Junior

[The husband]

As the husband, I have more experiance having 30 hairy builders working for me on a building site than I do of being around the salon.

But I can tell when my workers are slacking off and leaving work to others, so why can my wife not see it in her workers?

I was in the salon this morning doing some bits, my wife (skin geek) was sweeping the floor, our senior stylist was putting the washing on and washing up. the junior was sitting on one of the settees reading a mag, the other junior phoned in sick 2 hours after she was supposed to be at work.

when I asked my wife why she was doing all the work she just replied to me, at least I know its done properly, i then watched the girl sit in front of a mirror for an hour looking totally disinterested, One of the stylists asked the junior to watch whilst she did some braid work, within ten mins she had slopped off into the reception area and didnt return.

is it just the girls young age (17)? are all young girls the same? and how should my wife deal with these problems?

I said to just sack them and get someone who wants to learn (as I would on site) and shows some interest.

what problems have you had with junior staff and how did you deal with them, what should my wife do? I am not allowed to interfere with the salon but she didnt say I could not get advice. (just dont tell her lol)

 

[lizzie27]

doesnt the salon have any clients???
the top therapists are cleaning.
the others are looking in the mirror for an hour?
i wish i had this much time on my hands!!
i wouldnt employ so many staff if they had nothing to do, maybe they are bored!
if you own a sucessfull bussiness, maybe help out with some promotions..
xx

 

[The husband]

theres plenty to do, but how do you get them to do it??????????

 

[lizzie27]

well in my place we all have a seperate column in the diary,
with a list of appointments that we are there to do.....
every one else is busy at the same time so no one else can treat your clients, which means you have a responsibility to be there for that client, you cant be late, or sit around, and every employee is always busy, or i dont ask them to come in! lol
try a target sheet too, with rewards! gets em going xx

 

[Ditzy]

As the husband, I have more experiance having 30 hairy builders working for me on a building site than I do of being around the salon.

But I can tell when my workers are slacking off and leaving work to others, so why can my wife not see it in her workers?

I was in the salon this morning doing some bits, my wife (skin geek) was sweeping the floor, our senior stylist was putting the washing on and washing up. the junior was sitting on one of the settees reading a mag, the other junior phoned in sick 2 hours after she was supposed to be at work.

when I asked my wife why she was doing all the work she just replied to me, at least I know its done properly, i then watched the girl sit in front of a mirror for an hour looking totally disinterested, One of the stylists asked the junior to watch whilst she did some braid work, within ten mins she had slopped off into the reception area and didnt return.

is it just the girls young age (17)? are all young girls the same? and how should my wife deal with these problems?

I said to just sack them and get someone who wants to learn (as I would on site) and shows some interest.

what problems have you had with junior staff and how did you deal with them, what should my wife do? I am not allowed to interfere with the salon but she didnt say I could not get advice. (just dont tell her lol)

Next time get a mature college student in, they are spending money and every hour around their day job to learn hairdressing, so would definitely want to work and learn!

(Not spoken as a mature college student in any way shape or form:wink2

 

[Jeni Giles]

You are not alone in your quest to find young motivated stylists. This "epidemic" is happening all over. There is more than one issue here though, as a rule, women are more forgiving or understanding if you will, when a co worker or employee isn't performing up to par. We give it a while before we explode and hash it out. Your wife most likely sees what is going on and it is easier (less confrontational and emotionally draining) to do the cleaning and other necessary daily cleaning chores herself than to constantly be directing a junior toward the tasks that need done, especially knowing that she's probably going to have to go behind and redo the chores.

The second issue is how these younger people have grown up. They are techno savvy, can text quicker than most of us can speak, have excellent phone skills, but have NO IDEA what to do when faced with a client who is asking questions or unhappy about a service. Think about what they have grown up knowing, terrorism, bombings, they feel unsafe going to school, don't go out by themselves, spend more time on line than out side. They are used to doing what they want, when they want, and when they are in the mood for it.

I'm not bashing, belittling or berating. These people are very talented artists, with passion and drive, they are just a little less disciplined when it comes to a "9-5" atmosphere.

We deal with the same issues on a much larger scale, being a school I deal with about 65 juniors, everday. There are days we "rock" and days I should be bald, alcoholic and chocolate dependant. If I had a dime for every time I've asked "did you get your duty done?" I'd have more money than Bill Gates.

Here's some of what is working for us, if the student is self motivated (I didn't have to ask) and they see some thing that needs to be done, towels, dusting, sweeping, colr bowls, you name it, and it is not their regular cleaning chore or duty, they get to fill out a raffle ticket. Every 2 weeks we draw for prizes, some weeks they are little prizes, samples of new product, clips, brushes other weeks they are big prizes, tickets to a hair class, shears, blowdryer. Catch to this is they never know which week it is that will be a big prize. This way the things that need doing are being done, correctly (can't have a ticket if it isn't) and I no longer am chasing them around asking for stuff to get done or doing it myself because it's easier.

I have sympathy for your wife, she's in a hard position, probably a very caring person who really doesn't want to become a "hard nosed nag" . Try and spin her situation around to a positive, point out and praise the juniors when they are doing what they are supposed to be doing, reward them and recognize them. You'll get a whole lot further and your wife will be less tired.

PM me if you want some other ideas and links to websites that may help inspire your wife in working with her young staff.