Liz McKeon is a Business Expert and Founder of the International Salon Business School. We often hear from salon owners that team management and performance is their biggest issue, so we asked Liz for her top tips on getting and keeping your team’s motivation high.
Employee Motivation is the level of commitment, energy, innovation, and enthusiasm that a salon team demonstrates during the working day. A highly motivated employee is keen, driven and takes pride in your business and their work. They accomplish tasks quickly, take action and want to do a great job, both for themselves and for the salon.
The 5 benefits of staff motivation are:
- Higher productivity levels, resulting in increased occupancy and higher sales. Increased productivity also positively affects employee experience, as it promotes higher job satisfaction.
- More innovation – motivating team members with rewards grows a salon culture of accountability. When staff feel appreciated and supported by their manager they also want to challenge themselves and grow in their role. Salon managers who recognize and understand what exactly motivates each team member on both an individual basis and on a team basis will see the best results.
- Lower levels of absenteeism – when a manager genuinely cares about their team’s workload and well-being, absenteeism levels tend to reduce as staff feel supported, are less stressed and overwhelmed.
- Lower levels of staff turnover – when staff are highly motivated and are well rewarded for high performance, they are more likely to stay put, especially if other salons can’t match their remuneration.
- Better outcomes from recruitment – salons with happy and motivated employees are very well positioned to attract top talent, who are searching for the best employers.
So, how do you improve team motivation?
Think about what separates a salon manager from a salon leader? People work for a manager, but they follow a leader! This distinction is important as salon roles are becoming more complex and require an environment that enables creativity, fosters engaged, motivated and empowered employees while supporting never ending change. This is why salon leadership is required. Leaders are visionaries, thinking strategically, inspiring teams and developing the salon culture.
To make sure your team stay engaged and highly motivated at work:
- Lead with vision. Team members want to know what success looks like for the salon and that their efforts are moving the salon to the next level. Make sure the vision for the business is clear.
- Your team know what needs to be done each day, but further explanation is required, such as the company’s overall mission. This ensures that everyone knows how their individual contribution can personally add to the overall goals of the salon, leading to increased motivation.
- Set and monitor clear salon targets – you will have big company targets, but smaller goals are the key to motivation as breaking this into more attainable chunks feels less overwhelming and more achievable.
- Acknowledge and reward great work – employees need to know that their hard work is appreciated. Giving well deserved recognition increases self-esteem and improves team morale.
- Create a friendly and professional workplace. Make everyone feel they are working in the best salon they can be in. Offer impressive bonuses for quality work and achieving salon targets. Create a career path, as most salon stars don’t want to be static for too long. Ask your employees what they want from their career and encourage them to know what they need to do to get there.
- Encourage teamwork, as there is power in numbers and together everyone achieves more!
If you want a highly successful salon business, focus on improving your management and leadership skills to ensure you know how to inspire your team.
Why spend money on a business coach in a national recession? 
Do these 8 things now for business success in 2024! 
Hair and beauty gifts we want under our tree... 
