Keeping a salon team 'fit for business'

Hairdressing is a fantastic career for creative expression, growth and opportunity but the long hours, time spent standing bent over clients and eating-on-the-go can be tough on health. So, at a time when hard-hitting headlines have warned us that more than half of the UK population will be clinically obese by 2050, some salon owners are starting to realise the importance of helping their staff to lead a healthy lifestyle. Barrie Stephen is one such employer who is taking a proactive approach to caring for his salon teams. He is launching a 'Fit for Business’ programme that gives his employees the tools, time and motivation to really take control of their wellbeing."Hairdressing isn’t really geared up for health!" explains Barrie. "We polled our team and most of them skipped breakfast, had little or no exercise in the day, grabbed lunch on the go and were likely to spend only 5-10 minutes actually sitting down and eating an evening meal. "We want our ‘Fit for Business’ concept to support a healthier lifestyle for our staff. Ultimately it’s win/win.” In October 2007, Barrie piloted his program for a fitter healthier lifestyle in three in his Leicestershire salon teams. The results have been so positive he plans to roll out a comprehensive 12-month plan for all four of his salons in January 2008. But Barrie believes the success of the programme depends upon educating salon staff to make healthy choices rather than forcing ‘Fit for Business’ on them. He adds: "We’re just putting information and ideas in front of people and giving them the chance to change. The team are really on-board with this, it’s inclusive rather than being instructive and when you get the team’s buy in it really works. "We’ve done plenty of research to find the right motivational and helpful instructors and experts to present at our team meetings. The idea is that we’ll all become fitter, cut out or down on smoking and generally thinking healthier." Each month will be hosted by a fresh theme and programmes of talks, activities and sessions to support a fresh approach to wellbeing. Themes include:

• Exercise – a personal trainer will introduce morning stretches and exercise plus tips on how to integrate regular exercise into the teams’ daily routines such as ‘Walk to Work Week’.
• Nutrition – meal planning and advice on daily requirements and a balanced diet to include healthy fast foods and hi-energy natural snacks plus the ‘Healthy Eating Challenge’.
• Physiotherapy –for positive patterns of body movement and use of the workspace including posture.
• Life coaching – a look at inner well being and a planned approach to work/life balance and fulfilling personal goals.
• Stress management – stress busting exercises and positive ways to tackle stressful situations and improve help such as the ‘Quit Smoking’ initiative.