No salon can maintain continued growth and profitability with a constant merry-go-round of staff instability and turnover.

The following guidelines will help you address this very critical business challenge. Salon owners should avoid these pitfalls:

1. Not hiring the right people.

Poor hiring decisions are one of the leading causes of staff turnover and internal salon challenges facing salon owners. Make sure you develop your staff development program to minimize making hiring mistakes.

Here are my tips for recruiting the best young stylists.

2. No educational guidelines.

How can you expect your staff to perform if they do not know what you expect from them and how your expectations will be measured? It is your responsibility to provide educational resources and guidelines that will help your staff reach higher levels of excellence. Invest in your salon’s greatest profit potential by educating your staff.

3. Poor owner/hairdresser communication.

Always keep lines of communication open between staff and management. From time to time seek out feedback from your staff members. One-on-one evaluations are an excellent way to stay in touch with your staff and clear up any misunderstandings. Create a salon environment of trust, not fear.

4. No business plan or structure.

You must work hard to earn the trust and loyalty of your staff by creating conditions that foster loyalty. Show your staff that you are organized and structured. Make their jobs easy to understand. Make sure you develop an easy-to-follow plan of action.

5. No employee handbook.

Your employee handbook should serve as a vital part of your employee training and development program. It should include orientation procedures, terms of employment, rules and regulations, job expectations and how performance will be measured.

My book, Creating Your Salon, will help you write your own.

6. Lack of leadership skills.

The inability to motivate your staff is a major challenge among salon owners. As leader of your team, it is your responsibility to take your team to higher levels of excellence.

Click here for my leadership tips.

7. A negative salon environment.

Make sure you create a positive and professional salon environment so your staff enjoys coming to work everyday. Do not allow salon gossip, pettiness and negativity to infiltrate your salon. Turnover not only affects the growth of your business in terms of wasted time and money, but it also affects the livelihoods of your other staff members and contributes to an unprofessional business environment for your customers.

8. Lack of praise and incentives.

Sometimes a little pat on the back or a note in their pay envelope offering praise will do wonders. Incentives can also improve productivity. Praise is a wonderful motivator towards improving staff performance.

9. Inability to combat staff pirating.

Sadly, many salon owners will try to recruit your key staff members in the hopes that they bring a clientele. Work hard to prevent turnover by following the steps above, and you can own a successful and profitable business.

Published with permission from Jon Gonzales. Gonzales is a business consultant, trainer & speaker to salon owners and hairdressers. Visit his blog for more free business tips: https://hcds4you.com