Building Your Dream Team: Salon Staffing

by Elaine Truesdale

Salons owners often ask me who we have in our network that will be a good addition to their salon team and I am always glad to help, but there is a better way to recruit and maintain a strong salon team. It takes three basic things to build your dream team.

1. A Strong Brand You want stylists who have a strong work ethic, are dependable, have positive attitudes, are self-motivated, are team-oriented, are effective communicators, are flexible, and can do great hair. Well, at what kind of salon do those stylists want work? Your salon? Of course they want to work at your salon, but why. Your brand is what other people say about you when you're not in the room. ~Jeff Bezos How you run your salon, information that your salon posts online, what your customers say about your salon, and what your current and former stylists say about your salon makes up your salon brand. Think about what makes your salon great and what you want people to say about your salon when you are not around. Okay, now that you have those things in mind everything you do moving forward should reflect those things. Create your ideal salon culture with perks for your team that go beyond pay and reinforce your salon culture.
   

2. A Recruiting System Unfortunately, you have to do more than be a great salon in order to recruit great talent. Recruiting talent is an ongoing part of running a great salon. Do not wait until you need help to begin recruiting. First, create a place on your salon's website that showcases the benefits of working at your salon and includes an online job application. Every type of salon should have "join our team" page (salary, hourly, commission, booth rental, or suite rental). Second, advertise and market your salon to potential stylists. Use frequent and direct ads when you are in need and less frequent posts highlighting your team culture during times when you are not looking for new team members. Third, communicate directly with your prospects (those stylists that have completed your application). Send them emails with tips, industry new, and seasonal information. Invite them to train at your salon or to come out and do community service with the team. Doing these three things will provide you with a pool of stylists to choose from whenever you need to fill a gap or grow your team.
   

3. Competent Employees Even though you may have you have found and recruited the right stylists it is up to you to help them be successful. You may be thinking, if I recruited stylists that have a strong work ethic, are dependable, have positive attitudes, are self-motivated, are team-oriented, are effective communicators, are flexible, and can do great hair; then I should not have to "babysit" them. You are right, you do not have to "babysit" your team. You just need to give them the tools they need to be great.

   1. Have clear and straightforward policies and procedures.

   2. Set salon and individual goals for your team members.

   3. Put a rewards system in place to recognize team members that are doing well.

With the right tools and salon culture your team will have a hard time being unsuccessful and you will have an easier time building your dream team.