Creating career paths for your salon staff

Ricky Lee Jones, Jones & Payne, Shoreditch, East London talks about how he encourages careers within his salon. Can you give an example of a trainee you have encouraged in their career? James Lewis joined us from the start as an assistant and trained under myself and our education team. He completed his stylist training with a flawless presentation and has continued to develop as a stylist. He was quickly promoted to a creative stylist and more recently to assistant manager. We encouraged him by setting realistic goals to becoming a stylist, focusing on client retention as a judge to his success. Is it possible in a business of your size to ensure everyone can progress in their career? We are an expanding company and our intention is to keep growing. We have a loyal client base with nearly 10,000 clients. By offering promotions and, in the future, the chance to work at other locations, there will always be room for progression. What opportunities do you offer your team that keep them motivated and loyal to your company? We offer our team a lot of support in their job role. We run competitions based on product sales and client retention. Regular appraisals and team meetings also ensure our staff stay motivated. We also take our team on regular nights out to keep morale high – in Shoreditch, that’s easy! If someone does leave, what will they have learnt during their time with you? We believe teamwork is key to success, so they will definitely take away how important that is. They will also have exceptional customer service skills and a good attitude. What advice would you offer a young hairdresser wanting to carve out a career for themselves? To be friendly, down to earth and hard working. Show enthusiasm and become part of the team. Most importantly, be proud of your work and your place of work. What do you look for from a prospective team member? Enthusiasm, motivation, a good personality, career drive, and a team player. What advice would you offer other salon owners? Put yourself in your team members’ shoes, think about how you would want to be treated by your manager. Be firm but fair and keep morale high.