Recruiting good therapists in a difficult landscape

Spa business consultant Valerie Delforge outlines the key things to get right in the recruitment process

Recruitment has become a problem in the spa industry and can be a burden when you are busy operationally. Firstly, are you sure recruiting is essential?

Analyse your figures before you advertise. Sometimes, a change in the rota, opening hours or staff performance can make enough of a difference to avoid the need to recruit. Never employ someone you’re not 100% sure about just because you have clients in the diary.Recruiting someone who doesn’t fit your ideal profile will be damaging in the long run.

Process is possibly the most important aspect of recruitment. How are you screening your CVs? Who is recruiting? Which day is best for recruitment? Is there a trial day? Strong leaders know the ideal team they want and work towards it. Creating a process for recruitment allows you to build a team with the same mindset.

Initial phone interviews allow you to eliminate unsuitable candidates without wasting your time on a full interview. You can have Skype or FaceTime video calls so you can also see how the person presents themselves. If you want to raise the quality of candidates in the industry, give constructive feedback as to why they didn’t fit the role.

The clearer you are about what you want, the more likely you are to attract your ideal candidate. 

Valerie Delforge is a spa business consultant and delivers training modules and bespoke programmes for individual businesses. Her previous roles included head of spa operations for Steiner and general manager of L’Occitane UK.