Spa Manager Systems for Strong Teams

Hey spa owners! Welcome to the blog accompaniment of the first official recording of the Spa Business Mastery podcast, formerly known as my weekly Facebook Live series Thursday Spa Business Break. 

Perfect for on-the-go spa owners, the Spa Business Mastery podcast can now be found weekly on Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Anchor for your listening pleasure… but, if you’re more of a reader, I’ve had the pleasure of breaking it down in blog format for today!

Ahead of 2021, there have been two hot topics: leadership and spa systems. So, why not combine the two?

In today’s blog I’ll be listing five of my top spa system-implementation recommendations to overcome the most common leadership hurdles spa owners face.

“How Do I Know if I’m Struggling With Spa Leadership, Kirsten?”

That’s a great question! The most common forms spa leadership struggles come in is the following:

• General low self-esteem

• Consistent insecurity about what you don’t know

• Issues with staff not following direction

• Overall feelings of disorganization

• Low client retention

• Difficulty hiring

• High staff turnover

• Uncertainty around goal-setting (and how to actualize your goals into real achievements!)

The culprit? Often, it’s not a lack of qualifications or inherent leadership skills. Rather, because the majority of spa owners and spa managers (myself included!) have risen up the ranks as service providers, they’ve skipped over spa system-implementation in favour of mimicking what our previous bosses have done that seemingly made their spa successful.

The result is the blind leading the blind. Big time.

What I see most commonly in my private coaching clients is a lack of knowing the whys. Why certain tactics work; why others don’t. When spa owners mimic operational procedures of other spas without knowing those whys, it creates a friction within your spa business that can easily be resolved by setting up spa management systems. (In fact, this “the blind leading the blind” scenario is explored beautifully in one of my favourite books, “The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It” by Michael E. Gerber.) 

How Spa Systems Are a Non-Negotiable for Your Spa Biz

A fantastic example of the positive impact spa systems have is the following: two years ago I, alongside an experienced colleague, created a spa manager manual for a client of mine who needed leadership systems implemented stat. She was mere weeks from going on maternity leave and the spa manager had kept dropping the ball, leading this owner to realize that, if she was really going to go on mat leave, her manager needed thorough direction in order for the business to run smoothly in the owner’s absence.

This spa manager manual outlined the key systems every spa needs to implement strong, sustainable leadership… even when you’re not physically there to steer the ship. 

Today, I’d like to share five of those systems with you to ensure that your team is rock-solid throughout 2021 (whether you’re there or not!)

#1 Recruiting and Hiring Systems

I hear a lot about the frustrations surrounding recruiting and hiring in tons of Facebook groups; especially my own, Spa Business Mastery!

The most common venting I hear?

• “No one shows up for interviews!”

• “Recruits are flaky!”

• “I can’t find anyone who reflects my brand ideals!”

My workarounds for circumventing these common hurdles:

• Include job descriptions for each position in your recruiting and hiring system

• Incorporate levels of interviews to properly screen clients (such as an in-person interview, a hands-on interview, and a peer interview)

• Templates for job ads to simplify the process

#2: Training and Coaching Systems

The next step is tackling your training and coaching systems. Having a documented process that tracks your training and coaching system is vital for making your process streamlined, consistent, and, most importantly, referrable if there are any hiccups.

My training and coaching basics that you should be incorporating?

• Your onboarding process, step-by-step

• Your training process, step-by-step

• Your process for ongoing coaching support for team members (ie., how do you plan to support staff members after their initial training?) 

Questions your training and coaching systems should answer include:

• “What is the timeline for each step of the onboarding and training processes?”

• “What are common hurdles that you see trainees struggling with?”

• “What determines when a trainee is good to move on to the next step?”

• “What is your process for providing ongoing coaching for staff members?”

• “Are you planning on offering a yearly training refresh?”

#3: Communication Systems

Ah, communication: the most important skill in the workplace.

Here’s what your communication systems should encompass:

• Expectations surrounding daily communication (how regularly are you and your team members checking in with one another?)

• Policies surrounding “active” hours (for example, are weekends off-limits for contact?)

• Which platforms you are using to touch base (in-person only, phone, or a messaging app like Slack?)

• If these messaging platforms change as conflict arises (such as a switch to in-person meetings only to clear any miscommunication)

• Monthly team meetings schedule 

• Frequency for 1:1 meetings

• What’s included in a year-end review

Being firm in your communication systems is crucial for strong leadership. Don’t skimp out on its importance!

#4: Progressive Coaching Systems

This dovetails with our point above surrounding 1:1 meetings. Having a progressive coaching system (or systems!) in place is key for resolving team conflict quickly and consistently.

This, hands-down, is one of the biggest sore spots in the industry: the majority of spa owners hire fast and fire slow. Meaning? You need to be concrete in how you handle conflict so that one bad seed doesn’t wreck the whole crop!

What should you document in your progressive coaching systems?

• Your recognition system: the timeline for the written warning, the verbal warning, and then, finally, termination

• Your line in the sand for employee conflict

• Your ways of encouraging positive behaviour in the workplace

• Any and all additional disciplinary measures that you enact or plan to enact

#5: Inventory Management Systems

If you don’t have an inventory management system in place, stop making yourself crazy! Documenting your inventory management keeps your inventory streamlined, on-schedule, and, of course, much less stressful than trying to organize your inventory in your head.

Write down these points to include in your inventory management system-curation:

• A process for weekly or bi-weekly counts 

• List what your best-sellers are

• List what your worst-sellers or dead stock are

• List recurring re-ordering dates

• List selling protocols for each item

#6: Spa System Bonus! Business Operations Systems

That’s right! I’m throwing in one extra spa system, just for you.

What do business operations systems include?

• Payroll

• KPI reporting and analysis

• Client retention

• Vendor relationships

• Marketing

• Leadership meetings (weekly, monthly, quarterly & yearly)

Documenting each of these step-by-step will work wonders to firm up your direction and confidence… making you that much more confident as a leader!

My final tip? Don’t work on these systems all at once. Segment them one-by-one to ensure that they’re thorough.

Don’t Have Time to Put Together Your Own Spa Manager Systems?

If you don’t have time to put together your own spa manager systems, I have a template that contains 30+ supporting documents that you can use for your spa biz ASAP. Contact me for details.

Which system will you be working on first? Write back to let me know!