6 Thoughts on Hiring and Motivating Salon Employees

"It was like the divine 'aha' occurred about 10 years ago when I realized that hiring smart made all the difference," says Bonnie Waters, owner of Changes Salon and Day Spa (who employs over 60 stylists). "When we did that, and we really did a thorough interview, there's so much less turnover and less money spent in training and so on."

Here are six other professional opinions on the hiring/interviewing process and building an effective salon team, offered by Salon Success.

Jeffery Lay, author of TOPGUN on Wall Street  (advisor and motivational speaker): "The only way to grow the business is if you can actually work on the business rather than running around working in the business. It’s really about scaling and leveraging your personal time."

Kevin Williams, owner of Studio 2000: "We informed our staff members that we’re in business to make them money and to make us money. So we’re partners in the business. One of the things that we don’t want to do is interrupt our business because we’ve invested in the facility, advertising and marketing, training of each staff member. So what we ask is that they partner with us by not competing with us. So we have a two year non-compete agreement, which means when they leave our employ for whatever reason, they cannot work within ten miles of us for a period of two years."

Joshua Dziabiak, Founder of Show Clix (Million dollar revenue company) On Hiring: "The first couple people, certainly your business partner, your first two or three employees, will really set the tone and the foundation for what your culture will become as a company and as a brand. So pick your employees, pick your team members, pick your partners wisely and make sure you enjoy being around them."

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com (Billion dollar retailer) On Hiring: "I think a lot of companies, especially those just starting out, like to hire quickly just because there’s so much work to be done and then kind of drag their feet and end up firing people slowly when they’re not a great fit for the company. When what we’ve learned over the years at Zappos is that it’s much more important to flip that. Make sure that you hire slowly, but when you know someone’s not a good fit, fire quickly."

Kevin Rosenberg, Founder of Gear To Go Outfitters (Brooklyn’s largest retailer) On Hiring: "When you’re initially starting out, you’re going to be usually taking out ads. Be as specific as possible in the ad and what your requirements are. Because you’re going to get flooded with applicants, especially in this economy. Post the salary you’re going to pay. If somebody is expecting to earn $40 an hour and you’re paying $10, you don’t want to waste their time or yours. And you don’t want to flood your inbox with people thinking it’s going to pay more."

Dee Levin, formerly Owner of Salon Norman-Dee (Salon Success Hall of Fame) on Interviewing: "The first time someone comes in for an interview, either myself or my coordinator will interview them. On that visit after the interview, they are given a copy of the salon philosophies and our salon goals and they will be told to make a visit the second time and they will visit with the opposite person. What we do then is go over did they really read the philosophies and did they really read the goals. That way, we will know if they are focused then on really wanting the job."

The above text was sourced from “Episode 1: Hiring and Motivating Employees” by Salon Success: A Video Series for Business Education and Strategies. Salon Success delivers processes used by successful salons and growing businesses in finding and growing loyal, trustworthy and high performing people that you would want to work with. Strategies are shared by their experts on hiring concepts, conducting a winning interview, what to seek in a candidate and motivating new hires. Salon Success can teach you how to effectively review and reward best practices that contribute to the well-being of your salon for the long term.