Last updated: November 17, 2025
Onboarding New Instructors: Building Engagement, Confidence, and Connection from the Start
As the holiday season and new year approaches, studios and gyms everywhere are hopefully welcoming a fresh wave of instructors, whether to meet growing class demand, fill your “subbing bench,” refresh energy on the schedule, or expand into new offerings.
But bringing new talent onboard isn’t just a logistical step. It’s a cultural one! The way you welcome, train, and connect instructors in their first few weeks determines whether they thrive or quietly fade into the background.
At NetGym, we see this every day: studios/gyms that invest in a thoughtful staff onboarding process (just as thoughtful as their new client process!) not only retain instructors longer but build stronger subbing cultures that benefit everyone.
Here’s how to set your new instructors (and your biz) up for success from day one.
Step 1: Create a Warm Welcome
A great onboarding experience starts before the first shift.
Pre-boarding tips:
- Send a friendly, personalized welcome email that introduces your mission, vibe, and community. (Everything you likely said in-person, now made concrete and easily referenced in writing.)
- Share quick-start materials: what to expect in their first week, your communication channels (NetGym obviously!), and who to contact for support.
- Set clear expectations for subbing and communication, how requests are sent, how to accept or decline, and what “being a team player” means in your biz.
This isn’t just about admin. It’s about culture. When new instructors feel personally connected to your community, they’re more likely to step in, sub, and stay.
Step 2: Integrate Them into Your Subbing Culture
Subbing is the lifeblood of a healthy instructor team, it keeps schedules running smoothly and builds flexibility across your staff.
To make it seamless for new instructors:
- Ensure you or your manager has set them up with their skills, locations, and availability right away in NetGym.
- Walk them through how sub requests appear and how to respond quickly.
- Share examples of great subbing etiquette: fast responses, proactive offers to help, and maybe even tagging teammates who they know would likely enjoy covering their class.
- After a new hire gets onboarded, find a way to organically recognize subbing heroes publicly. Seeing this public acknowledgment signals that they could receive the same recognition if they follow suit, motivating them to engage actively and reliably.
When instructors see subbing as collaboration, not obligation, it builds camaraderie and accountability.
Step 3: Streamline the Logistics with NetGym
Once your new instructor is welcomed into the team, make sure they’re fully connected on the backend. A smooth NetGym setup ensures they receive the right sub requests, appear in the correct locations, and can engage with the right members of their team from day one.
Make sure your new instructor is active, visible, and assigned to the correct locations and skills in NetGym. If you don’t see them in your list or something looks off, check out the “Can’t Find User” Help article.
Once they’re fully set up, they’ll start receiving sub requests that match their profile automatically, helping them integrate smoothly into your team’s workflow.
Step 4: Foster Early Engagement
Small gestures can make a big difference in helping new instructors feel seen and supported.
Try these engagement ideas:
- Assign a “buddy instructor” for their first few weeks.
- Add them to sub requests immediately, getting that first invite helps them understand how things flow and the more they are in the studio/gym from the jump, the quicker they’ll be integrated into your culture!
- Send an announcement to the team through NetGym after their first class or sub congratulating them on their performance. Recognition builds confidence.
When instructors feel part of the rhythm early on, they stay connected and you build a deeper bench for every class and season ahead.
Step 5: Keep It Simple, Consistent, and Kind
Smooth onboarding isn’t about doing everything, it’s about doing the right things, consistently. When your team knows what to expect and communication flows clearly, new instructors gain confidence faster and stay engaged longer.
Best practices for consistency:
- Create a clear, repeatable onboarding checklist so every new instructor gets the same foundational experience, no matter who’s managing.
- Keep communication channels simple. Don’t overwhelm new hires with five different ways to get in touch. Choose one reliable space (NetGym 😉) where all updates live.
- Pair clarity with warmth: be transparent about expectations, but equally encouraging about growth and feedback.
- Schedule quick “temperature checks” during the first 30 days, a short conversation or message to see how things are going can prevent issues before they snowball.
- Celebrate milestones. The first sub covered, first full month on schedule, first glowing member review… small acknowledgments build long-term commitment.
A few simple, consistent habits, practiced kindly, will do more for retention and reliability than any complex system ever could.
Build a Culture, Not Just a Roster
A well-onboarded instructor isn’t just another name on your schedule, they’re an invested partner in your businesses’ success.
By pairing clear NetGym setup steps with a culture of connection and appreciation, you’ll not only make onboarding smoother, you’ll strengthen your entire team.
When every instructor feels valued and empowered from day one, you biz runs stronger, more reliably, and with that spark that keeps members coming back.
