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Donnalm

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Jun 12, 2017
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Castlederg
I had a new trainee join the salon around 2 months ago and issues have arouse I have no idea how to address this to the girl so not to offend her.
She first of all doesnt wear appropiate clothing, today she landed in with a hoodie and exercise leggings white socks and black shoes. Hair didnt look to have been brushed either. I explained at the start that all staff come in 15 minutes before we start to ensure the salon is set up, she comes in 5 minutes before we start. She leans over chairs with her heas to the back of the chair as though she's tired. And sits down in front of clients
I dont know what to do, I'm too soft when it comes to my employees but something has to be done. Shes only young and I don't know how to address it without offending her and causing her to run off and complain to her family. Any advice would be appreciated
 
I had a new trainee join the salon around 2 months ago and issues have arouse I have no idea how to address this to the girl so not to offend her.

You’re her employer, not her friend.
She’s your employee and being paid by you to do a job.

You set out your expectations for the role, clearly stating what’s required.
Create a list of tasks, if that’s useful. If necessary, this might also involve demonstrating how to complete certain tasks.

Don’t be vague and never assume that someone automatically knows what’s expected of them. Your job is to manage and guide them.
Provide her with a staff handbook, if possible. It can include things like acceptable dress code.

Your employee is being paid to represent your business and isn’t there to play at hairdressing. Remind them of this.

Remind yourself: Successful business owners don’t waste time worrying about asking staff to do the job they’re being paid to do.


However, it’s not clear from your OP if you pay the staff to come in 15 minutes before the salon opens? If you require staff to start working 15 mins before your published opening time, you have to pay for those 15 minutes. That’s the law!
Employers used to get away with arguing it was custom and practice for staff to start a bit earlier or finish a bit later than their contracted hours, but you can now be fined for breaching NMW regulations.
 
You’re her employer, not her friend.
She’s your employee and being paid by you to do a job.

You set out your expectations for the role, clearly stating what’s required.
Create a list of tasks, if that’s useful. If necessary, this might also involve demonstrating how to complete certain tasks.

Don’t be vague and never assume that someone automatically knows what’s expected of them. Your job is to manage and guide them.
Provide her with a staff handbook, if possible. It can include things like acceptable dress code.

Your employee is being paid to represent your business and isn’t there to play at hairdressing. Remind them of this.

Remind yourself: Successful business owners don’t waste time worrying about asking staff to do the job they’re being paid to do.


However, it’s not clear from your OP if you pay the staff to come in 15 minutes before the salon opens? If you require staff to start working 15 mins before your published opening time, you have to pay for those 15 minutes. That’s the law!
Employers used to get away with arguing it was custom and practice for staff to start a bit earlier or finish a bit later than their contracted hours, but you can now be fined for breaching NMW regulations.

That’s interesting, I was never paid extra to come in 15 mins early and this was required
 
I think the first thing to do would be to provide her with a uniform paid for by the salon. When you give it to her also cover what you expect with regard to hair & make up.
One step at a time.
Once you've raised personal presentation then you can move onto other issues in future weeks.
She probably just doesn't know what standards are expected when working with the public.
 
It's human nature to take diabolical liberties with rules. No-one likes them, so I always support staff to reach the standard expected. This is a maturity issue. You'll render a staff member unemployable if you don't make the rules clear.

I ask staff to arrive 10 mins before their shift time, pointing out that shop staff always arrive before customers. They receive tea breaks during the day in lieu of setting up and clearing away time. This is in their contract and I explain to each staff member on joining what the rules are. I make sure they understand and agree that this is fair. If they start turning up 5 mins before their shift I take them to one side and remind them. I have a contract which makes clear that they are not working for free.

When I catch my junior sitting down with her hands folded behind her head I tell her what she should be doing instead and tell her "don't let me catch you sitting down relaxing when everyone else is running around. You should be doing X and X. That is your job and what I am paying you to do." I'm never cross or angry. I'm friendly but firm.

My Saturday girl is amazingly scruffy. Quite shockingly so. I popped her into uniform within a couple of weeks - it took her a couple more weeks to get the idea - She seemed to think it was optional, but when I reflexly said "well you can't wear that" when she asked if she needed to get changed, she got the message. She has a jump suit. I'm still having to remind her to put her hair up.

We're a team of four therapists, plus a Saturday girl and part-time receptionist. All my staff are supported to work co-operatively with each other, including supporting and mentoring junior staff and new starters. It's hard telling someone what to do.

If I catch one person slacking everyone gets told off for allowing this to happen.
 
Instead of directing it at her call a staff meeting. Explain to your staff what is expected.
If she continues to step out of line then pull her aside and speak to her.
As for starting 15mins early, you really should be paying your staff.
 
