Gita Coorey, co-founder and head of commercial at The Laser Lounge shares her insights into employee relations for your salon.
Mission
What is the purpose of your company? Your staff should know what they are contributing to and just how big a difference they are making. Being in a quality service-based industry means sharing your company mission with your employees in order to positively affect the lives of their clients. By ensuring your staff believe in the same mission, their motivation will naturally flourish.
Culture and branding
Whether you realise it or not, every business has a culture which stems from the ‘brand’. If you create a client-focused culture, your team will care about quality. On the other extreme, if you create a production culture, your staff may work like machines – potentially lacking quality service. Your culture can heavily influence your staff turnover so consider the pros and cons of your culture and the impact this may have on staffing. Exit interview are a great way of gaining employer feedback to maintain a happy work environment!
Ownership
Have you ever interviewed a potential candidate where they said they wanted to be mircomanaged? In my experience, this is very rare and provides a fine line between managing and over-managing. Challenge your team members to thin outside the box, solve problems and give them opportunities to manage their own situations in order to experience more variety within the job. Encouraging opinions also gives your people a sense of contribution to the company.
Communication
If your company is a small boutique salon or a multi-site franchise, let your people talk to each other and learn from each other’s experiences. Consider forums to share treatment information and have a support network. Also, as an owner you can get carried away with projects and forget that your front line staff aren’t aware of the big picture. Take time to be with your staff and communicate opportunities, challenges, promotions etc.
Employee Health
If your team are exhausted, they are going to be less productive and motivated. When I feel staff are tired, I recommend they take a break. As an owner, it’s also important to remember to take a break! If you’re health/mood is negative then your team’s energy will reflect this also.
Value Your People
Invest time in your team! Whether this be a performance review, pat on the back, training, meetings or social events – remember that your staff are key to your success. Find out what their individual goals are and work them into your business plan.
Gita Coorey is the co-founder and head of commercial at The Laser Lounge. She completed a Bachelor of Business majoring in Human Resource Management.
For more information visit www.thelaserlounge.com.au