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The biggest complaints I hear from salon owners are always in relation to their staff – Millennial entitlement, scheduling issues, theft, laziness and more. No doubt, in any business, employees are going to be a source of frustration. However, as owners, we have to remember that while they are a source of frustration, they’re also what keeps our businesses running when we aren’t there. As much as some of us would like to, we can’t do it alone. I’d argue that doing it alone (even if we could) we be a huge loss – because our employees are our greatest asset. We just have to use them to their full potential to enrich the relationship for both of us. Here are some of the ways we can make the most of our team:
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Remember, employment is an exchange. Your employees don’t have to choose to sell you their time, and you employing them is not a gift – it’s commerce. You are buying their time and they are selling it to you. Either of you can choose to go elsewhere. Remembering this sets the tone for successful employee relations.
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Millennials are looking for value. While not all of our employees are members of that generation, many of them are. Millennials are motivated by much more than a paycheck. They want to be somewhere where they feel like they matter, and where someone cares about them. They want to do something that makes a difference in the world or in their future. Make sure you’re providing more than just a paycheck. A management training program is a great example. While they may never make it to manager, they’ll learn valuable life skills that will benefit them in their career – even if it has nothing to do with tanning.
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Let them do what they enjoy. We recently mentioned in a staff meeting that we’d be hiring assistant managers for our stores. One of our long-time employees approached me a couple of days later and asked, “as an assistant manager, would I help train new employees?” I responded, “yes – how do you feel about that?” She said “I really enjoy training and would love to do more of it.” I had never asked her how she felt about training, and we’d never used her as a training resource. You can bet we will in the future!
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Notice what they’re good at, reward it and have them do more of it! We have some players on our team who aren’t our best salespeople, but are great at organization. We intentionally schedule them to work in our slower times so they can focus on keeping the salons clean and organized. Allowing them to do work they’re good at betters the salon for us, and gives them a chance to feel successful and valued (which they are)!
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Finally, make it fun! I’m sure I sound like a broken record here, but making the job fun for your employees will cause them to give more while at work, and stay longer. Nobody wants to leave a job they enjoy!
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This month, I challenge you to make it a point to look at each staff member who reports directly to you, and evaluate something you can do to enhance their experience and your benefit.
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If I can ever help you with staffing or anything else, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line! hello@dspurgers.com
