The Big Debate: How do we solve the recruitment crisis?

REPORT BY MARK SMITH

The recruitment and retention of staff has become an increasingly urgent issue for hospitality businesses due to the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic, with some 355,000 people having left the industry since March 2020, representing about a tenth of the workforce, according to the UK’s Office for National Statistics.

The spa and wellness sector has suffered significantly as part of this shift with many therapists still on furlough and those coming off government support often re-evaluating their position and deciding to go freelance or leaving the industry entirely. There is also a reluctance to switch roles due to continuing uncertainty in the market.

“Recruitment within the wellness sector is experiencing major issues along with hospitality shortages across the UK,” says Angela Smith, managing director of La Source International. “There has never been a lower point that I have been aware of in 18 years of speciality recruitment for this sector.”

Image courtesy of Champneys

Brexit has also impacted on the number of trained EU therapists working in the UK. Applications for work visas are reported to be taking six to eight weeks to process and skills-based immigration laws make it more complex to employ EU workers who are classified as ‘unskilled’.

“There is a real skills gap in the industry,” says Lorraine Jackson, a recruitment executive at Red Careers. “Therapists are moving into more facial and aesthetic roles, which are less physically demanding and offer better hours and increased pay opportunities.”

Compounding the issue is an apparent disparity in remuneration with La Source International currently advertising spa therapist positions at a salaries ranging between £20,000-£33,000 per year. However, competition to attract skilled therapists is fierce as demand for spa and wellness increases and the industry needs to recruit and retain talent more than ever before.

Our four guest experts share their advice on how to strengthen and build your spa team.

Back to basics for skills training

Kathryn Dowthwaite-Blay, founder and director of the Spa Education Academy, outlines how to deal with the skills gap at management level

"There is a real skills gap in the spa industry: we have talented, enthusiastic people who have successfully worked their way up the career ladder, but often without acquiring some of the basic tools to conduct their job. Despite their hard work, they often lack leadership skills and the confidence to effectively carry out day-to-day tasks, such as leading meetings and training. Most concerning is that many lack basic finance skills, such as dealing with costs and budgets, return on investment, working capital, pricing strategies and P&L."

Kathryn Dowthwaite- Blay is the founder of Spa Education Academy, which provides degree-level spa management qualifications online. She hasspent 22 years working internationally in spas, academia and managingspa degree programmes. Her work has been published in magazines andacademic books, and she is an active judge and speaker at spaconferences in the UK and the Middle East.

"Investing in education and training should always be a priority in order to arm your spa team with knowledge, skills and confidence. If more of our senior leaders were advocates for education, we would see a positive shift where this becomes valued.

"Return on investment (ROI ) for education is hugely underestimated within the spa and wellness industry, so being able to measure the results of any training and development makes it easier to evidence and justify training budget proposals and strategies.

"Often sales training ROI is recognised, but many struggle to measure the impact of developing staff in other areas; for example, quality management or leadership often don’t come as high up in a spa’s training plan. Measurement tools, such as data on customer service satisfaction, surveys for quality management and analysing data on the retention of staff, recruitment, retraining costs and performance can justify investment in leadership training.

Future-proofing career paths

"We need to stop thinking about spa manager training as being a separate entity and recognise that every industry needs to upskill its managers and keep up to date with research and trends in business, management and leadership. Coaching, mentoring, employee wellbeing, culture and diversity are hot topics at the moment. We need to constantly adapt our skill sets tofuture-proof our careers.

"Nurturing your staff helps to build a solid reputation for your business in the marketplace, which is especially important now because there are more vacancies than there are staff. When you are trying to attract new talent and retain your current team, candidates really do look beyond their wages to see the other benefits of joining a business."

www.spaeducationacademy.com

Image courtesy of Dusit International

Investing in people to boost profit

Kathryn Moore, founder of Spa Connectors, discusses how to attract and retain talented staff in the current recruitment climate

"Recruitment and retention in the spa industry is changing fast and if spas want to attract the best candidates they need to switch up a gear to stand head and shoulders above the competition. When trying to attract talented team members to your spa it’s important to remember they aren’t just looking for remuneration packages and benefits. People want career progression and this needs to be addressed.

During the pandemic Kathryn Moore started up the Hall of Wellness Awards to recognise excellence in the wellness industry. Currently based inDubai, she has worked in the spa industry for over 20 years as aconsultant, spa manager and director in roles based in Australia andAsia. She is now founder and managing director of Spa Connectors.

"Implementing individual development plans or having a conversation about their career trajectory should be routine. By being open and transparent with our spa leaders, keeping an open-door policy and providing training plans, we can create environments where our people know they are going to learn and be inspired.

"The core skills that stand out today are a ‘can-do’ attitude and a willingness to learn. People who studied additional subjects during lockdown are now reaping the benefits by bringing added management, social media or finance skills to the table. With the industry heading further into the realm of wellness it’s so important that a candidate, whether a therapist or a manager, is multiskilled and well versed in a range of topics."

