Salon recruitment: Finding the ‘one’!

A common concern that we often hear from business owners in the beauty and hair sectors is recruitment and staff retention. How do you attract the right beauty and hair professionals to your salon or spa, and how do ensure they settle in and stay with you?

Recruitment of staff is a stressful process. It can be time consuming and sometimes expensive. For sole traders or those working in a busy salon as well as running it, the process of recruitment is absolutely necessary but perhaps isn't give the attention it deserves. Therefore, you need to be absolutely clear on how you go about the process, the job you are trying to fill, and who you are looking to recruit.

However, don't think of recruitment as a bind, consider how attracting the right staff to your salon would propel your business forward. Attracting the very best talent, who deliver impeccable treatments, will open more opportunities for you.

Speaking at January's Phorest Salon Owners Summit 2019, salon coach David Barnett commented:

“Most of you focus on ways to make your salon stand out to the customer; but what if you switch your focus to stand out to stylists, technicians or therapists as a great place to work? What would happen is, you'd attract the top talent in your area; and the customers would naturally follow.”

Who are you looking for?

At the start of the recruitment process, consider just what your business needs. There's no one job advertisement that will fit all. 

“Before you begin the search be clear as to exactly what their job description will entail,” says Helena Linksy, Co-Director of Q61 nail and beauty studio.

What treatment demands are you struggling to fulfil? Do you need someone fully qualified and highly experienced who can slot straight into your business, or would you prefer someone fresh out of college, or with a year's experience, who you can mould into your perfect member of staff? Being clear at this point will save you time and money later in the recruitment process. 

You also need to find someone who understands the ethos of your business, and has values and an attitude which fit with this.

“Finding good staff can be challenging but it helps to be clear on what type of person would suit the business,” says Linda Hill, founder of Linda Hill Recruitment. “A good starting point is to determine the company values. Think of the promise you make to your clients on what you deliver and the promise to your staff on what you offer as an employee. When values are aligned, there tends to be a mutual respect and staff stay longer.”

Helena adds: 

“Think about every aspect of the business and how they, as an individual, will fit in with this. Use personal experience to determine exactly what you are looking for in a person to fulfil the job role and visit competitors to see how their staff interact and engage with clients, to help you to establish the key things that are important to your business.

“An ideal employee is someone who gets your brand from the get-go. They need to be focused, disciplined and have a can-do attitude, and while their skill set is of course important, what stands out most to us is someone who is good with people.”

Sometimes the individual's personality can count for more than their level of qualification. Simon Hill, Owner of SESH Hairdressing explains: 

“I always look for individuals with a real passion for hairdressing, I need to believe that they have a love for the industry and are truly passionate about the craft. In my experience you can provide training and education to build brilliant stylists but this is only possible if they enjoy it and wholeheartedly want to be there.”

Linda Hill agrees:

“The biggest mistake hiring managers make is to only recruit for skill. Skills can be taught so don't let good candidate slip through the net because they don't perform certain treatments or have not trained with a certain product house. Bear in mind that therapists who are fully trained in all the treatments you offer will have less career development. You will need to think of other ways to incentivise them so they have longevity with the company.”

Finding ‘the one'

Today's recruitment marketplace is so much more varied than in the past. Gone are the days when you just pop an advert into the local newspaper or shop window, sit back and wait for the CVs to roll in. You need to make your salon stand out from the crowd as ‘the' place to work. “Don't limit yourself to passive recruitment by simply posting an advert and hoping for the best,” says Helena.

David Barnett suggests that wording your advert cleverly to appeal to your target audience can work wonders in recruitment, not only encouraging more replies but also a better calibre of candidate.

Where to advertise

Think like your therapists, and advertise your vacancy using the mediums that they interact with the most, such as social media, as Karen Thomson, Owner of KAM Hair and Body Spa advises:

“At KAM we particularly use our Facebook and Instagram platforms to promote positions at the salon, which can also be boosted/promoted within the area. This is a great tool as it helps to target specific people in your location and you can also target the posts to people's interests i.e. hairdressing/hairstylists etc.”

Helena Linksy agrees: “Look through social media, and approach any potential candidates that have a style and image that fits your salon's brand. CVs will help you assess qualifications and experience, but often it's through your own research, and then the interview process, that you really get to understand a [candidate's] personality, approach and work ethic, and they can be just as important as – if not more than – a certificate.”

When posting an advert on social media, remember to make it visual, use positive wording and be clear and concise about the job and working environment, and to include a deadline date for when applications should be received. 

