Attracting and Keeping the Best Talent

In today’s talent pool, attracting the best candidate is not easy. You offer a competitive salary and benefits package, but so do your competitors. Today, candidates are looking beyond benefits and compensation — instead, work/life balance, and company culture are top of mind, these days, so what can you do to attract the best talent?

Be intentional with your hiring process

Most of us can appreciate the sense of urgency to fill a vacant position; however, it’s important to first take the time to identify the skills and values important to you so you can create a clear job design. This allows you to identify and target suitable candidates and give candidates the ability to evaluate if the position aligns with their core values and if it’s a good fit for them before the interview process begins.

Implement a strategic recruitment and onboarding process

A candidate’s first impression of what it could be like working for you is formed during the recruitment process. Recruitment is a two-way street. You are interviewing them, but they are also interviewing you…you both need to put your best foot forward.

Following a successful recruit, it’s important to help new employees feel connected to their roles and your brand. It can be overwhelming for a new employee when they first join a team, and a lack of training can be off-putting. Instead, set your team up for success and provide adequate training. Keep in mind we all learn differently. Some of us are visual learners, some auditory, others are kinesthetic. Tailoring the training as much as possible to the employee’s learning style not only ensures a successful and efficient onboarding process, but also shows you are invested in the success of the team. And don’t forget to check in with new employees regularly to make sure everything is going well.

Build an employee-focused culture

Employees wanted to feel connected to their work. Creating a workplace environment where communication, creativity, and ideas are encouraged and welcomed not only increases employee performance but also reinforces a shared sense of purpose and a common goal they are all working toward together as a team.

Provide career development opportunities

Career development can attract quality candidates and help you retain valued employees. Offering programs that allow employees to enhance their skill set, and career advancement keeps team members motivated, engaged, and invested, and shows potential new employees that you value them as professionals and that there is opportunity for career growth by being part of your team.

Offer a comprehensive employee benefits package

Employees want to feel appreciated for their time and efforts and this can be incorporated in a standard compensation package, however employees are increasingly placing higher importance on benefits that reflect mental health and well-being.

So, what does this mean for business owners? It means of course, offering a competitive salary, but you should also ask ‘what’s important to your employees.’ Here are a few suggestions of benefits that might be suitable for your business:

• Birthdays off
• Flexible work schedule
• Remote/hybrid working
• Complimentary staff services
• Complimentary staff parking
• Subsidized fitness membership
• Allocate a dollar amount for skincare products quarterly
• Health benefits
• Continual professional development sessions for staff

If you are rethinking your compensation package, have individual conversations with staff members to better understand what’s important to them and build from there. Sometimes it’s the trivial things that make the biggest impact on your team.

Provide management with the necessary tools to engage the team

We can be so focused on recruitment and retention of staff that we unintentionally neglect talking about the management team. Like any department of your organization managers also need professional development to provide good leadership. Your management team directly impacts your employees; dysfunctional management can quickly destroy team morale.
Empowering your leaders with tools and techniques to communicate effectively, to support and encourage professional development, to nurture team mentality, to recognize an employee in need of assistance and being able to give the required level support can all influence team moral and drive success.

Return on your investment

Quality staff and retention are essential for the success of any business. If you have good and valued staff members, treat them well — they’re your greatest asset.

From a business perspective, having a continual revolving door of staff hits your bottom line. We sometimes don’t realize the cost involved in the hiring and onboarding process, so consider the following: How long does it take to fill a vacant position? How long does it take for a new hire to get up to speed and generate revenue? Is training a new hire taking someone else away from their work or slowing them down? And how long do they stay before you start the process again? You may not see it, but all of the above have costs attached.

Also remember that:

If you provide your staff with continual professional development, they will be better equipped to consult with clients about additional beneficial products and treatment plans thereby increasing sales.

The energy from a happy and motivated team filters down into the vibe of your business, clients can feel it and if you’re known as a positive workplace this will help you attract the best talent.

Treating your staff well and not having a revolving door mentality means that your clients are able to build relationships with their treatment providers. People buy from people they trust, if a client’s service provider is constantly changing there is no opportunity for a relationship to be built.

Creating a positive work environment doesn’t happen overnight, but it is the key in recruiting and retaining the best talent. By simply looking after your employees and treating them well your team will not only thrive, but your business will see a reduction in disruption and costs associated with recruitment and an increase in revenue and profits.

Attributes of an Engaging Leader

An engaging spa leader is vital for a successful workplace; they have a positive effect on job satisfaction and employee performance. So, what makes an engaging spa leader?

Trust and Integrity
A good leader recognizes the importance of getting to know their team and developing trust among their colleagues. They engage with their team and encourage employees to participate in projects and activities to work together in setting and achieving goals. They will also act with integrity and take responsibility if they fall short on objectives or make mistakes.

Self-awareness
Management is a skill, and effective leaders are aware of the areas in their management styles that could be improved upon. They will take the initiative to learn and develop these skills to become more successful in their roles.

Gratitude
Sometimes we assume our team knows that we are thankful, and we can underestimate how impactful hearing the words “thank you” can be on morale. Showing gratitude and appreciation for your team’s efforts is customary practice for an engaging leader.

There are some people who are natural born leaders; they possess the ability to connect with others to effectively manage and lead groups of people. The natural leader in your team will be the person your employees trust, a team member who is approachable and empathic, someone who is respectful toward others and treats everyone equally. As business owners, when selecting our managers, we can put more emphasis on performance and “experience” and forget to consider how a leader’s lack of ability to build engaging relationships with employees can have a negative effect on team morale and performance. The most successful businesses understand that an engaging and trusted leader is vital for a successful workplace. Having the right leadership in place has a positive effect on job satisfaction and employee retention and engagement — all of which increase overall team performance.