Michael van clarke on the importance of training

HJ’s official Build a Business mentor Michael Van Clarke gives an insight into the importance of training at his award-winning salon. How important to Michael Van Clarke is training? Personally – a life without learning isn’t worth living. Professionally - the nature of hairdressing means continual training has to be part of our business model. What percentage of training is conducted in-house? About 95% of our training would be carried out by our own team. This would be practical on-the-job training in the salon or at shows and seminars by our practising experts. We also have a dedicated trainer to take the apprentices through their MVC foundation programme linked to the NVQ. What outside training providers do you use and why? We’ll use external experts to give broader training on life-skills and personal development as well as specific technical skills. So in a year our team may be at Philip Kingsley learning trichology; at a Tony Robbins seminar in some exotic location; learning improvisation skills from leading theatrical experts, presentation skills from RADA lecturers, and team building skills which have them shooting guns, riding horses and swinging from trees. I believe creativity comes from cross pollinating skills and abilities and the more experiences one gets the better one can survive and be successful in any arena.  We also have our salon book club which has everyone reading a book each month on a range of topics around business and personal development. What basic training should any new salon business have in place? Training processes should cover all the technical skills being delivered to clients (cut, colour, blow-dry etc.) and each aspect of the client care journey. The team will also need training on self awareness, self leadership, personal presentation, and foundation business skills. How should a new salon owner decide on the training needs of staff members? Other than the principle that Continual Professional Development (CPD) is key to business survival, listening to client feedback, observing the team at work, and testing them will show the shortfall between the vision of standards for the business, and what’s actually happening. What methods can a salon owner use to make training a motivational and enjoyable experience? People are motivated by and enjoy personal achievement. Deliver practical training that brings results quickly. Success builds confidence and is very motivating. Try something different. Team-building days out are fun and bring the team together in learning seemingly unrelated skills. Get the students to teach something. It’s great to be able to make training fun but finding the route through challenges can be hard sometimes.  Showing a student a way to speak to a client that ensures a successful outcome is motivating. How can you develop more experienced team members to become great trainers? Train-the-trainer programmes are important too. If the key trainer is the owner then their continual development is vital. Everyone has something to give, and everyone has to keep learning to stay fresh and motivated. Leadership training helps keep the more senior members focused and motivated.