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

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

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.

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 for their 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.

“We need to inspire each member of our team every single day, ensuring they have a clear career path to shine.”

Image courtesy of Dusit International