According to a recent study, an average UK worker will change employer every five years, with just under a quarter of employees (23%) looking for a new job at least once a year.
People are no longer motivated by the same factors as previous generations. Instead, employees are placing greater emphasis on a good work-life balance and a sense of purpose beyond financial success. Although salary remains a motivating factor driving the decision of employees, their well-being, personal progression and most importantly of all, their cultural fit with their prospective employer, all have an important part of play.
As a business owner, there are many challenges to success, such as customer acquisition, revenue and profit growth. However, the greatest challenge for all hair salon businesses is how to attract and retain great people. Without a great team, your hair salon cannot succeed.
Success of any business is predicated on having the right people in the right jobs with the right skillset. This is true for both management positions and those on the front line. Successful hair salons must have a people process encompassing business strategy, recruitment and long-term retention of your best employees to ensure business success.
Step 1: Develop Your Business Strategy
To do this, you need to define:
- What are you doing
- Where you want your business to go
- Identify your unique selling point
- How to differentiate your company from others offering similar services
- Decide how to approach your marketplace
Step 2: Define Your Company’s Culture
Determining its culture is the single most important part of any salon’s foundation. It defines how you want to be known by your customers, suppliers and employees.
Step 3: Identify the required people skills, competencies and range of experience
Identify the people you need to achieve your business goals and who will fit into the culture of your salon. Having the right ‘fit’ is critical, therefore you need to create profiles of the skills and competencies that are needed for the business.
Take this information and start to develop a job description. It is important to focus on the duties, responsibilities and skills that are necessary for the job, as well as the right fit for your salon’s culture.
When interviewing job candidates, involve others in the process, as everyone has weak spots when interviewing. If possible, let others participate, having them follow the profile and job description. When making the final decision, choose the candidate who best fits the position and organisational culture.
Top 5 Interview Tips:
- Prepare a separate interview score sheet for each candidate. It is crucial to rate each candidate, as you may not be able to recall specific details of the interview later.
- Get the setting right. Both you and the candidate need to be comfortable and reasonably relaxed – that way both of you get more out of the interview.
- Communicate clearly. You are not there to scare the candidate, as this will be counter productive because the person will become too nervous and less likely to do themselves justice.
- Use open questions and remember the 80/20 rule, as the interviewer you speak 20% of the time and the candidate speaks 80%!
- Encourage the candidate to ask questions, once you have all the important information you need written down.
