“A better dialogue between staff and management will combat staff turnover and misunderstandings.” Jon Gonzales

Earning the trust and loyalty of members of your staff is a constant challenge for salon owners.

Why do some hairdressers perform so poorly? Why do some hairdressers allow themselves to be drawn into salon gossip and pettiness?

Why do some hairdressers constantly change jobs? Why do some hairdressers always blame the boss for not being busy? Why do some hairdressers refuse to be part of your team?

The list goes on and on. Who’s really to blame? Is it the owner? Hairdresser? Our beauty schools?

I think we all bare some responsibility.

I really don’t believe that hairdressers perform poorly on purpose, they just were not taught properly in the beginning  of their training and education. Our beauty school system needs educational change to better meet job market and consumer demands.

There is so much more hairdressers need to learn.

An apprenticeship or internship would be a good start,unfortunately with our new labor laws , make this difficult.

Many salon owners also share the blame, many fail to develop the leadership and communication skills to improve staff loyalty, so they can better communicate  and inspire their team.

Hairdressers also must look in the mirror and ask themselves do I really go all out to maximize my full learning and earning potential? Am I always looking for excuses to fail?

Have I asked my boss how I can improve? I do hope this blog post will help.

The following tips will help salon owners bridge the gap and misunderstandings between staff and management. We need to fight this obstacle together:

Earn Their Trust and Loyalty — excellence begins at the top! When you chose to be a salon owner, it is your responsibility to help your team succeed. Leaders know how to motivate and inspire their workers to higher levels of excellence. Let your staff know you value their hard work and loyalty. Seek out opinions from your staff.

Select the Right Team Members — carefully screen out the people you hire. Will they be compatible with your other staff members? Will they share your goals, vision and educational guidelines? Will they contribute to a team culture?

Invest in Educating and Training Your Team—do you take the time towards investing in your salon’s greatest profit potential — educating your team? Did you clearly define your expectations and how those expectations will be measured in your employee hand book? A little pat on the back once in a while will do wonders.

Mentoring —  like a flower booming,carefully take a personal  interest in helping your team member reach higher levels of excellence. Carefully nurture their development. My book on leadership will be very useful. Click Here.

Seek Employee Feedback — let them know you value their opinions, give them permission to criticize you without taking it personally. Let them know your door is always open if they have concerns.

Keep Them Busy — The higher levels of excellence in training, the higher your referral rate will increase. Work hard to develop powerful marketing skills to attract customers. Make sure you monitor their referral and retention rate

It is my desire that these tips will help bridge the gap between staff and management so we can better understand each others career and business needs.

We as hairdresser’s and salon owners need each other more than ever before, let us try to communicate and understand each other so we can grow our careers and business to higher levels. You’re invited to view my educational web site. Click here.  This will help meet the growing challenges we all face.

Please share this with other owners and hairdressers; I need your help if you want me to continue.