ASK THE EXPERTS

Our beauty experts answer your questions about every aspect of running a salon or spa business

What can I do to attract and retain talent in 2023?

Therapists, practitioners and technicians are key to the success of our industry. But with a global labour shortage and candidates’ needs changing, recruiting can be a challenge. Here are some strategies to help:

1. Understand your audience: before you even start the hiring process, ask yourself about what inspires you at work. This is a great way to better understand your potential candidate and how to position your role to attract their attention.

2. Be open-minded about your requirements: don’t discount talent with potential or someone returning to work after a career break.

3. Offer part-time working options: what candidates are looking for has changed dramatically since the pandemic. Expand your pool by considering part-time options.

4. Showcase your team’s culture: 40% of candidates consider a company’s culture a priority when selecting a job, according to a LinkedIn report in 2022. Highlight your culture and values in your job advertisements and interviews.

5. Foster diversity: in a Deloitte survey, 83% of millennials reported higher levels of engagement when they believed their company fostered an inclusive culture.

6. Support training and development: in your interviews, talk to candidates about how they’d like to develop.

7. Promote wellness: investing in wellness programmes and employees’ mental health can improve your team culture, retention, productivity and ability to attract future talent.

8. Look beyond the CV: don’t discount a candidate because their CV has formatting issues or there are gaps in their career history. You might miss out on somebody great.

Louise Guilfoyle is group head of talent acquisition at Laser Clinics Group, which has a global network of over 200 clinics.

Is it a good idea to undertake courses outside of our industry?

The answer to this is yes, absolutely – it's great to think outside the box. I feel extremely passionate about mental health and have undertaken a mindfulness course to help me cope with the stresses and strain of everyday life.

After doing this, I was motivated to learn how to become a mindfulness practitioner, as I could see the benefits this could have on my clients. This has also allowed me to incorporate mindfulness meditation into my treatments, and has helped my clients get the best experience from my services. It also comes into my teaching and training courses – so learning mindfulness can help you personally, but also help clients, colleagues and staff.

A pilates or yoga course will further help you with your stress levels, along with your posture. In our work, standing, sitting and leaning can take its toll on our bodies, therefore we must look after ourselves, so we don’t get injured.

First aid is another important course that I feel everyone should do in or out of our industry. I have had to use these important skills on more than one occasion in my working and teaching environment, and I’m so grateful I had this training.

Social media is here to stay and is another area worth knowing more about, so attending online social media and marketing courses will be a great advantage.

I believe that everyone in the industry should do a course in skin cancer awareness, particularly one that is aimed at hair and beauty professionals. With this valuable training you could potentially save a life by spotting if there are any changes in a client's moles/lesions, or if anything irregular appears, and advise them to seek medical attention.

Lisa Stone is a Salon System educator and waxing specialist, with over 20 years experience in the beauty industry.