If You Don't Train......."Don't Blame!"
The salon HR management process is one of the most over looked inside the walls of small as well as large tanning concerns.
If you're a single location hands-on owner the process is decidedly simpler. However as your business grows and you have the responsibility of more employees you realize that you're no longer in the tanning salon industry. NOW, you're in the "people management" business. There is no doubt that a poorly managed staff will kill your business faster than all of the ridiculous warnings about tanning's safety. Here is an abbreviated version of how to set up your training to produce stars and eliminate those folks who want to just collect a pay check.
- Start a “buddy system”. All new employees should be assigned a peer or fellow employee; someone the trainee can feel comfortable with to approach on everyday questions. This works because new people may feel fearful or embarrassed of asking questions of their immediate superior and a desire to impress their bosses. Because of that they won't want to ask many questions that may make them feel “stupid”. Nobody wants that! The buddy, however, is less threatening and the trainee will have a tendency to ask more questions of and share more concerns with a buddy than with a boss. When selecting a buddy, be certain he or she is very knowledgeable about salon and company operations-especially that of handling customers. A buddy should be one of your better employees. After all, you want to clone only good employees.
- Together, the buddy and the manager should formulate a training checklist. This is a list of basic but critical duties and procedures that the new employee is expected to learn and show proficiency with. No training plan works without a checklist. It’s critical to have the involvement of forming the checklist with the buddy because he or she will be doing much of the formal and informal training. You want them to be in agreement with what is to be taught-when an employee is part of the decision process they will support that process that much more.
- Don't try to cover your entire checklist in one day or even in one week. "Cramming" for a test may have worked for short-term retention of information but is not effective for long-term understanding and comprehension.
- When introducing each new part of training, always tell the employee the reasons for what they're to do. Employees react well to the logic behind a direction.
- In all training stages, it's effective to use the "show me" approach.
- Tell your new associate that mistakes are expected, and that they are learning experiences. If failures can be treated as good teachers, you’ll get employees to do more self-evaluation.
- Be certain that at the end of each day during training the new associate is encouraged by reinforcing comments about his or her positive achievements of that day. New associates need to look forward to their next time at work and always remember to praise employees publicly in front of other workers. (Re-direct or reprimand in private.)
- Training is not a one-time thing, nor is it just telling. It is:
- Instruction on each duty and procedure
- Showing the new worker how and why it’s done a certain way
- Observing the new worker as they do each duty and procedure
- Coaching them on how to do it better
- Follow-up on a periodic basis to be sure the lesson has "stuck"
- Reinforcing the positive actions and achievements and giving suggestions and direction how to make weaker performances better.
- Instruction on each duty and procedure
- Your immediate and most important goal in training is to get the new associate productive as soon as possible. Get them doing something.
This will build confidence in their abilities to do the job. Also, give them your attitude of high expectations for their success. If the new trainee is not someone that you can do that for then they should not have been hired in the first place! A supervisor’s high expectations are powerful in motivating people to either perform up to down to those expectations. The correct way to give instructions can also make a significant difference in how they are received, understood and performed.
- Give instructions, not orders. Your directions should be instructional with a tone of voice that indicates you want to help them develop their performance. Teach them, coach them, and be their “cheerleader.”
- Tailor your instructions to each employee's comprehension level and ability. Some employees will require more instruction in certain areas. Of course, the consistent use of a checklist can eliminate much confusion. Also, reuse the same checklist 30-60 days after initial training has been performed to see if your efforts "stuck." Have the
trainee initial and date the checklist.
- Speak in understandable terms. Every industry has a jargon all its own. A new employee may have little understanding of your salon and the industry terms. And most new employees will be too embarrassed to ask what a new term means. You need to use words anyone can understand. So when you use jargon, be sure to define the term. This will make them feel good, to be part of the "inside" terminology.
- Be specific. Tell them precisely what you want done, when it's to be done and how and why.
- Demonstrate what you want them to do. People remember much more of what they see than of what they read. A demonstration of how to handle a transaction or of customer service will go a long way toward helping the trainee know the right ways to perform these
crucial jobs. If you want new people to be good at helping customers leave the store happy, they need to see examples of how to do it. (The trainer and buddy or boss are always being watched. So if you are not as good at customer handling as you should be, you shouldn't be demonstrating this part of the training.)
- Observe progress and give helpful, non-threatening feedback. Be aware of the new associate's progress along the checklist and always give positive feedback when progress is being made. Positive feedback is always important, and the level of performance justifying
it has to constantly go up as the person develops.
- Do not give new associates negative feedback! Give them "re-direction." When you use redirection or instruction on how certain duties could be done better and you "sandwich" it between comments of positive feedback, the trainee will accept it as another opportunity to get a pat on the back. "Inspect what you expect" or observe the results of your training instructions and "catch people doing something right!" Give them all the positive feedback you can because it is critical in their early stages of employment.
Be careful, however. Don't give unearned praise, or positive feedback will lose its effect. If nothing else, compliment the new person on his efforts. At least then he’ll know that you know he’s trying.
Final note: After all of this, if a new employee doesn't produce, you and the rest of your staff will know that the performance problem was not because of your efforts or lack of efforts. This will give you a clearer business conscience and more likely stronger, better
producing employees. Also, you'll save your turnover dollars and improve customer service and that sounds good to me!