staff development in our industry Education+ where is it heading?

As a business you need to develop a culture of success if you want to survive. This is predominantly achieved by having an engaged team who feel supported, have standards/ expectations of performance they know they need to meet, and regular and supportive feedback/ coaching to improve.

“WE WANT MORE” SEEMS TO BE THE MAIN TAKEAWAY, BUT HOW DO YOU KNOW THE RIGHT TYPE OF EDUCATION TO PROVIDE FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR TEAM? AND VITALLY WHEN IT IS PRESENTED, WHO REALLY WANTS TO

A team feeling engaged is not just about how much they earn – it’s far more than that. It’s about an investment in their development, an understanding that they play a significant part in the business and having them feel like they are being encouraged to become the best they can be. It should be every business owner’s key focus, as team development leads to higher sales and profits – pretty simple. The barbering industry is evolving, we all know that is a fact, but it comes with significant challenges. With the influx of new businesses opening up, raising our industry standards to meet customers’ expectations, and providing a service that sees them returning time after time is critical to ongoing success. Especially as the prices of services are growing due to economic impacts, value in what’s being offered is scrutinised by customers. Due to the number of businesses that are in market now it’s also highly competitive, so if you don’t meet your customer’s expectations they will simply go elsewhere, the issue here is, 95% of customers won’t tell you they are not happy, they simply don’t

Finding suitable barbers who are well trained and can actually make a positive impact on the floor is also becoming more difficult. Why? The answer is, we don’t have enough trained barbers coming through the current systems to meet demand, while also the amount of sole trader operators has significantly increased. In addition, the demand for barbers means we are sacrificing experience and genuine skillset and paying more in wages, all out of desperation and as a result, not seeing the levels of service and skill you need – tough situation to be in as it’s crippling the industry in many ways and creating a culture of entitlement that is not healthy in the slightest. Therefore, the engaged and passionate barbers you do have need to be nurtured and have a reason to stay, and ongoing education is one way to do this.

All this being said, what is available in market and where are we heading? Educating yourself and team on how to interact with customers, personal development, product knowledge, retail sales skills and keeping up to date with current trends are all vital, but to be honest there hasn’t been a lot of action in the industry to support this over recent years, until now.

Online training and accessibility is a fastgrowing sector that can have immensely positive impacts on self and business. Having the ability to develop your team in a timely, cost effective and easily accessible way ticks all the boxes and the content that is available to do this is becoming first class. Some of the leading businesses in this field are exceptionally busy as they also provide personalised and tailored in-house sessions that promote self-development and healthy mindset. This all leads to positive results.

Utilising brand ambassadors to create impactful content is changing the shape of traditional education methods and it means that remote businesses that don’t have the luxury or cashflow to be able to attend the main city workshops can still create a culture of success and development. That is a big tick in my book! So, this option could be ideal for you or your business.

Melbourne-based business The Network by Area Academy is an example of this. Eoin McCarthy heads it up and has developed a significant new direction in industry training, which is refreshing and needed.

I asked Eoin how his business has evolved and how The Network operates:

“Our online platform allows anyone, anywhere, at any time the opportunity to learn all of our philosophies, principles and skills. It contains most of the necessary tools one needs to excel in their career, in one easily accessible place.

After spending 4+ years educating the barbering and hairdressing industries here in Australia, my partner in crime Leigh & I realised that education wasn’t easily accessible for everyone. Therefore, The Network is our entry-to-market product. We spent about a year developing it and the library now sits at over 100 lessons.

In terms of education actually working, it will never replace the impact that our in-person training has. The statistics show that if you them and their business partners. That’s a win-win for all involved.

Barber Temple based in Brisbane city has also burst onto the scene recently. With traditional live workshops, coupled with food trucks and gift packs for attendees it’s been a needed development for education, in arguably the barber capital of Australia. With a highly skilled team of educators, an offering of different workshops and an environment that creates energy and learning, they have seen success in being able to provide education for different brands and trends.

They also operate a successful RTO in partnership with Matters in Grey and are developing the new wave of barbers for the industry.

I asked Sam Jarrod, director of Barber Temple how he has seen education advancing and what part to play in it has Barber Temple had.

“I think the biggest change I’ve seen has been the energy and appetite for quality, relevant education. Barbers are increasingly discerning about what they want from education. They see what’s happening globally, and that really drives us to provide an offering that inspires while also respecting the fundamentals of good technique and process. We’ve always tried to stay true to that and provide a destination for barbers from all backgrounds to grow, learn and share their knowledge.” merely sit there, watch, and listen to education you may retain 7-14% of the information. If you take notes that jumps up to around 26%, the real results come from physical participation. Actively engaging in and doing the work shoots our retention up to 56%. That’s where the real change happens. However, it’s nice to have something that’s available for everyone. We have shop owners buy the platform for their team as an incentive and they have reported back amazing results!”

Different brands in market are now also starting to develop their own online education platforms as the need to provide better support to their customer base is becoming more apparent.

Brands that embrace and invest in this will see a higher brand engagement and loyalty from customers which will lead to higher retail sales for

In summary, education is becoming more of a focal point and as it should. There are options available to everyone or any business that WANTS to provide a stimulating, creative and professional business culture.

This industry has so much to share, so much inspiration and talent, so why don’t we embrace what’s around us, who is around us and take a positive step to development and ongoing learning.

Bottom line – there are no excuses anymore and while the education piece is still developing across the industry, you can access relevant, professional and inspired training no matter what part of the country you live and work in. That’s a very big step and one that will continue to grow.

Get amongst it and happy learning!!

Proud Sponsor of the Barber Expo 2023

Proud Sponsor of the Barber Expo 2023

When you enrol in a TAFE NSW barbering course, you’ll develop superior scissor skills and cleaner clipper techniques to deliver tighter styles and fresher fades.

When you enrol in a TAFE NSW barbering course, you’ll develop superior scissor skills and cleaner clipper techniques to deliver tighter styles and fresher fades.

With access to purpose-built facilities and industry experienced teachers, you’ll learn the hands-on, practical skills needed to make your mark in this creative and exciting industry.

With access to purpose-built facilities and industry experienced teachers, you’ll learn the hands-on, practical skills needed to make your mark in this creative and exciting industry.

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