Building a stellar salon team demands more than skill-spotting; discover Benjamin Shipman’s expert insights for successful and sustainable recruitment.
Finding the perfect individuals to join your salon can be a challenge, yet with a clear strategy and understanding of your brand, it becomes achievable. Benjamin Shipman, co-founder of the acclaimed The Hair Movement in Sidcup, offers invaluable insights into effective salon recruitment practices that yield strong, cohesive teams. His primary piece of advice for salon owners embarking on this crucial process is to thoroughly define the attributes you seek in a prospective team member, looking beyond mere skills.
Define Your Ideal Candidate – Beyond the Skills
It is indeed tempting to solely concentrate on the technical abilities a potential new team member might bring to your salon environment. However, Benjamin the importance of carefully considering their personality and how it will integrate. Someone who possesses all the necessary skills but whose personality clashes with the established team dynamic can unfortunately prove significantly demotivating for everyone involved, ultimately having a considerably detrimental impact on your business’s overall success and reputation. Therefore, take the necessary time to truly envision the specific kind of individual who will not only be able to perform the required job functions exceptionally well but also seamlessly become a positive addition to your unique salon culture.
Know Your Salon’s DNA – Understanding Your Brand
To effectively attract those individuals who represent the most suitable fit for your specific salon, you must first cultivate an absolutely unwavering understanding of your brand’s core identity and deeply held values. “If you genuinely want to recruit someone who truly aligns with the fundamental essence of your brand,” says Benjamin. “You need to establish absolute clarity regarding your business’s overarching goals and deeply ingrained core ethos.” This essential clarity will invariably ensure that your communication throughout the entire recruitment process remains genuinely authentic and completely transparent, thereby allowing all prospective employees to fully comprehend precisely what you are actively seeking and to develop complete confidence in you as an employer who possesses a strong and well-defined sense of their own business identity.
Look Beyond the Paper – The Limitations of CVs
In today’s rapidly evolving and often superficial world, it can be all too easy to form quick and potentially inaccurate judgements based solely on a curriculum vitae. However, Benjamin wisely advises against the practice of immediate rejection based on this initial assessment. “Not everyone possesses a natural talent for effectively writing CVs that truly showcase their abilities and potential,” he points out. “Consequently, it can sometimes prove exceptionally worthwhile to proactively reach out to an applicant and respectfully request further, more detailed information or necessary clarification regarding their background and experience.” When a candidate demonstrates a willingness to invest the additional effort required to diligently provide the supplementary information you have specifically requested, it can serve as a particularly strong and telling indicator of their inherent drive and unwavering commitment – crucial qualities that may not always be immediately apparent on a standard, often impersonal resume.
Understand the Commitment – Especially with Training
Benjamin offers a genuinely valuable and insightful perspective on the significant undertaking of taking on apprentices within a salon setting. “I hold the utmost respect for those salons that actively choose to take on apprentices and invest in their development,” he adds. “However, it is absolutely crucial to be fully aware of the substantial and long-term commitment that is invariably involved in the comprehensive process of training someone effectively from the very ground up.”
His personal preference tends towards recruiting individuals who are in their late twenties or early thirties. They will already possess a solid foundation of established skills, coupled with a genuine and demonstrable passion for the dynamic hairdressing industry. However, they might simply benefit from renewed motivation and experienced guidance to further excel. “I personally derive considerable satisfaction from actively helping individuals to develop and ultimately become the absolute best version of themselves within their professional careers.,” Benjamin continues.
Transparency is Key – Setting Clear Expectations
Unwavering honesty and absolute clarity are undeniably paramount throughout the entire salon recruitment journey, from initial contact through to final onboarding. “During the often delicate and crucial recruitment process, it is absolutely vital to ensure that no candidate is ever inadvertently or intentionally ‘oversold’ on the specific opportunities that your salon can realistically offer. Always strive to be completely transparent and forthright regarding precisely what they can realistically expect in terms of their specific role, their inherent responsibilities within the team, and the genuine opportunities for professional growth and development available within your salon, as well as clearly outlining precisely what will be expected of them as a valued and contributing member of your established team.”