Finding it tough being a boss

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chery19

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Joined
Feb 16, 2014
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Location
glasgow
Hi guys!

My salon has been opened for over a year, I also have a baby boy of just over a year (didn't plan that very well, I know)

Anyway, I am a working boss and work part time at the end of the week. I have a therapist who has worked for me from the start and I can trust her to run my salon when I'm not there. I have some small gripes, mainly about her needing a little push out her comfort zone but that's it.

I have another therapist on a trial and on a 0 hour contract but I have given her regular hours because I know she has bills to pay etc but every opportunity she gets she squeezes every last 30mins out me. So at the end of the day if she finishes her client at closing time and still has to clear up she puts that on her time sheet. She also dilly dallys her last clients to make them run on for that extra half hour. I never did that when I was employed. I came in 20mins early to get organised and stayed till the last client went and just got paid the basic hours.
Am I asking too much or is this the way it goes now? All my working life my bosses were good to me by allowing me to go home if it's quiet etc so I would never put extra hours down.

My therapists also get free treatments in the salon (within reason)

I am also struggling with confidence because I feel like I'm still a worker rather than a boss. I find it hard telling them off. Sometimes I wish it was just little old me again.

I have been toying with the idea of giving my 1st therapist a more senior position possibly moving to more of a managerial position but can anyone tell me how much of the business a manager needs to know? Do I teach her the ins and outs of the books or do I just give her budget figures to stick to?
 
I feel sorry for your 2nd therapist, to be honest. Is she also on minimum wage? If she’s on a zero hours contract with bills to pay, you can hardly blame her trying to get an extra half an hour’s pay here and there. She’d be better off working for Tesco!
If you can’t afford to employ then maybe you should offer her a self employed position and charge her a set weekly rent? You’ll get an agreed sum you can rely on and she can try to build her business and have an income she can actually live off.

win:win for both of you.
 
Personally I think if the second therapist is at work tidying up at the end of the day, in my mind she is still at work and definitely should be paid for this. I imagine you expect that of her, to tidy up so it's all ready for the next day? If that's the case and it's part of her job description then she needs to be paid for it. It's different however if she is deliberately making the client run later on purpose to get an extra half an hour, but she really should be paid for the time she is actually at work. Having a 0 hours contract is really tough, so in my opinion I think she is entitled to be paid for all of her time in the salon.
As above said, maybe making her self employed could be an option for you? x
 
She cane to me on a trial few months ago so I could try it out to see if I could afford to pay her. She was in a few days then decided to leave her job at ASDA so I have tried my best to give her as many hours as I could.

After being qualified for 4 years this is the 1st salon job she's had so I've had to re-train her too.
 
I feel sorry for your 2nd therapist, to be honest. Is she also on minimum wage? If she’s on a zero hours contract with bills to pay, you can hardly blame her trying to get an extra half an hour’s pay here and there. She’d be better off working for Tesco!
If you can’t afford to employ then maybe you should offer her a self employed position and charge her a set weekly rent? You’ll get an agreed sum you can rely on and she can try to build her business and have an income she can actually live off.

win:win for both of you.

She came to me on a trial a few months ago so I could try it out to see if I could afford to have her. She was in a few days then decided to leave her job at ASDA so I have tried my best to give her as many hours as I could.

After being qualified for 4 years this is the 1st salon job she's had so I've had to re-train her too.

I treat my staff fairly, I don't expect them to work for nothing, I am really only trying to find out if this is the way as anytime I worked for someone we both came and went for each other.

At the start of a business all you can do is but try so if a 0 hours contract and minimum wage is the only way to make a business work to then build it up together to create a better working environment for everyone, surely it can't be frowned upon? Otherwise we would all be working in Tesco!
 
I used to work in HR many moons ago, and most of the issues raised would be with Managers struggling to manage their team. Its not as easy as people think so I do sympathise. I worked with experienced managers on £200,000+ a year and they would all have training on how to be good managers and how to get the most out of their team. It's often an overlooked skill, so maybe a day course would be beneficial for you, give you some tips and help you with your confidence??

You really shouldn't need to 'tell anyone off'. Something that bugged me when working in the beauty industry, even in my 30s I always felt very undermined and often treated like a child, which I've never experienced in any other industry before. Although boundaries and rules should be in place, everyone needs respect for one another otherwise it doesn't work. There needs to be a level of appreciation for staff rather than just expecting then to do the job they are paid for.

