Has anyone noticed a quiet crisis happening throughout the tanning industry? I have. A recent crisis in a tanning salon once again proves my adage: tanning salon owners need more work in human resources management (HRM). The Salon Doctor is here to share his HRM experience for your success!
Before I get into this month’s salon owner’s dilemma, let’s address what human resources management (HRM) is. Generally speaking, it’s the “strategic and practical approach to recruiting, managing, and developing a workforce to maximize employee performance and contribute to overall business objectives.”
In other words, HRM deals with figuring out how to keep the people you hired working toward the objectives you’ve set for your business. In a tanning salon, this usually means selling, upselling, cleaning, and offering stellar customer service, among other duties.
We’re talking about proper tanning salon management.
What Does A Lack Of HRM Look Like In A Tanning Salon?
I’m not sharing this story to shame anyone. The tanning salon owners I know are all good, honest, hardworking people who want their businesses to succeed. Many of them got into this industry without solid HRM training, so it’s a simple matter of not knowing what they don’t know.
The recent tanning salon crisis I mentioned earlier illustrates this problem. A salon owner recently had a problem. While this isn’t a direct quote, it’s pretty close to how the owner describes the situation:
“I let one of my employees go, and she’s been inside my office crying for almost an hour. I’m trying to be understanding, but when should I tell her she has to go?”
While this situation happened recently, it’s been going on in salons since the beginning of the indoor tanning industry. It highlights most salon owners’ need for ongoing human resources management skills.
As to this specific situation, I’ll assume the owner had a legitimate reason for terminating this young lady’s employment. If you find yourself in a situation where you have to let an employee go, I recommend following this five-step process:
- Assemble whatever documents you have that might show your criteria for the termination. You do not want to leave any opening for an argument or debate here. If it got to the point where you had to fire them, it’s no longer salvageable.
- Be prepared to share the most critical reasons the employee must leave your employment. (Remember to stick a pin in this one because I’ll return to it later in this article.)
- Steel yourself with the confidence that what you’re doing is legal. It’s also suitable for your salon, staff, and possibly your business image to your customers.
- Don’t drag out the employee’s termination. This punishes the employee and could lead to other employees feeling that the terminated employee was mistreated. It’s best to be short, sweet, and to the point.
- Most importantly, address the employee’s behavior to be corrected, not them as a person.
Salon Employee Terminations: Tear Off the Band-Aid in Private
Anyone who says they can easily fire employees either never did it or is not being honest. Employee terminations are complex and highly emotional situations for both the staff member being terminated and the person doing the firing.
Because of this, it’s easy to make mistakes or feel sympathetic toward the terminated employee. I advise keeping these sessions private and handling them as quickly as possible.
- Hold the termination conference privately, preferably in your office.
- The meeting should only last just a few minutes.
- Go into the session prepared; this is not a time for a debate.
- Keep it short and sweet: tell them they’re terminated effective immediately.
- Explain why they’re being terminated and have specific examples to support your decision.
- If you’ve had the time to prepare it, have their last check ready. (Remember to include any commission and selling bonuses due.)
- Collect company property such as salon keys, T-shirts, etc.
- Don’t get sucked into the employee’s emotional histrionics; deliver the news and get them out the door.
Although it’s cliche, this old saying is true: “It’s not personal, it’s business.” You didn’t just decide to terminate this person’s employment on a whim. You should be able to cite many reasons when they’ve made mistakes and/or disobeyed your salon’s rules and protocols.
Also, if you let this person go, stick with that decision. If you let the employee “cry their way back into a job,” the rest of your employees won’t respect you. It’s not nice to hear, but it’s the truth.
No Salon Employee Termination Should Come as a Surprise to the Employee
If an employee is surprised they’re being fired, you’ve done something wrong. Remember when I told you to “stick a pin” into having all your documents in place before the employee termination?
We’ve reached the point where I’ll discuss this significant detail. The documentation is part of a system known in the HRM world as “progressive discipline.” In many cases, it operates as a straightforward, seven-step process:
- First verbal warning
- Second verbal warning
- A written warning
- Supervisory review of the employee’s prior performance evaluations
- Final written warning
- Suspension without pay
- Termination of employment
Some salon owners go through all seven steps, while others cut it in half for convenience. Either way, you must keep a written record of every disciplinary meeting with the employee. Should it come to the last and final step, you have documentation that the employee had problems and did nothing to correct herself.
Since the employee signed off on this paperwork throughout the disciplinary process, she knows the time and effort you put into addressing the situation. As I said, no employee termination should be a shock… especially to the employee.
Human Resources Management: An Alternative to Salon Employee Termination
With good HRM skills, you rarely have to fire a salon employee. Why? You’ll make more informed decisions about who you hire and know how to manage and motivate these employees along the way.
It’s okay if you’re not an expert in this right away. As I stated earlier, most salon owners don’t have a degree in human resources management before opening their businesses. That said, there is a formula for finding and retaining top-performing salon employees:
- Determine what you’re looking for and tailor your help-wanted ad to attract the ideal employee.
- Know how to recognize potential during the interview process.
- Offer a decent wage to attract higher-quality employees with relevant retail experience.
- Manage and motivate these people using proven HMR methods to keep them engaged and involved. (The best employees are the ones who are just as passionate about your business as you are.)
- Promote the best of the best to management positions whenever possible.
Newsflash: If all your employees do is check tanners in, you won’t be successful. Profits are earned through tanning lotion sales, EFT membership sales, and sales of everything else you offer. Hiring “anyone with a heartbeat” won’t bring you record-breaking revenue.
You need the find the best to achieve the best sales results, and solid human resources management skills – also known as tanning salon management – make a difference.
Seek Human Resource Management Experts for the Best Business Coaching
The process I’ve shared above is merely an overview. I spend a lot of time developing these skills with my clients. Many become “master motivational managers” who can attract, interview, and hire ideal salon employees.
More importantly, these salon owners know how to manage and motivate their employees to become top sellers. Should I explore this in future columns? Can’t wait to hear from readers.
