Having a clear road map for your salon team’s education will put you on the fast track to success!
Level Playing Field
Here are five ways to gear education to hairstylists at any level.
Guest artists: “Bring in a special artists, and customize the training to the demographic you have,” explains Terry Ritcey.
Pay it forward: Offer to pay for trade show attendance, where nearly everyone working at your salon will find something appealing. This often gives hairstylists a chance to see celebrity hairstylists and platform artists that they may not have otherwise.
Have a system: “While our skills are rooted in classic hairstyling, we teach how to deconstruct classic styles in current ways,” says Levine. “And we phase out certain training for classic highlighting
and develop a new one for balayage.”
No opting out: “We make a certain number of courses mandatory for staff at each level,” explains Ramsay Sayah. “I’ll tailor that according to what the stylists need. I look at what the brand offers each year and we invest our own money in education for them.”
Know when to flex: “Treat your staff the way they want to be treated,” says Michael Levine, adding sthat some stylists only want to show up, cut hair and not be pushed. That’s okay if they are meeting their retail goals and doing good work—that’s really the bottom line.
New Staff
These are the stylists who understand the principles behind all cuts, colour and styling and have up to two years of experience. At A Michael Levin Salon Group, they hire from the ground up: “We have a tiered system and we don’t hire anyone who has worked anywhere.”
What they want
Create a brand: “Entering competitions is a big part of being challenged and it feeds younger staff,” says Ramsey Sayah, owner of Texture Hair Salon in Ottawa, who makes it mandatory for his staff to compete.
How to engage
Structured learning: “They go through this system and develop a degree of mastery of our work,” explains Michael Levine founder of A Michael Levine Salon Group in Vancouver, B.C., “so they have the foundation and
we want them to branch off and find their own voice.”
What they need
Cultural knowledge: “Create a culture that new stylists want to be apart of and elevate their service standards to,” says Levine. “We have expectations that are the same for everyone when they start working with us.”
Build confidence: “For less experienced hairstylists, there is a fear, but when they see those who have done it a bunch of times and then when they do it that first time, they realize the benefit for themselves,” says Sayah.
How often?
Consistent training: At A Michael Levine Salon Group, all new hairstylists are on a one year training program which includes a set number of hours dedicated to learning and education.
Experienced Hairstylists
These stylists’ focus is on advanced cutting or colouring, hands-on experience and developing advanced knowledge and understanding of trends.
What they want
Practical learning: “They can learn from their own work by being attached to it,” says Levine. “The most important thing is to know that you are not good enough yet. The people that work harder often have a need to develop an understanding of the cause and effect of what they do.”
How to engage
Go digital: As the industry advances, Ritcey says that timewise it makes sense to go with more digital, independent learning for senior hairstylists because they want short snippets. Then, they can go back to if they want and it will keep their attention.
Mentorship is huge: “When senior staff mentor less experienced ones, they become more bonded to the rest of the salon team,” says Sayah.
What they need
Replicate their work: “Verbalizing how and why they are doing a technique a particular way allows them to create a repeatable system,” says Levine, adding that this will help them learn to pay more attention to the detail of their work and take their expertise to the next level.
How often?
Every three months: “Cutting, colour and finishing techniques, and spring and fall trends are important classes four times a year,” explains Ritcey.
Master Level Hairstylists
Very senior education programs, including ones that focus on business such as Redken’s Salon Summit.
What they want
Travel time: “More advanced hairstylists love to go away to attend training. Many will take the opportunity to build a vacation around their training in London, New York, or they come to Montreal,” says Ritchey.
How to engage
Be brief: “Keep a tight time frame,” says Ritcey. “Because a senior hairstylist has the techniques they’ll gain a lot of knowledge even during a 15-to-20 minute video or live stage presentation.”
Be visual: “Very often there are people who want to watch and listen,” says Levine.“Some can see visually and notice the subtle nuances of a particular technique.”
What they need
Ignite their passion: “When you try to do the best work you’ve ever done on one model, you’re learning from your own work and elevating the level of your craft,” says Sayah, adding that Texture’s master artists are challenged creatively to keep their passion for their art alive.
How often?
Consistent training: Along with offering opportunities to teach from what they’ve learned at intensive training abroad, keep education specifically geared to master hairstylists to about two or three times a
year. Host an evening event that showcases a collection to help recharge their creativity.
Master Class Action: Bring your cut, colour and style game to the next level with Revlon Professional’s 360 Education, now offered in Canada!
When it comes to advanced training, Tiffani Pitamada, National Show and Education Manager for Revlon Professional says the Revlon 360 Premium Education Method is a great program for hairstylists who have been behind the chair for a number of years and want to refine their precision in all aspects of cutting, styling and colour. With four levels specializing in colour and styling, each level gets progressively challenging. “This is not a student program, the goal is for hairstylists to achieve a master level,” says Pitamada adding that at this level, a hairstylist’s creativity comes to life.
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