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Bridging the Gap Between Staff and Management
WE MUST FORM A UNITED FRONT!
I was recently viewing comments from hairdressers in one of our industry chat rooms about salon owners. I was alarmed by the degree of animosity, misunderstanding and negative attitudes toward salon owners and their managers. Maybe some of these comments are Justified, on the other hand,		Unlike other industries, outstanding hairdressers have a great opportunity to control their own success or failure in the beauty profession.
sadly many of these negative comments and attitudes are the result of poor communication between staff and management and lack of information about the business and costs of owning a business that does provide jobs, education, on job training and advancement opportunities.
Every day we read in the newspapers that companies are laying people off or downsizing due to a slow and changing economy.
Unlike many other professions, outstanding hairdressers will always be in great demand and will never be out of a job.		The biggest obstacles to your own success or failure will probably rest on you.
Although we face many deep rooted obstacles and educational challenges in building a successful and fulfilling hairdressing career, the beauty profession can offer a short cut to financial security and is basically a recession proof business. Once we are able to gain experience, knowledge, and create a demand for our services, the sky' s the limit. Despite many industry obstacles, a hairdressing career can offer unlimited opportunities for those who truly want to make a better life for themselves and their family. This is also one of the few professions I know where you literally can get all the overtime you want, once you create a demand for your services. Unfortunately, far too many hairdressers take their jobs and a hairdressing career for granted and are unwilling to take full responsibility for their own success or failure. Many never reach their goals because it requires sacrifice and effort. It’s much easier to blame circumstances or our boss for our failures. Everyone has the potential to be as successful as they want to be. There is no speed limit in learning and achieving success. We should all be thankful we have jobs and the opportunity to control our own success or failure. This is one of the few professions I know where you can literally control your own success or failure.
The purpose of my message is to raise the standard of living for all involved in the beauty profession and form a better partnership and understanding between staff and management.	I’m writing this article to clarify and hopefully bridge the gap between hairdressers and salon owners so that we may better understand each others needs. Are we not all professionals on the same team trying to earn a better life for ourselves and our families? In light of world events and a changing and volatile business climate, this article is timely and appropriate. My intent in writing this article is not to side with one or the other, my goal is to bridge the gap between hairdressers and salon owners.
To accomplish this goal we must join together as a team to raise the standard of educational excellence and insure business and staff stability. In today’s difficult economic and competitive business environment, the whole beauty industry is changing and experiencing difficult and challenging times. Business failures are alarmingly high, rising business costs continue to escalate; staff instability and turnover, booth rental, the proliferation of low cost franchises (we should be raising prices) and a growing labor shortage are just some of the obstacles and challenges salon owners are experiencing. When salons fail, everyone loses. Hairdressers are also facing obstacles for themselves and their family. Educational challenges , lack of quality education , lack of benefits , lack of career guidance, lack of hands on experience in their formative years , poor job entry level wages, and earnings not keeping pace with the high cost of living, to name a few. Unfortunately these obstacles also affect their quality of life. Business stability, growth, and profitability will benefit everyone. We must all strive to raise the standard of living for everyone involved in our profession. Are we not on the same team? A divided salon between staff and management will only compromise our job security and advancement opportunities.
How can we continue to raise prices in this negative environment? Unfortunately most hairdressers have no meaningful medical, retirement, or other benefits for themselves and their families compared to other professions. We as hairdressers and salon owners are all victims of an industry that has not changed with the times. We are all affected. The key to combating this growing problem is job creation, business growth, business and staff stability, a better partnership between staff and management, strong business management skills on the part of the salon owner, excellence in education, a higher standard of living, and job security. This affects everyone in your salon. If the salon is not profitable and fails, jobs and opportunities are lost… period.			No salon or their staff, canexperience long -term success with a constant merry-go-round of staff turnover and business instability.