She does get paid for the extra time that she's in, this goes for starting the 15 minutes early and if we run on in the evening
 
Instead of directing it at her call a staff meeting. Explain to your staff what is expected.
If she continues to step out of line then pull her aside and speak to her.
As for starting 15mins early, you really should be paying your staff.

We’re not talking about discussing staff holiday rota’s or some teething issues with a new product.
I strongly disagree with taking a team approach to staff discipline unless the issue is a generic one that all the staff are struggling with.
I think it just creates unnecessary friction within the team as the other staff members will be well aware of where the problem lies and it’s not their role to resolve staff issues. It also severely weakens the managers position within the salon and staff will begin to lose respect for them.

There are numerous resources available to salon owners to help them learn to become effective managers and it’s worthwhile looking for additional support if an owner is struggling to deal with conflict resolution in a positive way.
 
My Saturday girl turned up yesterday to do a couple of hours after school.

She'd forgotten her uniform.

She looked far too scruffy to be employable and it was clear that she knew it. She looked very sorry for herself. I used her as a demo model for some training and then got busy with walk-in enquiries before I had a chance to tell her she had to go home. She seized the opportunity to be helpful, answered the phone and tried to deal with another walk-in enquiry. Each interaction - by phone and face-to-face went surprisingly badly.

Once things had calmed down, I was able to take her to one side and explain that it's important to look like you are an employee for two reasons
1) it stops you looking like my teenage daughter whose popped in on her way home from school and is being helpful. Rather than an employee who actually knows what she is doing.
2) it helps you get into the right mindset. Looking the part helps you feel the part. She wants to be a nurse when she "grows up" I pointed out that she's going to have to deal with patients looking for reassurance when they are scared. Looking the part tells them that you know what you are doing. And it works for every industry.

Just then a very scruffy chap wandered in. I wasn't sure he was going to ask directions or hold us up! He left a flyer which I read it after he left. It said "Health and Safety Compliance Assessments". We both burst out laughing. It couldn't have been a more perfect demonstration about why appearance matters. There was no way I'd contact his company for their expertise because the mismatch between appearance and services offered was too disconcerting.
 
It's human nature to take diabolical liberties with rules. No-one likes them, so I always support staff to reach the standard expected. This is a maturity issue. You'll render a staff member unemployable if you don't make the rules clear.

I ask staff to arrive 10 mins before their shift time, pointing out that shop staff always arrive before customers. They receive tea breaks during the day in lieu of setting up and clearing away time. This is in their contract and I explain to each staff member on joining what the rules are. I make sure they understand and agree that this is fair. If they start turning up 5 mins before their shift I take them to one side and remind them. I have a contract which makes clear that they are not working for free.

When I catch my junior sitting down with her hands folded behind her head I tell her what she should be doing instead and tell her "don't let me catch you sitting down relaxing when everyone else is running around. You should be doing X and X. That is your job and what I am paying you to do." I'm never cross or angry. I'm friendly but firm.

My Saturday girl is amazingly scruffy. Quite shockingly so. I popped her into uniform within a couple of weeks - it took her a couple more weeks to get the idea - She seemed to think it was optional, but when I reflexly said "well you can't wear that" when she asked if she needed to get changed, she got the message. She has a jump suit. I'm still having to remind her to put her hair up.

We're a team of four therapists, plus a Saturday girl and part-time receptionist. All my staff are supported to work co-operatively with each other, including supporting and mentoring junior staff and new starters. It's hard telling someone what to do.

If I catch one person slacking everyone gets told off for allowing this to happen.
Invaluable advice. I’m thinking of taking on a Saturday girl can you give me any advice about breaks do you legally need to schedule these in tea break/lunch break the hours would be 9am to 4pm thanks for any help and advice
 
You need to keep up to date with ever changing regulations especially with school age children and under 18's. Google something like "employing children" making sure that you have set your search tools to UK searches and look for a gov.uk page listing. It's essential to refer first to the governments own information to make sure you are up to date and then, if you are still unsure, look for citizens advice as a second point of reference.

Depending on the age group you may need a license to employ schoolchildren from your local council.

The main things are to consider safety. Minors can be a bit gung ho and a bit clumsy. They stand on wheeled chairs or hang off banisters to get a job done (like decorating the salon or changing a light bulb). They have no idea about what they should be doing, so you need to think about whether you have enough eyes in the back of your head to supervise appropriately. You need to think about risks like a teenager tripping over a client handbag strap and dropping a cup of tea over herself or a client.

You need to think about what tasks you have which can be given to a teenager and how you are going to make the job interesting for her. You'll need to train in everything, from how to sit in public, how to greet and offer a cup of tea (not look at the floor and mumble "doyouwannadrink")

Breaks are longer for under 18's and there are restrictions for start and finish time. I'm not going to tell you what the regulations are as these will go out of date. In general you will need to employ a 16 old or older,. Have a break after 4 hours for an hour and schedule it as it's a non negotiable break.
 
Thank you need to look into this properly xxx
 

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