We’ve covered Client Retention here which is essential to the cash flow of your business, but are you addressing Employee Retention? Your staff is the backbone of your business, without a staff there is no one to service your customers and with the incorrect staff can come poor service. Anyone in the Salon/ Spa industry knows that turnover is a problem, here are a couple of ways to tackle this epidemic.
Transparency Is Key
On a daily basis you, as the salon owner, may find yourself wearing several hats, but ask yourself: How many members of your staff are in this position as well?
Opening your own salon/spa was a dream come true for you, one in which you may have spent several years and thousands of dollars investing in. You may be proud and able to multi-task and work across several departments while handling a large to do list, but that is what you signed up for when making your dream a reality. When hiring a new employee it is essential to set clear expectations of what their role entails and what the key metrics are that they will be evaluated on. If you are expecting your front desk staff to handle the social media of your salon, but do not set clear expectations on when and how to do it, you may find yourself in a compromising position.
Kay Hirai, founder of Studio 904 Hair Design says “If you value the people who work for you, you must clearly spell it out to them”. Make sure your expectations are clear from the beginning of a new hire’s employment so that during Performance Reviews there are no surprises for bonuses or disciplinary action. Many salon/spa owners make the mistake of not communicating properly with employees by just assuming they know their role and what to expect when it is very much the opposite in most respects.
One way to keep transparency in mind is through the Envision Cloud App so they can know their schedule and what kind of day to expect. This way they aren’t in the dark about what’s going on with their day.
Speaking of Performance Reviews…
Are you having them? Without a quarterly or yearly check-in, many employees will not know where they stand and you will not know how they feel about their position. Keep the lines of communication open from the new apprentice at your salon all the way to the Salon Manager and you will foster a great work environment. We know when the business is busy, it can get stressful but the more you take it out on employees without reason, the easier it will be for them to leave.
Set a basis for how these meetings should go and what you should be measuring at each one in terms of performance. For example, if you have a stylist looking to level up in their career but they are having a problem selling retail, set goals and a roadmap of what numbers they need to hit in order to level up.
Envision can help your staff achieve their targets through Product Recommendations at check out. The all-in-one POS system helps them sell retail (which also allows them to earn more money if you offer commission for retail sales) and hit their goals!
How about Booth Renters?
If your salon rents out stations to Booth Renters, there are ways to keep the revolving door closed on those as well. Keeping the salon image consistent regardless of Booth Renters will keep the focus on the success of the salon as a whole. You and your Booth Renters will both be marketing to bring in new clients so working together, not apart, is key. Also collecting only rent from them from the beginning will get them into the habit of collecting payment for their services themselves. With Envision you can create separate merchant accounts for them so they don’t have to wait to get paid out from you, they just check out their clients and go!
Moving Forward...
.jpg)
The salon/spa industry is known for employee turnover, but what are you doing as a leader of your salon to fix this stigma? It costs a lot more in time, money, and effort to be consistently going through hiring interviews and training then it is to keep a great staff on board! Take the time to educate and grow your team’s skill set within your business and you’ll have employees who are loyal to your business and your brand.
Reach out to us on social to connect, ask questions about Envision, or ask us other business advice questions! We are here to help your business grow! Email us questions or comments at social@ennoview.com, we can’t wait to hear from you.
