Your spa or salon staff members are quite literally the faces of your brand. And while employee turnover is an ongoing concern in the spa and wellness industry, continuous changes can send mixed messages to clientele at a time when consistency — more than ever — is key.
If you are struggling to hang on to your best and brightest specialists, don’t fret. Implementing just a few research-based retention strategies can drastically improve the work culture in your spa business and help to reduce turnover.
Spa Work Culture Improvement Starts with You
Some debate whether employees quit their jobs because of their bosses or because of the work. We believe it can be either. What we know for sure is that great leadership is always key to success. Being a great boss requires behind-the-scenes work, though.
Before you can even begin to guide your employees toward success, you have to have a roadmap and know where you want to go. When you understand your own business goals, you can take a bigger-picture approach to management, too.
This means clearly expressing your expectations… and then trusting your employees to meet them without micromanaging. An approach like this also leaves you with the tasks that your employees can’t or shouldn’t be managing anyway.
Recognize Your Staff’s Achievements
Employees who feel like they’re reaching goals that support them both as individuals and as a part of the team are more likely to stay with you. Feeling recognized for their achievements and efforts can seal the deal.
Research shows that staff members whose efforts go unnoticed are twice as likely to plan on quitting their jobs than those who receive recognition. The best part about this one? Recognizing good work is easy — and it doesn’t have to cost you anything.
Telling your staff they’re doing great when they are and encouraging them when they are having a tough time speaks volumes.
Reward Your Employees Whenever Possible
When you can afford to reward your employees, do it! One reward that is arguably the greatest signal of recognition is a promotion. No one wants to remain stagnant in their position, and promoting those who do good work for you also establishes a career path for others.
From a business perspective, your top employees also know the most about your spa or salon (next to you, of course). So promoting from within can help you bridge the well-known gap in spa management training.
And remember: although monetary bonuses and high-dollar prizes are always well-received, you shouldn’t underestimate the power of a hand-written letter or a one-on-one paid lunch date with you.
Don’t Burn Out Your Best and Brightest
Finally, ensure you aren’t overloading your best employees. We all recognize the physical and psychological tax of long spa hours. As a business owner, you know all too well that burnout helps no one.
Your spa and salon employees are hands-down your most valuable assets. Treat them as such, and you can avoid burning out your best and brightest specialists. Ask yourself whether you would even have a business without them!
A few proven ways to shake things up are:
- Encouraging your staff to take breaks together
- Switching up staff responsibilities (besides promotion, rotating routine duties can help)
- Requiring employee PTO (and making it a policy not to reach out to off-duty employees)
- Carving out on-the-clock time for employees’ career development
Ultimately, turnover reduction efforts should be an ongoing activity in your business. You hired each staff member for a reason, which means every one of them is vital to your business strategy.
Need more ideas for how to keep your staff happy and thriving? Reach out to Gayle at NewMed Concepts. We recognize that our success depends on yours, and we want to help you however we can!
