Ideas from the List - Addressing the Hiring Challenge

Every salon or spa owner is familiar with the challenge of finding quality employees. Recently, there has been a great deal of discussion on the salon/spa listserve about creative ways to seek out new employees. Here are some highlights:

Be cautious hiring...especially if the application says they are presently employed at such-and-such salon. I don't hire anyone unless they are completely disengaged from previous salon employment. It's a matter of principle and of professional courtesy. I also prefer to "grow my own."
Karie Bennett
Atelier Aveda Lifestyle Salon Spa (San Jose, CA)

Get to know the good schools in your area. Do classes, job shadowing, job fairs. Get to know their students, and get them to know you. Send them new prospective students, and they will send you qualified graduates.
John Halal
Honors Beauty College, Inc. (Indianapolis, IN)

Why don't you hire in [cosmetology] students as part time receptionists and see what you think of their performance? If you like them, put them into training while they're in school and have them ready to hit the floor when they graduate.
Jeanne Lennon
Lennonheads Salon & Spa (Worthington, OH)

If you really want to hire good help, you should do an apprentice program to polish the people you hire. If they have years of experience but are not up to your standards of work, then everyone, no matter who, goes through it.
Robin R Corey
Jacar Beauty Lounge (Gilbert, AZ)

Hiring great people is an art in itself. I have never found great people by advertising. Instead, I find when I developed an understandable manual, and enforce it, and communicate clearly and consistently, it's made a huge difference…
Laura Quackenbush
Off Broadway Salon (Brookfield, WI)

It is hard to find and keep the right people. Narrow it down even more… 1. Add a non-compete contract. 2. Ask them if booth rent[al] is their goal, and if so, [explain that] probably this is not the place for them. Hiring right is imperative.
T. Patricia Helmandollar
Savvy Salon and Day Spa (Cornelius, NC)

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