Hey Salon Owners!! Listen up!

Your stylist's want to work hard!!
Just ask them!

Every day I spend time brainstorming and consulting with Salon Professionals and Salon owners.
Much of that time, feels like a "He said - She said" therapy session!
Most of the time the stylist's and owners are simply complaining about each other.. The best (or worst) part is the complaints are exactly the same:

From the stylists:
"The Owner doesn't care"
"She is so negative"
"they don't motivate me"
"the owner is jealous because I'm busier than her"
"all she wants is to make money off of my hard work"
"The owner won't advertise"
" there is no training here"
and the one that always makes me laugh inside "If I leave this place would close!"

From the salon owner's it's something like this:
"The people that work here don't care"
"Their not motivated"
"They won't act like a team"
"they won't dress professional"
"I'm tired of training people and they just leave"
"They just want me to hand them business without working for it"
and of course... "I want them to care about this business as much as I do"

And the list for both could go on..

Unfortunately whenever asked if they have talked to the other about their concern's the answer is, most of the time.. you guessed it..... NO!

You see the whole thing is just a big misunderstanding!
The truth is most people generally want to do a good job.
Isn't that true? Think about it, when was the last time that heard someone say,

"when I start a career, I'm gonna do a terrible job".
Most of the time people are not aware (owners and employees) of what is truly expected of them.
So, we go on doing what we think we should and never know what the other is thinking.
Many times, by the time we find it's too late. So how do we avoid this?

"Go In Asking"
Start setting time aside to at least once a month to communicate with each member of your staff.
Rebuilding rapport and trust with your staff and beginning to open up lines of communication on issues that may be on their mind.
At the Gene Juarez Salon, the Management team has a motto "Go In Asking", meaning if you want to know if your staff has something on their mind...Just Ask!

What we permit we promote
Generate some clarity on expectations and goal setting.
People want to know what is expected of them.
This is especially important for newer professionals in our industry.
They need guidance on what skills to focus on and how long is should take them to achieve certain benchmarks.
If an employee or owner is unaware of an expectation that we have of them they will assume that what they are doing is OK.
We need to be clear about the guidelines and behavior's that are acceptable in our salon from the start, the longer that we let it go, the harder it is to reform.



Appreciate yourself and your staff for their individuality.

How do each persons unique strengths and weaknesses add to your salon culture.
Identify the opportunities you have to grow together and what could you be working on to better yourselves and the business.

Schedule time out from behind the chair

(even if it's just 2 or 3 hours per week) to check in with your staff and give them your attention towards planning their growth and development
If we stay focused, as my pal Randy Kunkel says "Grow people for a living, and do hair for fun!!"

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