Motivate your team for a successful salon business

If there is just one thing in your business you review this January, make sure it is team motivation, says Antony Whitaker. A motivated team will make all the difference between a successful, healthy business and one that bumps along, with management taking way more effort than it should. There are quick-fix ways to motivate and there are reactive ways. You could stoke up some competition, but you’ll always end up with just one winner and a whole bunch of losers – not great for team morale. You could try the big stick approach. But that leads to resentment and intimidation. You could keep harping on about how everyone could do better. But nagging eventually leads to selective deafness. A much better way is to take a look at how you fulfil your team’s six basic needs. Address these and you will have a well-functioning, engaged and enthusiastic group of people working for you. Six needs to address

• Connection – what level of connection does your team feel with you, with one another, with the brand? What processes do you have to encourage engagement? What could you do that you aren’t doing?
• Significance – regardless of age or position, do all members of your team feel they matter to the salon? Do they feel they are relied on and trusted to deliver an important component of the end result? Does your team feel needed and appreciated? What else could you do?
• Variety – is there diversity in the jobs they do? Are your team members doing the same old boring, repetitive jobs day in day out? How could you inject a little bit of colour into their days?
• Security – do all member of your team feel secure in their jobs? If they don’t have a sense of security what’s the chance of you getting their full commitment and loyalty? How can you make them feel more secure?
• Need to grow – what opportunities do you create for your team to learn and to grow, to become more than they already are, not just in their jobs but in their lives?
• Need to contribute – people like to feel they are part of something bigger than themselves. They want to feel they are contributing to the success of the community they live and work in. So is their contribution appreciated?

Too often we look for short-term ways to motivate our team, and while short-term goals and on-going acknowledgement are essential, we forget to look at the more fundamental and deeper needs of our people. For a truly successful business, the team must understand the benefits of mutual support, that they are part of something bigger and that they control were they are going. So what next? We are back where we started. You need to review what you do and make a list of your shortcomings and your strengths. From there, draw up a checklist of the top three from each and work on them. Then you need to sit down with your team and look at the six fundamental needs and get their input on any areas where you could collectively improve. It’s the best kind of motivation there is. You’ll be amazed at the result.   Antony Whitaker is the man behind Grow Your Salon Business. He is an acclaimed educator, motivator and author, delivering seminars around the world. His latest book, Grow 3: Team has just been published. Visit www.growmysalonbusiness.com for further information.