Creating career PATHS

Management

Recruitment and retention of great staff has been a challenge for many salons and spas this year. Developing clear and rewarding career paths for staff is a passion for Fiona Fowley, owner of the Zen Lifestyle salons in Scotland, and was one of the factors that contributed to the group picking up two trophies at this year’s Professional Beauty Awards. Here, she shares five tips that have helped her develop and retain a strong team.

1. Devise a structure

“We have a clear structure for our therapists to know where they are able to go”, says Fowley. “Therapists can work their way up through our internal training programme to senior therapist and then head therapist, as well as getting more training on advanced treatments as they work their way up the ladder.”

2. Retrain all staff

“We always do the same induction and training, regardless of the experience that the therapist has, because we need them to be what we call a ‘Zen therapist’. They need to do things our way, so there’s continuity and consistency throughout our treatments”, explains Fowley. “Sometimes it’s the girls from college that don’t have bad habits and pick things up quicker and progress quicker than somebody with five years’ experience. It’s about continual assessment and feedback, and maintaining the standards with training.”

3. Share your vision

“We have a vision and values for the salon and every single member of staff understands what they mean and what the behaviours of those are. We discuss them at staff meetings and at our annual conference. When they do their review with us, they do a scaling question where they use the values to scale themselves on how they feel they are doing”, explains Fowley.

4. Give therapists autonomy

“In every business there’s a culture. You might not be aware exactly of what it is, but if you’re able to influence it and make it a strong one, your staff retention will be so much better”, adds Fowley. “Instead of telling staff what to do and having a ‘tell’ culture, create a coaching environment where you’re questioning them, listening to them and allowing them to find the solutions for themselves. So, rather than ‘tell’, it’s ‘tell me’. You’re getting them to think for themselves and use their own initiative. They feel valued and listened to.”

5. Develop them beyond treatments

“We do a lot of development via retail seminars, customer care, all that type of thing, but also general growth as well so they feel they are managing to progress but not just with their practical hands-on, which is important”, says Fowley

Fiona Fowley is founder of Zen Lifestyle, which runs two salons in Edinburgh. Its Bruntsfield site won Boutique Salon of the Year and its Hanover site won Large Salon of the Year at the Professional Beauty Awards 2018. Watch her video on creating career paths at professionalbeauty.co.uk/PBTV