Creating therapist career paths

With the recruitment crisis still affecting the beauty industry, more effort and focus needs to be put on creating roles for therapists which are careers rather than just jobs.

“One of the main things in having a successful business is holding on to your therapists as long as you possibly can. If you are continually having to recruit and re-train all the time it really eats into your profit and being able to move the business forward,” says Fiona Fowley, director of PB Award-winning salon group Zen Lifestyle.

5 ways to create successful career paths for your therapists:

1. How do I create inspiring career paths?

   “We have a clear structure for our therapists to know where they are able to go, whether it's going from a therapist and working their way up through our internal training programme to senior therapist and then head therapist, as well as getting more training on more advanced treatments as they work their way up the ladder,” says Fowley.

2. How do I structure the training?

   “We always do the same induction and training regardless of the experience that the therapist has because we need them to be what we call a ‘Zen therapist’. They need to do things our way, so there’s continuity and consistency throughout our treatments,” explains Fowley.
   
   “Sometimes it’s the girls from college that don’t have bad habits and pick things up quicker and progress quicker than somebody with five years’ experience. It’s about continual assessment and feedback, and maintaining the standards with the training.”

3. How important is the workplace culture?

   “There’s nothing more important than the culture for retaining your therapists. In every business there’s a culture, you might not be aware exactly of what it is, but if you’re able to influence it and make it a strong one, your staff retention will be so much better,” adds Fowley.

4. How do I create a positive workplace culture?

   “Instead of telling staff what to do and having quite a ‘tell’ culture, create a coaching environment where you’re questioning them, listening to them and allowing them to find the solutions for themselves. So, rather than ‘tell’, it’s ‘tell me’. You’re getting them to think for themselves and use their own initiatives,” says Fowley. “They feel valued and listened to.”

5. What resources should I put together for my team?

   “We have a vision and values for the salon and every single member of staff understands what they mean and what the behaviours of those are. We discuss them at staff meetings and at the annual conference, and when they do their review with us, they do a scaling question where they use the values to scale themselves on how they feel they are doing,” explains Fowley. 

6. What kind of development should I offer therapists?

   “We do a lot of development on retail seminars, customer care, all that type of thing, but also general growth as well so they feel they are managing to progress but not just with their practical hands-on which is important,” says Fowley.

 For more helpful advice and tips, visit Professional Beauty’s YouTube page.

More PBTV business-related videos:

• 5 easy salon marketing wins
• How to recruit and retain good therapists
• Boosting your therapists’ wellbeing through nutrition