Five Steps To Save A Toxic Salon
You opened your salon because you are a master hairstylist; if you’re going to work for anyone, it might as well be yourself - right? But along the way, did anyone mention that you need to be a master at human relationships too? I think I missed that chapter in beauty school.
A toxic salon is full of unhappy, bored stylists, who are content to fill their days with fickle drama. They infect everyone with their negativity, chasing away new clients, coworkers, and especially new talent. Does that sound like your salon? Are you in a full blown salon meltdown? Don’t throw in the towel just yet. To have a profitable business that adds value to your life, and the lives of clients and stylists, you must create a culture of trust, willingness, and commitment.
Consider this: Starting a salon is like becoming a parent. Your business can’t prosper from your labor alone, but you are responsible for its care and upbringing. Are we cultivating a positive atmosphere with intention? Or have things slowly deteriorated over time?
Before you put up the for-sale sign, give yourself a little grace. This article is designed to give you 5 practical, actionable steps to fix your salon immediately.
Step 1: Be a Leader and Prepare Your Vision
Have you ever set a new standard in the workplace, only to have it fall apart, and be quickly forgotten? Have you ever said, “I want the shampoo bowls wiped down after every use.”, but then forget to clean the shampoo bowl yourself? Maybe you noticed that an employee also forgot to wipe it down, but you didn’t say anything.
Did you think, “I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt; they’re having a bad day after all," or, “I have too much going on right now, and I don’t have time to tell them to do everything?”
Employees notice when there’s inconsistencies between what we say, and what we do. You may think staff shouldn’t need to be reminded, but by staying silent, their willingness and trust in you slowly erodes. The message you’re sending is: “I don’t mean what I say.”
If you’re so willing to let go of small things, then how do you expect them to trust you with the big stuff? It’s important to call out the small things when we see them.
Write a few sentences on who you want to be as a leader; describe how your dream salon runs, and what kind of a culture you want to create—this is a vision statement. Post it where you will often see it as a reminder. Don’t make empty promises, but work to align yourself to your vision statement.
As you consistently lead by example, turning words into action, staff will come to respect you more. The culture will shift as your staff watch you become a more consistent leader.
Step 2: Analyze your team in the drama square
Toxic stylists deserve a second chance as long as they don’t negatively impact the team. You’ll regret chasing away a top-earner after a heated argument. Let them stay, but what do you do when someone doesn’t want to change with you? With a coaching and mentoring leadership style [More on that here - insert link to coaching vs. mentoring] , new talent will begin to out-earn your experienced staff quickly. When that happens, typically it comes time for bottom stylists to make a choice: join in on the new salon vision where they can grow and earn more—or leave for a salon that accepts their below-bare-minimum toxic behavior. The beauty business is highly competitive, and in order to survive you must never allow your business to become toxic again. You stopped feeding into drama when you decided to change focus, and those employees are now ravenous for attention.
Try this: Draw a square on a piece of paper and divide it into four quadrants, organize your staff into the following categories:
On the left side: Staff who are low-earning and need more training.
On the right side: Staff who are knowledgeable, confident and high-earning.
On the bottom: Staff who are disengaged, or display a negative attitude, toward work.
On the top: Staff who are motivated, engaged, and show enthusiasm for work.
It should look something like this: [drawn image]
Notice the low earners are on the left and the high earners are on the right. Stylists at the bottom of the square are in the “Doesn’t Care” category, while the “Does Care” Stylists are found at the top of the square. The sources of drama are typically at the bottom.
Salon owners know the drama starters all too well, and spend the most time and energy trying to convince them to care again. Don’t try to win back a toxic stylist, but, work to protect those who care from their negative influence.
Tip: Spend your time wisely—invest 80% of your effort with the people in the top of the square, and only 20% with the bottom.
Step 3: Write a development plan
In it’s most basic form, a development plan is a career path. To go from point A to point B you’ll need to decided how to get there. Low-earning staff need training to build their confidence and skill. In this type of development plan, you identify what skills to improve and create a plan to help overcome the challenge of building a client book.
A development plan goes beyond just a skills-based training program, it should include crystal-clear steps on how to advance at your salon. A toxic employee might not agree to a development plan. Don’t force it, but always keep the door open. As others on your team continue to develop, they will soon out perform those who don’t participate. Let them- stylists stuck in their old ways will quickly decide for themselves whether they stay or go.
Step 4: Make an announcement
Once you understand the needs of your team, it’s time to put it all into practice. Make an announcement that you’ll be taking a more active role in training and development—Preferably during a team meeting.
It’s important for your team to hear the reason you’re implementing change. We tend to assume the worst until we understand what is in it for us, and what others have to gain. Explain the vision for the salon, what you want the future to look like, and how everyone benefits from the changes being made. Helping them to see the picture in your head goes a long way towards generating excitement.
Step 5: Manage pushback and staying focused
Not everyone will trust your shift in leadership. In fact, you should expect some moderate push back-especially from high-earners who will be skeptical of your intentions. Don’t react with anger or frustration when challenges pop up. It’s good practice to be open and calm when receiving difficult feedback. Be careful to listen to their concerns, but don’t allow one person to take up too much of your time. Bottom stylists love being at the bottom and want to derail you from the tracks. They’re hoping you’ll just give up if they keep pushing back.
Reassure skeptics that you’re committed to creating a great place to work—That you hope in time they will see how things change for the better. Let them know you have a place for them in your exciting new vision for your salon, but they better get used to the changes because this is how things are from now on.
Summary
If you’re going to turn a toxic salon around it requires your unwavering consistency and leadership every day. Over the next 90 days you’ll be watched to see just how serious you really are.
Just like any other skill, you can master human relationships. If you show up consistently everyday, and believe me your business depends on it, you can bring your vision into reality.
You didn’t open your salon to only be a parking space for bad habits and bored stylists. Your dreams are so much bigger than the challenges that lie before of you; with a small seed of courage, something beautiful will grow.
It’s time to be brave. I didn’t say any of this would be easy: developing a team and becoming a leader takes time and energy. Facing pushback can be tiring, and it’s scary to think about the possibility of having to do this on your own.
But you don’t have to.
Looking for additional support?
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