MANAGING YOUR STAFF IN THE NEW NORMAL

In the pre-pandemic time, managing your staff involved providing them with a good remuneration package, continued education, and a healthy flow of clients. Today however, the scenario is completely different. Throughout the lockdown, salon owners have kept their teams together by providing them with online training and coaching them in safety protocol. Now that salons are open and business is crawling back to normalcy, there is still an air of uncertainty shrouding the business. In such a situation, how can salon owners keep their team’s morale high?

Savio John Pereira, Owner, Savio John Pereira Salons, explains how he has kept team spirits high by providing in-house training where he coaches the team to take their work even more seriously, since the hour does not permit anymore mollycoddling. “Taking your employer, your work or your client for granted is all out of the window now. There is a new beginning right now,” he adds.

Leena Khandekar, Founder, Lee’s Beauty Centre, says, “Learning is the biggest motivation that your staff can get. We have been doing this throughout the lockdown. We have been having online sessions and webinars not only for our students but our staff, too. One of the biggest concerns they have is having a consistent income. We are organising some promotional activities to give them a chance to earn good money. Keeping your staff motivated is important as they will in turn instil trust in the customer.” Leena also suggested celebrating small successes, such as service upgradation by clients.

Bina Punjani, Art Director, Bina Punjani Hair Studio and Academy, explains her working model - “We have started a programme called Ambassadors of Change (which is a unique customer engagement programme). We have also introduced protocols for the team through which they are constantly learning. I have morning meetings with my team every day to train them. I am upskilling every member of the team so that they can participate in all the verticals in which we operate. Learning is the only way to keep the staff motivated and positive.”

Speaking about managing his staff across multiple locations, Rahul Bhalchandra, Co-Founder, YLG Salons, says that they have a strategy that rests on four pillars. He lists these as:

• Reassurance: To reassure the staff that the company is there to take care of you. Repetition of what the company has done and will continue doing to provide a safety net in terms of insurance.

• Transparency: Being open about the real situation, and not being optimistic for the sake of it.

• Sense of continuity: This will come when you continue to focus on the same things as before such as skill upgradation and training.

• Showing them hope: Showing them that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Chalk out a real path for them to earn better and recover what they have lost.

Recruiting during the pandemic

What has changed in the hiring process in the new normal? “For us, hiring is specifically for the skill-set required for each location. The quantum of hiring has definitely dropped but we are actively hiring every month,” says Bhalchandra.

While Pereira agrees on the need to hire as per specific requirements, he also stresses on the importance of having the right attitude. “However,” he says, “Hiring managerial staff is not the major concern now as the team is filling up on the duties. In terms of payments, I follow a combination of base salary and commissions.” While Khandekar is not hiring currently, she is focusing on promoting her junior staff to a senior level. “We had planned on expanding our reach this year, but due to the pandemic, that plan is on hold. We will do it next year; this year the focus is on training our staff.”

Given the current situation, Punjani has slightly modified her hiring and induction process. Whereas earlier, she would put the recruit on the shop floor after an intensive three to four-month long training – now that training period has been reduced to a month or a month and a half. With regards to the managerial staff, Punjani has a central team that works closely with Pralay Bakshi, CEO, Bina Punjani Salon and Academy, and a front desk team.

Exploring alternative formats

In a bid to make the most of the given situation, salon owners have also been exploring different formats to maximise productivity such as hiring freelancers and rent-a-chair.

Punjani claims that according to her business format, she does not work with freelancers. Bhalchandra too, does not hire freelancers. He explains, “It is only when there is a complete commitment from our side to the employee, we will get returns from them.”

Pereira works with freelancers, however, they need to sign an MoU to work within the standard operating protocol of the Savio John Pereira experience. “These are well known stylists who have worked at reputed salons and I have known them for years,” he adds. On her part, Khandekar too believes in hiring staff full-time. “We can always mold them into our system and protocol,” she says.

Salon owners have kept their teams glued together by providing them with online training and coaching them in safety protocol.

Speaking about their experience with their staff during the lockdown, these salon owners agreed that they have been fortunate to have the full support of their staff, even when there was a salary cut. Punjani says, “I cannot single out an incident when any of them have made an outrageous demand. They have been understanding and respectful and have worked hand-in-hand with us.” She adds that at present businesses are staying open for the benefit of their employees as nobody is making much money. If the stylists or beauticians cannot see that and empathise with that, in the long run it is their loss.

The salon business is driven by people. That is why it is important to keep your staff motivated. Work is slowly getting back on track and the bottom-line is improving too. A healthy partnership between the salon owner and employees is going to be crucial in the times ahead.