For example, all swim associates are both swim instructors and customer-service providers.

“Training is absolutely central to everything we do,” O’Brien said. “As a franchise, we are only as strong as each individual swim school, and each store is only as strong as its franchise partner and instructors, so we are adamant about ensuring that each and every employee, from the store level up through our corporate team, is the best at what they do. In that respect, training is never complete. There is always more to learn, and there are always opportunities to make ourselves stronger and more effective.”
Multi-unit franchise opportunities are available for qualified candidates looking for their next big opportunity, and veterans can receive a 10 percent discount on the $80,000 franchise fee. The total investment necessary to begin operation of a new Big Blue is $2,475,200 to $3,966,700 (refer to item 7 in FDD) To learn more or inquire about Big Blue, visit https://www.bigblueswimschool.com/franchising/.