Whatever an employees role may be, they are usually ALWAYS needed for a task or to simply help the operation run smoothly. For the most part, you will find Assistants in the back room or hidden somewhere if they are not actually busy working. Many Salon Owners face this dilema. Some address it and some ignore it, meanwhile their Salon is not running up to par because of a lack of work ethic.
Employees need to be seen and must present themselves to be busy at all times unless they are taking a break. Hiding in the back room, kitchen, outside or anywhere where you have to search 15 minutes to find them is not acceptable. If you do find them, they are usually on their cell phones texting away.
Do any Salon Owners suffer from this issue?
TheSalonGuy wants to know!
I call this room the Stylist Lounge and its a great place to chat and catch up on personal going on's with the other stylist.
ReplyDeleteStylist's need a break from the tension or stress form some clients. Yes they should be doing more to help around the salon.
For one thing stylist could spend some time cleaning up their work space which often looks messy. Or staighten up stuff around the salon would show you care.
PS: I really enjoy George Caroll's articles. Refreshing and very innteresting.
well well well...wat cha gonna do???...the girls i work w/ are awesome & always willing to help...yeah sometimes they are txting. but who isnt??? thats life nowadays...welcome to the Future! OOOOO....
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reply. Texting actually is a thing of the past, however it's just more common to see more people doing it these days.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to have others help when needed as that builds team value. oF vourse this depends on how the people look at it and their experience. Unfortunately, there is somewhat of a standard when it comes to work ethic, and it's harder to find Salons or Staff that really have a grasp on this issue and all work for a common goal.
As a salon owner I encourage stylist to take a break from this hairy biz and the back room is the best place to crash. It's also a place to bond with your mates...chat about personal stuff.
ReplyDeleteTexting ---why not it faster then a phone call and away to find out what your kids or friends are doing....the salon does not have to be all biz. But like anything their is a limit.
The back room if a luxury if you have one (most salons don't) have the space for a place to land between client visit. Consider your self lucky to work in a salon with oone.
Thanks for your reply George. Great to hear your comments especially that you are a Salon Owner. There are many different angles to look at this and MANY Salons suffer from this simply because I hear it time and time again and also see it with my own eyes. Salons need to have a vision of how they operate and have a better lockdown on how things operate. Maybe create break time for Stylists or Assistants, have it scheduled or organized a lot better. Many times employees tend to "hide" at times when they are needed without anyone knowing where they are. Communication is key and so is organization. Clients should not have to go hunt Stylists or Assistants down when they want to tip them or say good bye. Employees should be aware of the Client leaving or even coming in and go out of their way to greet them and service them if they are free.
ReplyDeleteI am interested in hearing about this from a clients perspective.
Dear Salon Guy,
ReplyDeleteI'm curious as to what your credentials are. You seems to talk a lot of talk, but where is the resume of YOUR experience? How many salons have you worked in? What different geographical locations have you worked in? How many salons have you owned? The way you write sounds as if you have blinders on and are not taking into account all that goes on in a salon, i.e., how busy the salon is, how big it is, and who is offering these assistants motivation in the first place. Assistants are meant to assist stylists and learn from them, not be slaves to them. If they don't want to be out on the floor learning, you should be thinking about what the stylists are doing wrong to not motivate others in the first place.
As for when clients have to "hunt people down" to tip them, there is no need to hand the tip directly to them if the stylist or assistant is busy. There's nothing I hate more then a client heading into the back room or the lunch room to locate someone to tip them when there's perfectly good tip envelopes elsewhere in the salon. Workers need to have an area free from clients so they don't need to feel "on guard" at all times, and if we invite them to find us we are basically giving them full run of the salon. It is inappropriate for them to be in employee only areas.
Hello to the last person who commented and thank you for your input. You can review some of my background on this page by simply clicking on my profile. It will give you a brief overview of my experience and background. In a Nutshell, been in the Industry since 1992. Assisted for at least 4 years in various Salons, been treated as a slave assistant, been through many salons that taught me what NOT to do. Then went on to become an Educator for L'Oreal Professionelle while working in a Salon after getting my license and as my career progressed. I have been in competitions for Styling, Cutting, have trained in New York, London, Vegas and New Jersey. I am currently an Educator for John Paul Mitchell Systems and have been in over 200 Salons in my career providing education and hundreds of Stylists. I have been very fortunate for what I have seen and have been trained by many of the Industry leaders. I do not claim to be a know it all, nor brag about myself. I simply share my experiences here with others and look for feedback such as yours.
ReplyDeleteAbout the comment you made, I agree with you to a certain degree. When an assistant spends the majority of the time hiding when they should be visible and a Client OR Stylist has to hunt them down 80% of the time there is a problem. I believe in great customer service and I have seen too little service and this is why I am posting what I did. It really all depends on the type of Salon, the Staff, the Goals, etc. You can have a Salon that doesn't seem to care who is where or what they are doing, but you can also have a Salon that does and operates in such a way where things like this don't come up. Again I share this simply because I have seen it too many times and I go to Salons to teach them how to help grow their business and work together as a team. I certainly text, eat, get a breath of fresh air, but I also am always visible and if I am not, I am making people aware of where they can find me. I also personally greet my clients when I can and escort them to the door when I can. It depends on the level of service you want to provide and how you want to present yourself and your Salon.
Would you mind sharing YOUR experience with us?
Thanks
I also agree with what you said about Clients not having access to employee areas. My view is that Clients end up there for the exact reason I made this post. Because they can't FIND the employee. This is a touchy topic simply because every Salon operates differently. I have been in more dysfunctional ones than functional. Stylists should be motivating the assistants, however it should go the other way. Sometimes assistants take advantage of what they are doing and simply just want the extra tips and have no passion or desire for what they do. They also can have no ideas as to how to actually assist someone and want to learn. I personally know what I did and the type of person I was and am. From the Owner to the reservationist all have to be on the same page and have a clear goal on what needs to happen to run a successful Salon.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your input!
hmmm...interesting
ReplyDelete