Turning staff members into a salon team
Published
16th Jan 2014
by bathamm
At almost every seminar I give I ask delegates what is the main challenges facing them and the answer is pretty much the same everywhere I go, be it Mumbai, London, Shanghai or New York – staff.
The success of any salon revolves around its staff yet it is a constant challenge: from finding them, training them, motivating them, keeping them to inspiring them. And I use the term ‘staff’ purposely, because just employing a group of people doesn’t automatically make them a team.
In the third book in my GROW Your Business series, I have focused on TEAM and how to grow it from a disparate group of individuals into a cohesive, motivated and inspired team. It is a tough one, and it needs constant vigilance.
So what is the first step to growing that successful team? A successful team must share common goals, purpose, vision and values and if you can start off with a group of people whose goals, purpose, vision and values are aligned you are on to a winner. Sadly, that rarely happens. So here’s what you need to do:
- Understand right from day one that you have a wide mix of people in your employ. From the outset your business will be rife with differences of opinion and conflicting agenda. Understanding this is the very essence of what makes a team work.
- Accept that you are the glue that will bring together these differences and that only you can mould people into a team through strong, visionary leadership.
- Don’t expect to have all the answers or that success will come easily. Have the courage to begin, to risk, to challenge the status quo and if/when you fail, have the courage to get up and try again, and again and again.
- Recognise that everyone on the team has something to contribute.
- Try to be objective (most of the time). Take ownership of your own weaknesses and those of your business rather than look to blame someone else for their problems and their shortcomings.