			When turnover and negativity occurs in your salon, the future livelihoods and career growth opportunities of the other staff members in the salon are also negative.
Although staff turnover occurs in all industries and occupations, this seems to be a growing problem in the beauty industry. The question is why. How can a business, especially a hair salon or spa, provide benefits, good paying jobs, provide continuing education, marketing and advertising for new customers and continue to raise prices with a constant merry-go-round of staff turnover and business instability. With a growing labor shortage this problem becomes more acute. *There seems to be a wide gap between hairdressers and salon owners in understanding the need for improved profits, business growth, teamwork, and business stability.* Contributing to these obstacles are some of the negative attitudes of a few hairdressers , these are the same people who are always involved with negativity, gossip, and salon pettiness. Unfortunately, these negative attitudes of a few hairdressers hinder business growth, and contribute to a negative and unprofessional salon environment. This type of behavior affects the livelihoods of everyone in the salon and our profession. I do not believe hairdressers perform poorly on purpose, many of them are victims of an industry that did not provide the quality of education and mentoring during their development, excellence does start at the top. Sadly, many of these attitudes seem especially prevalent in the beauty industry. I can assure you most salon owners are not rich; sadly, far too many are struggling to stay in business, I have yet met a salon owner who wanted his or her business and staff to fail. When salons go out of business, jobs and opportunities are lost.
How were some of these negative attitudes formed? Who’s at fault? Were they formed in beauty school? Are some teachers misleading their students with unrealistic career and earning expectations?	What about salon owners, are they providing the leadership that inspires loyalty, teamwork, and a professional and positive salon environment? Are they working hard at keeping salon staff busy? Are they investing in their salon’s greatest profit potential by educating their staff? Are they victims of staff pirating by some salon owners who are trying to get ahead at the expense of other salon owners? What about trade shows? What about the product companies? What about trade associations? Are beauty school owners doing their part? Are they helping to address these attitudes? Is it greed on the of the hairdresser? Is it lack of obstacles? Is it poor business management skills on the part of the salon owner? Too many special interest groups? Lack of quality education? I believe we all need to share in the blame.
Everyone seems to care about their own self interests. In writing this article, it is my wish that this article will give hairdressers a better understanding of the heavy burdens and responsibilities of salon ownership and the business aspect of salon ownership. Hopefully this article will help change some of these negative attitudes. Sadly due to financial pressure and lack of education and information, many misinformed salon owners are reluctantly entering into booth rental just to survive. Unfortunately many of these salon owners are recruiting other salon owner’s staff members and their client lists to get their business off the ground.				If your salon is profitable and growing, it will insure your job security and create a demand for your services and allow you to raise prices.
Luring hairdressers to another salon offering higher commission or booth rental options (of course customer lists are expected to come as well)	Staff pirating , the practice of recruiting other salon owner’s staff members in the hopes of hairdressers bringing a clientele from their former salon is causing staff turnover and business instability for not only the salon owner but also is threatening the livelihoods of their other staff members as well. These are signs of poor business management skills and desperation on the part of the salon owner and should serve as a red flag to hairdressers when contemplating job change. As the cost of living continues to escalate, we need to reach higher levels of educational excellence, maintain business and staff stability, and continue to raise prices.
As a team we must all do our part in striving to raise the standard of living for everyone involved in our profession. It all starts with a strong code of ethics and honesty. How can a business grow and continue to raise prices in this unprofessional environment.
Of course salon owners have the right to make a profit. Without profits how is the owner going to be able to provide advertising, education, and benefits?		Salon Profits Benefit Everyone
After all, they are the ones who create jobs, provide training and education, worry daily about rising business costs, tries to maintain a positive and professional salon environment, who gives of his or her time and valuable experience helping their staff succeed; the owner who spends 10-12 hours a day trying to run a successful business. The salon owner who gives of their time mentoring new staff members. It’s the owner who has to deal with salon gossip and pettiness, who is usually the first to work and last to leave, the one who spends thousands of dollars on advertising and marketing to keep staff busy, the one who has to hear all the complaints of a dissatisfied client, the one who absorbs loss of clientele while young hairdressers gain hands-on experience while building a clientele and the owner who struggles to find replacements in a declining labor market when staff turnover occurs ,the owner that has to combat rising business costs , the salon owner who has the moral responsibility of protecting the livelihoods of his or her other staff members when turnover occurs, the owner that in many instances has to sacrifice special times with their families due to business , and yes, the owner who in many instances risks their own life savings owning a successful hair salon for themselves and their staff. Without profits and business stability how are salon owners able to advertise, promote salon services, raise prices and provide benefits for their staff members in this negative environment.
Salon instability affects the future of everyone who wants to make a good living for themselves and family. In a team atmosphere, everyone benefits.	Business instability also affects the image of our profession in the eyes of the consumer. How can an owner offer benefits, provide a professional and positive salon environment for their staff and clients , market and promote the salon, insure job security and raise prices with a constant merry-goround of staff turnover? Salon owners should be applauded for creating jobs and opportunities for their staff.
A successful salon and career growth go hand- in- hand. This merry-go-round mentality has plagued our profession far too long. We are now paying a heavy price for the mistakes of the past. Perhaps, as an industry, we have failed to explain the business aspect of salon ownership and the need for business stability and profitability to our staff members. Salon owners are not the enemy. Perhaps a short course on business and the costs and time involved in salon ownership in beauty school will help hairdressers gain a better appreciation and understanding of their jobs, their bosses, and help bridge the gap between staff and management. Maybe hairdressers will be a little more supportive and understanding of the heavy burdens of salon ownership. You may not have the perfect boss at times; then again you may not always be the perfect employee at times. We need to realize that to succeed we all must as a team share the same goals of creating a positive and successful salon environment where we all will benefit personally, professionally and financially as true professionals. We must better educate and inform hairdressers that if they want job security, benefits, a higher standard of living, and advancement opportunities, their salon must be profitable and remain in business.
As a team we must all work together to raise the standard of educational excellence, create value in ourselves and in our skills, maintain staff and business stability, create a demand for our services, and raise prices.		Helping staff understand the cost of owning a business in terms of time and money may help alleviate some of these negative attitudes.

Everyone wins when each member of the team contributes to creating a winning and successful business. If the salon is successful, you also will benefit as well. If we want to attract an upscale charge upscale prices, then we’ll have to develop upscale and stable professionals and salons.
Honesty and a strong code of ethics is always the best policy.				The whole industry will benefit when staff and management work together as a team.
It starts with teamwork and a shared vision between owner and staff. Honesty and loyalty is critical to both owner and staff. Let us all unite together (yes the salon owner is also a part of the team) as fellow professionals, so we can maintain job stability promote business growth and a return to professionalism. Some day you may want to own your own business, would you want this type of negativity in your salon? A code of ethics and honesty is the foundation to developing a successful hairdressing career and profitable business. As we forge a new path into the 21st century as salon owners and hairdressers, we must all work together, by striving to seek higher levels of excellence in earning the trust, confidence, and patronage of the consumer who represents our very livelihoods. We must all do our part in contributing to a positive and professional salon environment. Bridging the gap between staff and management will lead the way. We are all in this together. It is my wish that this article will help bridge the gap and misunderstanding between staff and owner. Together let us all work hard as professionals in making this profession one we can all be proud of. In these changing and challenging times, we need one another more than ever.

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