“When creating an advert or a social media post it's so important that you think carefully about the copy and target audience,” says Karen. “You're looking for the perfect candidate for your salon, so it's important that you highlight all the things you would like from that candidate e.g. determined and passionate about hair and the hairdressing industry. If you're looking for a high level stylist / therapist, it's key that you note this in the text so that you do not have people without the right experience applying for the position and it may be worthwhile including in the copy how much experience you would like the stylist to have. 

“I also think it's beneficial to include why the candidate should choose your salon, what it has to offer, how it can help develop their career and any incentives that the salon has for the candidate that may make them want to apply for the position.”

Of course, there's no harm in using more traditional methods in addition to social media, especially if they're low cost. Helena outlines how she undertook a successful recruitment campaign utilising her clients:

“We have recently been recruiting for our new Q61 beauty salon, which opened in November in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and found that word-of-mouth and recommendations really helped us in the recruitment process. With this in mind use contacts within the industry, speak to clients and actively approach potential recruits who already have a good reputation in the area. Often they will have built up a solid client base who will be happy to follow them.”

Shortlisting your applicants

It's always the way with recruitment that you will attract applications from people not suitable for your business. Some people don't read adverts properly, won't be qualified or experienced to the level you require, or simply apply for every job they see advertised. So once your deadline date has passed, look through all applications and short list your favourites; you may have a shortlist of half a dozen, or just one or two, depending on the quality of applicants.

Always refer to the job description / criteria that you established at the start of the process, and try not to get distracted by anything irrelevant. 

At this point in the process it might be worth getting a second opinion from someone who knows your business. Ask someone you trust to read your job description, and then your applications, and short list those which match and invite them for an interview.

The interview process

It's a misconception that interviews are only for employers to decide whether a candidate is suitable. Interviews are two-way processes; prospective employees will be judging you and your business as much as you are judging whether they are suitable. No one wants to work in an environment that they feel uncomfortable in, or have a boss that they don't get on with, so it's important at the interview stage that you ‘sell' your salon to candidates in the most positive way.

“While it's crucial you find a candidate that fits your brand, your salon and your expectations, they won't be happy unless they feel it's a fit that works for them too,” says Helena. 

Make the interview more interactive than simply working through the candidate's CV. Show an interest in their hobbies and activities out of work, and you will gain a better insight into an individual's personality than just discussing qualifications. 

It's also vital to discover their long-term career objectives. “It is important to find out what their career goals are. If someone only wants to work in your salon for a year or two before travelling for example, you have to ask if this is beneficial to you and it may be worth your while to select another candidate,” suggests Simon. 

Make sure you are well prepared for questions that the candidate may have for you; be clear about the salary you are offering, incentives such as bonuses and commissions, career progression and training opportunities, working hours, and holiday entitlements etc. Don't promise anything that you can't or aren't willing to deliver. 

The skills test

In industries where practical ability is paramount, carrying out a skills test is a useful tool to ascertain whether a therapist or hairdresser has the level of skill you require, regardless of what their CV may say. Offer a skills test to your final one or two candidates, rather than your full shortlist.

Ask trusted friends or clients if they would help you out as a model, and request candidates perform standard treatments that you would expect them to complete competently at their skill level, such as massage, a facial or manicure. Importantly, observe the treatment. You need to see the therapist at work and hear how they interact with clients. 

“An ideal employee is someone who gets your brand from the get-go. They need to be focused, disciplined and have a can-do attitude, and while their skill set is of course important, what stands out most to us is someone who is good with people,” says Helena. “In a customer-focused business, client retention is key, and personality plays a huge part in establishing and retaining clients, so for us, it's key that we know from the start that someone will be able to deal with clients – the good and the bad – effectively and confidently.”

Remember to take into account the candidate's is nerves, so don't expect perfection, but look for skills that you can polish to your level. Observe them and think, ‘is this person representing what my business stands for?' 

The job offer

When you've interviewed and carried out skills tests, you should have a good understanding of whether an individual will fit in with your business requirements and you would like to work with them. 

It's good practice to contact unsuccessful shortlisted candidates to let them know; a simple email will suffice and enable them to pursue other opportunities. 

When you have chosen your preferred candidate, it's fine to make the job offer by telephone, but follow this up with a written offer of employment. Agree a start date, and look forward to welcoming your new member of staff.

Next month: So, you've found your perfect employee, but how do you keep them? We look at retaining your most valued members of staff.