One team, one dream

A motivated team is your greatest business asset and the experts are about to reveal just how you can ensure that motivation is at an all-time high.

Your team members should be your biggest asset and your number one marketing tool. On the flip side, if your team members are not motivated and enthused by your brand and by the work they are doing on a day-to-day basis, they can cause untold damage to your salon’s reputation and future success.

NHBF Director Tina Beaumont-Goddard believes that your staff are your greatest asset: “Engaging and motivating them will ensure they feel valued and will encourage loyalty to your salon business. You will also benefit from your employees’ ideas and input, particularly when it comes to tackling everyday business challenges and finding new ways to grow your business.”

Some of the top ways Tina suggests for motivating your team of salon staff are by holding regular meetings to encourage contributions and ideas so staff feel genuinely involved in decision-making,  show that you value their input and also take the opportunity to highlight and praise team members who have gone that extra mile, encourage your staff to share any concerns or problems and offer a private one-to-one meeting when appropriate and also, you could offer training opportunities so your staff can learn new skills: “They will be more likely to stay loyal to you if you can demonstrate that you are taking their career development seriously.” Tina added.

Tina Beaumont-Goddard’s suggestions for incentives to motivate staff

• Discounts on retail products.
• Extra time off.
• A special annual outing – which is also great for team building.
• A regular ‘employee of the month’ competition.
• Remember staff birthdays with a high street or coffee shop voucher.

There may be challenges along the way when trying to pick up the morale if there has potentially been a bit of a lull in motivation. Tina highlighted the importance in remembering that everyone is different and will be motivated by different things: “The trick is to understand what will appeal to each staff member. Have a range of incentives on offer and be prepared to add new ones as you go along.”

Holding monthly one-to-one reviews and deciding on clear goals and targets at annual reviews was another one of Tina’s suggestions. This sets targets for staff to reach so they are always aiming towards something and adds to their purpose.

You must ensure the goals you set for your employees are ‘SMART’ (specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused and timed). It’s important for them to understand not only which goals have been set, but why.

Tina advises setting objectives for your team to encourage friendly competition. Salon software will help you keep track of how well all your staff are performing. For example average bill per team member, rebooking rates, retail sales, hours worked compared to time spent with clients and client retention rates.

You can then identify your best performers and use their achievements as a basis to set realistic targets for the rest of your team to aim for. Offer any training and support needed to achieve them.

Tina added: “If a senior team member leaves, consider internal promotion as this demonstrates to everyone that progression is possible and that you reward hard work and achievement.”

Dale Hollinshead from Hazel & Haydn (and resident hairdresser on the new How to Look Good Naked tv show) revealed that he believes that looking after your team is vitally important because a happy team is a happy business: “You only have a happy team by investing time into each person and really understanding what cogs make each one work.”

Dale sees that if the work life/atmosphere is kept exciting, this is key to having motivated staff:

“On top of this you should have incentives, make sure you spend plenty of time interacting with your team and find out what they want and how you can help them grow to achieve whatever this may be.” 

Dale echoed what Tina said about remembering not everyone is the same: “Everyone is different and one incentive that works for one person may not motivate another, so that’s why it’s important to know your team and what makes each of them tick.”

Don’t forget that it is easy for clients to see if your staff are unhappy, it creates a flat environment within the salon and this doesn’t only disrupt other team members, it can also ruin a client’s salon experience, in turn, making them far less likely to return. Your staff should be the life and soul of your salon party.

While setting targets is a great way to encourage your staff to go above and beyond within their work, Dale notes the importance of being realistic: “No one wants to slog away at something when they don’t see how they will ever reach it. We like to have a chat with each team member about what they are billing through the till and discuss how we can increase it. For example, say we want a team member to make another 10% on top of what they take per year. We break that down per month, and then again per day so that everyone can see that what might seem like a lot, is actually really easy to achieve and makes the team aware that they can hit targets, making them grow. Sometimes targets can be daunting until they are explained.”

We were keen to find out what Dale’s top three factors to make him happy at work would be, to which he said: “A friendly work environment, lots of opportunity and the ability to grow.”

Owner of Palm Springs Hair and Beauty Chloe Murphy ensures she is constantly engaging with her team as she sees her staff as a representation of her and the brand: “By keeping your staff happy you are less likely to have a high staff turnover. They are more likely to have repeat clients too as their job enjoyment is often reflected within their work, resulting in a smoother running salon.”

Chloe uses a range of ways to keep her team motivated and her top 3 are through incentives, encouraging staff to try new products, and also through staff meals and trips. However Chloe noted that a potential challenge which fellow salon owners could face is unwanted, unhealthy competition amongst members of staff: “To counteract this we make sure that any challenges we run are kept fair.” Added Chloe.

Unmotivated staff are likely to bring a negative energy into the workplace. According to Chloe, a salon should be a fun and relaxed environment which clients can enjoy and the employees’ work should reflect this: “You need to maintain a good energy and motivate your staff to work hard, challenge themselves and enjoy their job. When your employees feel supported, they are less inclined to look for work elsewhere.

“Incentives work to help encourage your staff to generate more business, meet their targets and help refine their skills. I often use the incentive of a monetary bonus, as it keeps the workplace more exciting and fast-paced.”

We’ve established that having motivated staff can often be the key to a successful business and it’s evident, thanks to the experts, that there are plenty of ways to do this. Whether it is taking your team out for lunch or a fun day out, setting goals with a bonus when reached, having monthly catch-up meetings or even just ensuring your work environment is a friendly one… No-one wants to work somewhere where they feel under-appreciated. Thanks to the professionals we’ve also been able to take note that setting goals are highly beneficial, as having something to work towards keeps it exciting and will keep an employee on their toes. However setting goals which are unachievable are a waste of time. For any more tips or advice, don’t hesitate to contact us.