Top 5 tips on motivating staff

5 easy ways to incentivise your team

Finding and retaining staff is an issue faced by salons up and down the country. It might feel like it’s out of your control but there are steps you can take to help incentivise and motivate your staff to encourage them to stay. When staff feel valued and recognised for their hard work it creates an environment where everyone feels supported and determined to work together to achieve the same goals.

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Compensate your staff

One of the easiest ways you can incentivise your staff is through compensation. Monetary compensation, like bonuses, is an excellent way for staff to have something to work towards knowing there’s a cash reward at the end. Bonuses can be set monthly, quarterly or yearly and could be anything from a percentage of the salon’s overall takings or a pre-agreed lump sum. Bonuses can be paid out once staff reach a specific target which can be pre-agreed and its progress monitored in Slick.

If you can’t offer bonuses then be honest about earning potential. For junior staff make it clear the steps they’ll need to take to move up to the next level and how much they can expect to earn when they get there. Give a clear action plan of what they’ll need to do and log any targets in Slick, so they understand how you can help them progress and what they need to do to reach their full potential.

Another great way to compensate your staff is to team up with local small businesses in the area and see if you can offer one another discounts for your staff. Perhaps your local coffee shop will offer your staff cheap coffee while you can offer their staff a percentage off their next service with you in return.

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Recognise your staff

It’s easy to get stuck in the day-to-day running of your salon and become easily disconnected from your staff but it’s important to make sure you’re communicating effectively.

If you don’t do it already a monthly team meeting is a chance to get all your staff together and talk about the salon. Use it to update them with upcoming news about the business and share any goals you want to achieve and provide updates on the progress of these. This keeps staff in the loop and helps them feel as though they’re an important part of the salon’s success and future.

It’s also an opportunity to look back over the last month and thank your staff for their hard work. If a member of staff has gone above and beyond then speak about it or if someone else has achieved a goal, got a promotion or completed training use this time to come together as a team and celebrate their success.

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Tell them how you feel

Don’t forget to find the time to let your staff know you appreciate them. All too often we can get bogged down in the day-to-day running of things that we forget to tell people how we feel, assuming they know it already. But don’t take anything for granted and put in reminders to say thank you to your staff; why not praise them for something specific they’ve done or send them a handwritten note telling them you appreciate them being part of the team?

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Reward your staff

We mentioned earlier about compensating staff but you can also find fun ways to reward their hard work. Using a leaderboard with a prize for those who top it encourages staff to work hard knowing there’s a reward at the end. Leaderboards can be set up to track things like whoever sells the most products in a month or who gets the most positive client feedback. Plus a little healthy competition between staff can help make your salon a fun place to work.

You can also reward your staff’s hard work by arranging social events where you can come together as a team away from the salon. This is a chance to get to know one another on a personal level and help deepen your relationships with one another. Having these connections makes for a positive working environment where staff want to help and support each other. Why not arrange staff lunches and social evenings or make a point to celebrate birthdays? If you can contribute money and pay something towards these your staff will always appreciate it.

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Give staff clear targets to work towards

Staff tend to leave salons when they either feel like they’re not appreciated or feel like their work no longer inspires or challenges them. Keeping staff motivated can be tricky, especially if they’ve been working with you for a long time but setting actionable goals and targets can help staff feel inspired wherever they are in their career.

Put some time aside to talk to your staff, find out if there are areas they want to learn more about or feel they need more training in, find out about what they want their future to look like and think about the ways they can support your bigger business goals. Once you’ve agreed on some goals break them down into manageable targets so staff have something to work towards that feels tangible and achievable. Use Slick to keep track of targets so staff can refer back to their goals and measure their progress easily.

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Next steps

If you haven’t already, check out how to use Slick targets. If you’re already feeling confident but want to chat with other salons and find out their top tips for keeping staff motivated why not join a Slick:Ed community webinar where you can connect with like-minded salons and discuss the best ways to get the most out of your staff?

Join the next Webinar