What do you do when half your team defects to another salon?

[TMHO!]

Hi There Salon Owners & Committed Professionals,
I opened a concept salon this year and spent a lot of time and money interviewing and trade testing to ensure we employed committed staff we could grow the business with.
1.One member of staff left after a month due to a long term illness that she was aware of when she accepted the job but didn't tell us about until after she started.
2.One member of staff went off sick for a month came back for 3 days and went off sick again for a further 3 weeks.
3.After re-recruiting to create the bones of a good team my 2 most senior members of staff have now defected to a new salon, providing 1.5 weeks notice notifying me by email. The notice was withdrawn once I informed them that that I could not comply with their request to be paid daily in cash illegally.Resignation letters were identical and sent one hour apart.

I'd like to think I'm a good employer and always ensure I thank my staff daily for their service . I pay them regularly and fairly. I don't play favourites and have special rules for some but not others.I encourage suggestions and input from staff and implement them where I can . Where I can't I explain why.
IS IT JUST ME? IF THIS HAS HAPPENED TO YOU HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH IT?
FRUSTRATED CROYDON SALON OWNER

 

[daydreams01]

Sounds like you have had a rough time with staff. We're you aware of any issues building up that we're causing any atmosphere between staff? Perhaps you could ask them for some feedback in an exit interview about why they were moving on so quick. Sometimes the grass always seems greener and they may have been promised better T's & C's elsewhere? Shame they didn't discuss with you first as they haven't given you a chance to address any concerns but it seems like they have gone to the same place so maybe got offered more money or better prospects? Do you do appraisals or meetings where you can discuss progress etc, check if any problems? Hopefully you will recruit better replacements for them. You sound better off without them tbh, good luck x


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[Baggybear]

I am not a salon owner but my moves would be:

Both therapists who have given their notice or have resigned would get no further work from me (put on garden leave if notice was given - so would get paid their notice but not be in the workplace) and I ensure that I keep all the appointments that are already booked where possible but rearrange any that I know I can't do.
I'd put adverts in the windows saying that I'm recruiting & start looking over CV's of any applicants that may have just missed out on getting a job with me in previous job hunts to see if they would like to apply for this position (you never know how much people have progressed after your previous interview).
I would get the job advertised with the job center & in my local newspaper & I would arrange when I would be looking to interview asap.

I would not dwell on the situation, I would put all my effort into making sure I kept the salon running as smoothly as possible & ensure all remaining staff are happy (although deep down I would want to know what had happened to cause 2 members of staff to leave, I wouldn't spend time thinking too much about it as that is not constructive, I may never know what caused them to leave).

Is there a clause in your contracts limiting them from working within a set radius for a set time after leaving you? (Depends if you took the time to ensure your contract is actually legally binding when drawing it up in the first place), I would be reminding them that they can't work within x miles of the salon for the length of time stated (eg.. a year) and that you would be pursuing them legally if they broke their contract.

I'm sure there is more to be done and someone will be along soon to offer more help but the most important thing at a time like that is to stay focused on the future & not dwell on the past, you can't change what has happened but you are in control of what happens now :Love:.

 

[AcidPerm]

...
Is there a clause in your contracts limiting them from working within a set radius for a set time after leaving you? (Depends if you took the time to ensure your contract is actually legally binding when drawing it up in the first place), I would be reminding them that they can't work within x miles of the salon for the length of time stated (eg.. a year) and that you would be pursuing them legally if they broke their contract.

Excellent point made by Baggybear.
Did you get your staff contracts drawn up professionally and did they include any restrictive covenants preventing staff from working for the competition.

I would also suggest that when a new business owner takes on an existing business, it's quite common for a number of staff to leave who do not want to work under a new regime. However, as you recruited these staff from scratch, that doesn't really apply unless their expectations weren't being met?

You might have to chalk it up to experience!

 

[TMHO!]

Hi daydreams01,
I have spoken to both members of staff after receiving their emails and the answer to your question is no. The driving factor was money other than that there were no major issues. Apparently the new salon they are defecting to is prepared to pay them as "self employed" with no tax or ni deductions despite not being registered. They knew that I would not be prepared to do that. I asked about concerns, they didn't really raise anything of any substance. The two remaining staff I have have been great, one is part time and has offered to go full time until replacement staff are recruited and the other is already full time but is calling al her her old colleagues that she trained with to see if anyone's looking. One of her colleagues has already called us for a trade test. There was no discord it was financial . I can accept that staff are on a career ladder but my main issue is the lack of professionalism in not providing a months notice.
ITS WISE TO REMEMBER EVERYONE YOU STEP ON ON THE WAY UP WILL BE WAITING FOR YOU ON THE WAY DOWN!

