Leading through a time of change

Eve Oxberry, Head of Editorial, World Spa & Wellness, was joined by a panel of leaders in the spa and wellness industry: Christelle Besnier, Senior Spa Director, Four Seasons UAE Spa Collection, UAE; Clare Pritchard, Spa Manager, Stradey Park Hotel, UK; Emilie Chanon, Spa and Wellness Director, Maia Spa Da Nang, Vietnam; and Kent Richards, Corporate Operations Director, Six Senses Spa, Thailand; for a discussion themed on how to be a great leader through times of change focusing on how the wellness industry nurtures its member – especially the staff, and also the clients – and how to lead them, safely, through these unprecedented times of a global pandemic.

Flexibility…

The most important feature of maneuvering the wellness and spa industry during the lockdown, and now as the industry re-opens, is flexibility.

Richards, who looks after the day-today operations of spas in 35 locations across the world, said that during COVID, making the hosts (staff) and guests safe and well taken care of has been key; while there has been more flexibility about what the spa offers. “Safety routines such as wearing masks and other guidelines are rigid but we are more flexible in terms of services and working hours for our staff,” he added.

Chanon leads what she calls a fantastic team of over 120 team members and described flexibility in terms of finding the right balance between planning and changing the plan. She said, “The key is making sure the staff feel safe to work.” Chanon worked hard to create a feeling of trust no matter what, and through a practice of authenticity and honesty, encouraged the team to embrace the change.

For Pritchard, the way to work in these times, has been to go back to basics. “We are into wellness led retail, and the aim is to support clients and give them the tools to continue the journey of wellness even at home.” This trend, she said will be followed well into the new year.

Flexibility has been the key word of the year for Besnier. She said, “When working in high end spas, you have to be flexible in essence, to bear that in mind, and institute it through the team.” During this time, she sent her team abroad to spend time with their families, and when the time came to bring back some team members, she said it was an amazing feeling because, “business is busy and people are open to going back to the spa.”

Challenges …

The pandemic year has been tough and posed challenges for the wellness industry too.

Chanon recalled one of the most challenging and unfortunate times, when she had to inform the team about their contracts being terminated. “It was beautiful how they accepted that,” she said. “I told them that they have a special place in our heart and that they belong to this family. We made a promise that they can come back when it is possible.”

Pritchard shared that when they reopened, they had to ensure that they did it correctly and safely. She said, “The safety of our staff and guests took priority over anything else.” Besnier faced similar challenges. When they re-opened, they did not want to do volume, but wanted to do quality. And according to Richards, for every challenge they had, they used the company values to overcome them. They had a programme called ‘Mission Wellness’ for their staff, who were taken care with meditation and other wellness programmes. Clare’s challenges included serving a different clientele and especially making their guests feel safe, and their staff not feel over-rushed.

Motivation…

In these times of high tides, keeping the team motivated has been key to navigate successfully.

“Our core value is to be responsible and caring,” said Richards. What kept his team motivated was having a social media activity every Friday where one spa hosted everybody else with either a poetry reading or other activities such as Latin American dancing – this helped bring everyone together on a virtual platform, with their families in some cases. This resulted in to keeping the team dynamic alive for re-opening. Also, for the first few months after lockdown, Richards did not want his team to be checked on key performance indicators (KPI), instead they were measured by the amount of engagement they were giving to their guests.

Besnier’s team had weekly communications offering the staff (of different nationalities) a chance to be with their families and have the space to “digest this pandemic”, resulting in them coming back stronger.

Pritchard’s team shared webinars, quizzes, and she even did distant healing for them. “Our team is the business,” she exclaimed. Interestingly, when asked how her team was kept motivated, Chanon said, “They were keeping themselves motivated. If you have the right team you are ok.”

The Wellness industry is ‘essential’…

Although the wellness and spa industry has not been considered ‘essential’ in terms of COVID lockdown policies, the experts feel strongly that wellness is an integral part of life and promoting the true power of this industry is vital.

Richards insisted on the industry needing more exposure. Drawing in the recent announcement of the Global Wellness Summit that the wellness industry is worth US$ 121 billion, he strongly opined that this declaration itself can help the government and decision-makers become aware that spas are not merely massages. He emphasised, “It is important to let people know that wellness is not about smelling flowers or getting fresh air but giving definite programmes and offering solutions to people to live life to the fullest. Only then will we be recognised as key workers.”

Report compiled from views shared during an online panel discussion that was conducted as part of the World spa and Wellness Awards 2020. To view the panel discussion, CLICK HERE