1. 28 Professional Beauty June 2010 Professionalbeauty.co.uk
I will be the first to admit it may
be unusual to write in to your own
business help page. However, we
have a real issue with finding good
recruits, and as our clients in the
UK, Europe and Australia have said
they do too, I felt justified in making
this issue the focus of my column.
What has happened to standards,
professionalism and passion?
When we initially recruited, people
applied who weren’t qualified or
just forwarded a generic email they
had sent to 20 other companies.
After we shortlisted for interview,
confirmed candidates didn’t turn up
(sometimes after changing the date
three times) and if we asked them to
send back completed questionnaires
that were sent to them a week before
interview, they often failed to. We
were asked if we would pay for
flights, food and accommodation
and even if we would allow some-
one to conduct a trade test by Skype.
Those who made it to interview
turned up wearing inappropriate
clothing, didn’t back up their
answers, and just regurgitated
phrases they had probably read in
Interviews for Dummies but didn’t
understand. They did no research on
our business beforehand, and didn’t
have any questions for us, indicating
a complete lack of interest and drive.
THE SOLUTION
Look at the ad you use to attract
staff. Is it just driving volumes of
candidates rather than quality? Our
first ad prior to opening received
over 300 applicants in a three-week
period, which, while flattering, took
weeks to read and respond to.
Jaclyn Hughes is managing director of Ultimate Training
Solutions, which coaches beauty salons, spas and brands.
She also owns Ultimate Spa in Notting Hill, London
Recruitmentmadesimple
Each month, our resident business guru Jaclyn Hughes tackles a reader’s problem. This
month, she faces a challenge at her own business Ultimate Spa – recruiting reliable staff
Our aim had been to interview as
many people as possible and to cast
our net wide to have a mix of ability
and skill. But we realised that with
a high volume of no-shows, we
needed to change our strategy.
We came up with the following
steps to successful recruitment:
Step 1 We tailored our ad to
attract the main behavioural types
according to psychological profiling
assessment DISC, which identifies
dominant, influencing, steady and
cautious types. We also looked at
where we advertised. In the past
couple of months, we have used
Professional Beauty’s recruitment
site Jobs.professionalbeauty.co.uk,
which got us the best candidates
that we have ever had.
Step 2 We pre-screened candidates
using a “getting to know you” ques-
tionnaire asking 15 questions, such
as what their top priority is in their
job, what the three areas are where
they feel they are strongest, what
they think the key is to being suc-
cessful at retailing, and what they
do to ensure that their column is
busy. We wanted to check if they
shared our spa’s philosophy, but if
they didn’t complete the task, it
helped us eliminate them. If they
couldn’t be bothered to answer a
few questions, chances are they
can’t be bothered to work hard.
Step 3 We scoured the answers
and CVs and looked for at least 10
questions to focus on at interview.
Step 4 As we previously had an
average 50% no-show rate for
interviews, we double- or even tri-
ple-booked our interview slots.
Step 5 We asked candidates to
prepare a three-minute presentation
on who they are and to role-play the
questions they would ask a client
before a treatment and those they
would use to sell a product after it.
Step 6 We invited candidates
back for second interviews and
trade tests. For senior roles, we
asked them to plan a group book-
ing and deliver a team briefing.
At Professional Beauty London in
March, I said in my masterclass
that I would rather have no staff
than bad ones. Never employ
someone just to have a
body. And while you
are short-staffed, a
little recognition of
your existing team
members for a job
well done can go
a long way.
“Having opened Ultimate Spa, our own live
training academy that operates as a fully
functional spa, just nine months ago, I have
found that gaining clients was the easy part,
recruiting committed, professional staff has
been the bigger challenge. So how do we
attract the professionals in the industry?”
Jaclyn Hughes, director, Ultimate Spa
GOT A PROBLEM?
Could Jaclyn help you improve
your business? Email her
your questions at help@
ultimatetrainingsolutions.com
Solutions, which coaches beauty salons, spas and brands.
RECRUITMENT TIPS
r Make your ad specific about
your expectations
r Decide what qualifications
you want
r Screen candidates with a
questionnaire before interview
r Allow for no-shows
r Take your time to find the
right people for your business
r Go with your gut instinct
BUSINESS SURGERY
We offered incentives for over
achievement of targets – a 15%
commission on each product
over the team member’s target
during our recruitment period.
On our busiest day, we also had a
£50 bonus for the person who
exceeded their target the most.
DID IT WORK?
Absolutely. By making our expecta-
tions more clear, concise and meas-
urable, we now get a higher quality
of candidate, we know to over-book
interview sessions to allow for no-
shows and to wait for the people
who are right for our business. PB
THE PROBLEM