Team Culture By Kerrie Di Mattia

I believe one of my primary jobs as a salon owner, and one of the most successful ways I’ve found to maintaining a great salon/team culture - is to treat my team as if they were my clients.

When we sit with a client our intention is to HEAR them! We start with a great consultation:

WE… LISTEN to their needs CARE about what’s important to them WORK OUT what issues they are having HELP them move toward a solution PROVIDE a great experience PLAN their future visits

And we do this automatically, it’s what we know, and we recognise it as one of the most important moments of connection and communication of a clients experience in our salon.

But when it comes to our team, the ones that help us run our salons and look after our clients everyday, do we approach them the same way? Is our intention to Hear THEM??

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a salon owner just like you and others I help regularly, I know only too well the challenge of dealing with a bunch of very diverse humans aged from 16 - 60 every day, and that it often drains the life out of you!!

We’ve all had or currently still have, people on our team that make you wonder why the hell you do it! You know the ones, the vampires, the boundary pushers, the negative nellies, etc etc, every salon has or at least has had one or two! But here’s the thing: Lets go back and revisit the care and attention we afford our clients, the care and attention that keeps our books full….

And ask yourself again - do you see your team like your internal clients? Do you offer the same care and attention to one of your team that stands behind the chair, as you do a client sitting in it?

Team meetings or as I like to call them “moments of connection and communication” with our Internal Clients (Team) allows them to feel valued, heard, and happy - and for us - to deal with issues as they arrive and before they grow!

Heres how we do it:

Team Meetings & Tough Conversations Why we need them

THE AS IT HAPPENS MEETING - Short and on the spot.

Sometimes we just need a few minutes to chat to a team member about something that has just occurred - both good and bad. Don’t let negative issues pile up and fester, address them as quickly as you can after they happen. The same goes for anything that is a positive, you can really lift a team member and make their day by complimenting their work on a client they’ve just done. But remember this - Celebrate publicly, but only Coach privately, never address a negative in front of other team members, this is just humiliating and serves no purpose.

THE WEEKLY HUDDLE - 2 hours

Our team has a 2-hour training each week, this alternates between hands on, or a round table discussion - This needs to be planned out in advance and kept interesting. It’s when our team get to celebrate the wins and strategise the losses, everyone has a say in the running of the salon which keeps them invested.

THE MONTHLY CHAT - 15 mins

Monthly check in chats with each team member individually that are scheduled in, they’re not always work related but can be if THEY choose. This is done with me or one of our leadership team, and is purely just to check on their wellbeing, address any changes in behaviour, and act accordingly if we identify any areas that may need support.

THE ONE ON ONE - Quarterly - 45 mins/ 1 hour

Sometimes you have to have a really tough conversation ONE on ONE with a team member who is not meeting their commitments or is just not fitting your work family as you had hoped they would, BUT often and so much more preferable it’s a time to celebrate growth.

All these meetings I hear you say, Micromanaging I hear you say…. Possibly, but I prefer the term Constant Coaching and yes although it can be costly in terms of time and effort, I guarantee your ROI with a connected team will make it all worth it.

HOW THEY HAPPEN

1: Firstly, you have to take into account WHO you are sitting down with, what you need to achieve and the language/tools you will need to use. FOR EXAMPLE, in my case my team ranges in age from 16-33 I am 56! An oldie trying to navigate mentor and grow GenY GenZ and millennials!! AND THEY ALL RELATE DIFFERENTLY

2: Now plan the WHEN You need to structure your meetings, have an agenda, and keep it uncluttered, don’t sweat the small stuff. You can even use something like a team appraisal form which you can get them to fill out at an earlier time or have their KPI’s for the last 3 months on hand - for One-on-One meetings these are great for opening conversations on topics you want to address. The AS IT HAPPENS scenario, I mentioned earlier is the ONLY thing that should happen impromptu otherwise you could go in totally unprepared and uninformed and say things you may later regret!

Please remember

ITS NOT WHAT YOU SAY - ITS HOW YOU SAY IT Leadership is based on cooperation NOT intimidation!

AND FINALLY…

Just like with a client your communication needs to be OPEN, HONEST and GENUINE The behaviour and language you use need to be CLEAR, CALM and UNEMOTIONAL

Like I mentioned earlier, a consultation for a client and a moment of connection with a team member should include all the same or similar touch points:

LISTEN to their needs

Relationship building:

The first 5–10 minutes of your meeting is a good time to catch up with your employee on a personal level, just a few general well-being questions to help them relax.

CARE about what’s important to them.

Employee-driven discussion:

The next stage of your one-on-one meeting should be dedicated to giving your employee a chance to get in first, this part of the meeting is their chance to share what’s on their mind, tell you if they are happy and bring up any concerns they have. This time also allows you to breathe and observe their body language and level of emotion.

WORK OUT what issues they are having

Manager-driven discussion:

It’s really important that they feel heard, and this is the time to mirror back what they’ve addressed. : also, a chance to get a perspective you may not have previously had. Then it’s your turn, this is where you get to bring up the points you want to discuss and have a conversation.

HELP them (and you) move toward a solution.

The Outcome:

Use the last 10–15 minutes of your meeting to create an action plan and work together to identify what needs to work on so that everybody is getting what they need. PROVIDE a great experience PLAN set some goals and make a date to get together again to touch base.