 

[TMHO!]

Thanks Baggy Bear, but non-compete contracts relating to employment are actually non-enforceable. You can only use them legally to stop an employee setting up a salon within a reasonable distance from years. You cant stop them from working for someone else in the area. With regards to recruitment, some good advice there which I will act on
Thanks for the support.

 

[kimi1101]

A months notice?!

Is that in their contract? I would have said industry standard is one week.

Onwards and upwards, all the best. Staffing is a huge issue in this industry.

 

[AcidPerm]

But you said they were going self employed, not working for a competitor, as such?

If you have restrictions in place, might be worth getting it checked out.

 

[Cheshire_Gal]

Never underestimate how much draw money has! I know another salon owner who lost half their staff to a new local rival because of the rate the new salon was paying. They couldnt compete with it or get anywhere near the rate. The other salon only lasted 6 months before the owner was busted as a drug dealer. His salon was a front to launder drug money!!!

 

[Chrysalis]

They probably done you a favour in the long run, at least you found out quickly before they had loyal clients who would follow them.

Turn the other cheek, put all that energy into making your business successful, get better therapists, do better treatments. I too learned this lesson and vowed no member of staff would be bigger than my business and neither would my business be reliant on employees only myself.

You've developed contingency planning by your post the other staff member has stepped in so you're learning already.

Once you are settled again sit back think of more protective business strategies, paying back training fees for example.

Even Alex ferguson didn't let Beckham be bigger than the club! Xx

 

[TMHO!]

We had monthly staff meeting where we discussed direction , ideas etc. Ideas that could implement we put in the marketing plan which they were emailed a copy of. We been open 5 months. I suspect their expectations were unrealistic for that time period. We shared with staff the vision that the success of the salon depended on a team effort but other than performing treatments and client care there was not much interest shown in salon development.

 

[TMHO!]

One month is in their contracts which as far as they are concerned are not valid because they never returned a signed copy. Notice periods are difficult to enforce anyway as you'd have to sue the employee for breach of contract to enforce, After that I think relations would have soured to the extent that you wouldn't want them to work their notice anyway!

 

[TMHO!]

Very true, watch out for Superstars!

 

[Chrysalis]

There are many differing business development and appraisal systems you can look into, this method with those individuals didn't work.

Onwards and upwards, perhaps do some reading around pros and cons of different methods

 

[TMHO!]

The other salon is 20 miles from mine so I'm not worried about competing issues .

 

[TMHO!]

My husband is a business adviser, and I have been an accountant for over 20 years before starting this business. I have spent this time advising other businesses and running their finances. We already own another business (not beauty)which we started over a decade ago ( 10 staff employed there). Some of the staff in the that business have been with us since we opened and progressed through the business. Its definitely not us!

 

[The Geek]

Thanks Baggy Bear, but non-compete contracts relating to employment are actually non-enforceable. You can only use them legally to stop an employee setting up a salon within a reasonable distance from years. You cant stop them from working for someone else in the area. With regards to recruitment, some good advice there which I will act on
Thanks for the support.

I know you mentioned in a later thread that they have moved 20 miles out - but just for others reading this: If they left to be self-employed, they are their own business and therefore a restrictive covenant could help. Either way it is worth more in than out.

Another point is that you mentioned sending them marketing information. It may be worth ensuring you have a confidentiality clause to ensure that in the future when this happens again (because it will), that any plans like that cannot be taken and used or redistributed.

In the end, this kind of thing is very common in our industry. A water tight contract won't save you (unless you REALLY want to litigate which is never worth it) but it can give you some help in mitigating some of the challenges you may be feeling right now.

Best of luck

PS - Chrysalis said it best. Better to be rid of these guys so you have room to take on better quality team members.

 

[TMHO!]

I agree, thanks for the support.

 

[sdsurge]

You could hire and lose staff 100 times and blame yourself 100 times. Contract, competitor, better paid, does not matter. If people want to leave they will, and you should never try to stop them unless it's fixable. As someone already said, the grass always appears greener. If you believe you have done all you can to make their employment as comfortable, reasonable and enriching as possible, then sleep well and do not dwell.

 

[TMHO!]

Thank you