The recruitment conundrum

"We are in a strange predicament right now as there is an abundance of experienced talent out of work due to the pandemic. Hotels and standalone operators need staff as travel, albeit mostly domestic, increases, but many seem to be reluctant to pay full salaries even though revenue is returning to normal. Pay grades are dropping around the world as employers are deciding not to keep in line with pre-Covid levels, but wellness retreats and staycations are increasing. So why not pay the staff who deliver these fairly?

Digital platforms are gaining traction as the first point of connection with prospective employees. We get the majority of our leads for both clients and candidates through social media. OurWhatsApp Business account is a great way to sort and place people, allowing us to quickly assess a candidate’s viability, and it receives up to 200 CVs a day.

The demand for spa and wellness is evident and we need people to fulfil these services, so without some investment in people, how will we progress?

www.spaconnectors.com

Focusing on team progression

Kent Richards, global corporate spa director for Six Senses Spas, highlights the importance of career progression and explains how to nurture talent

"Spa evolution happens before our eyes and with each step the career opportunities improve. It seems to be one of the fastest developing industries and within my lifetime so far I have seen the word ‘spa’ change in meaning several times. In the days when beauty parlours and salons first started changing their description to spas, people made their careers either owning, managing or working in small-to-medium sized facilities. Today we see spas of all sizes attracting ambitious people of all ages and from many varied backgrounds.

Kent Richards has been operations director at Six Senses for seven years and heads a team of spa professionals responsible for all day-to-dayoperations and performance indicators. Prior to this role he was an areadirector for the brand and he brings a wealth of experience in spa andfitness.

"However, careers in spa are sometimes seen as less than flattering and in some places it is something of a secret, underground career. This is wrong though. As spa, wellness, health and fitness continue to merge, the range of careers on offer includes sales, treatments, medical options, western and other practices, training and education, finance, marketing, legal, science, leadership, design, retail, management and more.

Planning for the future

"At Six Senses Spas we see the growth and development of our teams as essential because we need our hosts to grow in order to support our aggressive expansion programme. Every position needs a succession plan to allow us to promote people as much as possible within the organisation. In 2021, Six Senses Spas will open five new facilities in Brazil, Spain, Turkey, India and Israel, so this makes development planning essential.

Image courtesy of Champneys

"We need to inspire each member of our team every single day, ensuring they have a clear career path to shine. We must ensure our teams stay focused on their goals, each performing at their peak, enabling everyone to be ready when their next step becomes available.

"A recommended career progression plan would include personalised goal setting, an analysis of strengths and interests and then preparation of an individual development plan with short, medium and longer timeline reflections. Follow this with training, study and experience to prepare fortheir progression. Offer the opportunity for temporary assignments and exposure, which, if successful leads to promotion."

"We have seen our hosts climbing from reception to management; attendants to therapists; and managers to corporate positions in operations, openings and projects.

www.sixsenses.com

Dealing with the staffing crisis

Dave Courteen, managing director of Mosaic Spa & Health Clubs, explains the causes of and solutions to recruitment issues in the UK spa sector

"There are several factors that have contributed to the shortage of staff in the spa and wellness industry. In the UK, the effect of three lockdowns has had a huge impact. Some of the therapists across our 18 spas have said that experiencing furlough for a third time was too unsettling for them and they decided to stay in the temporary jobs they had secured.

"I think we underestimate the emotional toll of Covid-19 on younger team members. They are the last to get the vaccine and are, by the nature of the job, working in close proximity to clients. A lot of students coming out of college with therapist qualifications don’t even intend to work in the industry. They chose the course because they have to stay in education until they are 18. So this means the number of available graduate therapists is lower.

Passionate about developing people to deliver excellent customer service, Dave Courteen is an entrepreneur with over 30 years’ experiencein the hospitality industry. Operating 21 health clubs and 18 day spasin hotels on a contract management basis under the Mosaic Spa &Health Club umbrella, he also owns three standalone health club and dayspas in the UK.

"The overall problem has been made worse as a number of our European therapists went back to their families prior to lockdown and either don’t want to come back or are finding it difficult to do so due to complications from Covid-19 restrictions or the effects of Brexit.

The value of therapists

"We must work as an industry to communicate its value to prospective employees. Some hotel operators often leave the spa alone as it is seen as almost a separate entity to the overall hotel offering, but we need to ensure that spa teams feel valued as a core part of the wider hospitality setup.

"An often-quoted reason for therapists leaving the industry is the pressure of back-to-back massages, so it’s important to communicate all aspects of the role. Colleges and beauty schools have a role to play in helping people to understand the physical aspects of the job. In my experience, if therapists have fun at work, feel they are listened to and are valued by their boss, they don’t have an issue withthe physical challenges.

"We also need to be clear – therapists are employed to give massages. However, with changes in the way spas operate, we now allow guests to choose their treatments on the day, enabling therapists to sell other treatments like facials. This means they don’t have to do as many massages as previously expected.

www.mosaicgroup.co.uk