As your therapist is contracted, she has every right to charge for cleaning time as she is technically still working. Although you were willing to work extra for basic pay, do you really think this was fair?
When I earned £26,000 in my office job with 35+ holidays a year and bonuses, would I work outside my hours, yes of course because I was paid at a level to do so and my boss used to notice and I'd get praise, recognition, promotions and sometimes even treats like vouchers or paid meals out! But when I was earning just over minimum wage in beauty and was pretty much worked to the bone it used to infuriate me when we were expected to come in early and stay late every single day with not even a thank you.
 
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I used to work in HR many moons ago, and most of the issues raised would be with Managers struggling to manage their team. Its not as easy as people think so I do sympathise. I worked with experienced managers on £200,000+ a year and they would all have training on how to be good managers and how to get the most out of their team. It's often an overlooked skill, so maybe a day course would be beneficial for you, give you some tips and help you with your confidence??

You really shouldn't need to 'tell anyone off'. Something that bugged me when working in the beauty industry, even in my 30s I always felt very undermined and often treated like a child, which I've never experienced in any other industry before. Although boundaries and rules should be in place, everyone needs respect for one another otherwise it doesn't work. There needs to be a level of appreciation for staff rather than just expecting then to do the job they are paid for.

As your therapist is contracted, she has every right to charge for cleaning time as she is technically still working. Although you were willing to work extra for basic pay, do you really think this was fair?
When I earned £26,000 in my office job with 35+ holidays a year and bonuses, would I work outside my hours, yes of course because I was paid at a level to do so and my boss used to notice and I'd get praise, recognition, promotions and sometimes even treats like vouchers or paid meals out! But when I was earning just over minimum wage in beauty and was pretty much worked to the bone it used to infuriate me when we were expected to come in early and stay late every single day with not even a thank you.

Thank you so much for this advice, it has definitely given me food for thought.
 
I don't think giving your 1st therapist a more senior role is going to help really. I think like Jemma says you need to go on a course yourself to equip you with the skills to manage your team effectively rather than hoping someone else can do it for you. It is hard, try to remember how you would feel in their position and bear this in mind when dealing with any issues. Also, I think a 0 hour contract would be very stressful if you have bills to pay. Do you give them commission for any product sales? You could maybe say to her if she can bring in a certain amount per month in retails sales you could look at giving her a contract with set hours. How about doing a recommend a friend scheme to try and get more regular clients in so there is the work there for her. Make sure she is asking clients to rebook as they leave. Get her to take more of an active role in getting repeat bookings and new clients in then the work will be there for her. :)
 
Hi I think the way around this would be to make sure clients leave around 15 mins before closing time to give chance to tidy up !
In many years of working in salons we where expected to work through lunch hours and late and were never paid overtime , but was too young and daft to say anything !
But also I have worked with people who would regularly book "ghosties " in for their last appointment so they could have an early finish
I think the best policy is to be open and honest about what you expect as an employer , and give the staff an opportunity to have their say
I think when people feel valued and appreciated they are more likely to go that extra mile
I think working within a small business has to be mutually beneficial for both employee and employer , otherwise results in resentment and a high turnover of staff
 
I would pay 15mins before first client and 15mins after last client.
Also I would advise you not to disclose too much information regarding the running of your business (£) to your senior therapist. Give the staff targets to reach with a reward. Also speaking from experience I would not allow staff to have treatments during working hours. Let them have their free treatments in their spare time otherwise you are not only paying for the products used but also paying their wage while they enjoy a pamper.
 
Set some boundaries, that you expect arrival 15 mins before work which is pretty normal and that for example last client finishes at 4.45 and she is paid until 5. You can’t just expect someone to work over and above their hours without making it clear what you expect. It also not very nice when you are employed and the employer is seeing if you are profitable for the business or gives the impression they can’t afford to pay you. Shes just started and your only in the beginning of your business, has she got the potential to grow the business with you? Build up returning clientele? Those things are higher up the list rather than seeing if she covers her wage right now in my opinion.
 
Set some boundaries, that you expect arrival 15 mins before work which is pretty normal and that for example last client finishes at 4.45 and she is paid until 5.

If the salon owner requires their staff to arrive 15 minutes before opening time and stay 15 minutes afterwards to clean, for example, they must BY LAW pay for the full 30 minutes.

If staff choose to turn up early, that's their choice but they cannot be compelled to.
 

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