Every business, not matter the industry, faces turnover. People come and go, they move, they face career choices or leave for what they perceive to be greener pastures. The more stable and organized a business is the better chances that staff retention increases. It really is a numbers game and increases the percentage that stay comes down to the leaders in the business taking the time to create an environment that fosters growth and creativity. This is important in the salon and spa industry when you consider that many salon or spa owners are working with clients which take a lion share of their time away from developing their talent. If an owner allows their busyness to get in the way of running their business then they will face higher turnover rates and find themselves constantly recruiting.
One way to minimize turnover issues and increase longevity is to create a plan that helps future employees become part of the culture is to create a solid new hire orientation plan.
A new hire orientation plan is an organized approach to welcoming a new hire to the business in a way that is succinct, scheduled, inspiring and powerful. It helps both the owner, the existing team and the new team member.
The owner will benefit from the mere fact of having everything organized, scheduled, delegated and something that can be tracked. This is a big confidence booster. The existing team benefits by having to worry less about a new hire learning the ropes and also provides an opportunity for them to play a part in the development process. This helps those motivated to grow as a leader and helps the new hire build relationships more rapidly.
The new hire benefits the most by having everything planned out and in front of them. This raises self-accountability while creating immediate confidence in leadership and a sense of stability that comes from not having to worry about what they will be doing every day.
A new hire orientation plan consists of a weekly plan that melds study time to acquaint the new hire with policies, procedures, systems, retail education and technical development. Policies include things like studying the employee handbook, their positional job description and confidentiality agreements.
A procedural checklist will support the learning of opening, closing, daily, weekly, monthly and cleaning procedures by position. Other procedures include time cards, key release forms, education reimbursement, vacation, etc.
Once these fundamentals are down, the process can then veer into the cultural beliefs and philosophy of the business. The new hire will learn and embody the companies vision statement, mission statement and core values and be introduced to systems that align with them such as consultation and retail education which will become a part of their training and study in the weeks ahead.
The introduction and explanation of the salon or spa’s educational calendar will play a key role in the development and motivation of a new hire. They will clearly set how they will be supported on an ongoing basis. This will also include financial, retail and personal goals.
The final piece of the orientation process will center around customer service training, front desk procedures and learning any ancillary scripts and systems that will help them deal with situations that will arise such as screening calls, dealing with customer complaints, etc.
We’ve just scratched the surface of what truly is a key part of your recruiting process. Take the time necessary to get your new hire orientation process either in place or updated. The more comprehensive it is the better chance you help new team members come in to your environment and make an impact is less time. Not to mention keeping them longer!
If you need these systems and templates be sure to purchase Interdependent Leadership right in my store. You will have access to all of these templates to create new hire orientation systems so you can customize them to fit your salon/spa culture.
