How to hire a tribe member – Your Salon Sanctuary

Tribe Series: How to Remain a Tribe

May 30, 2018June 13, 2018 Angela

Now that you’ve worked so hard on your tribe we need to talk about the maintenance. There is a significant way to help your tribe head in the same direction – Meetings.

I know you have meetings but what type of meetings do you have and how often do you have them? There are three types of meetings that will help your tribe remain a tribe.

#1. One on Ones (One hour Monthly with a fifteen minute follow up bimonthly)

One on ones are so important to your tribe! This is how you will be able to connect with them, grow with them and keep them on mission. A Gallup survey found that tribes engaged with regular one-on-one meetings are 16% more profitable, who wouldn’t want to be 16% more profitable! A tribe can also become demotivated without one on ones (especially millennials) One on ones promote focus, contribution, alignment, adjustment, strengthen your relationship and gives them a voice.

I know you’ve probably heard that you should do one-on-ones, but what does that really look like? How should you do them?

It should feel comfortable and relaxed, it should be a conversation and nothing to stress over (for both of you!)

Ask lots of questions but listen to their answers. Jay Williams, a salon coach, says to talk 30% and listen 70%, we need to know their thoughts and ideas. Never ask ‘why’ questions, these can sound accusatory and make them answer in a defensive way rather than in an open and honest way. Give them constructive feedback in a non-judgemental and caring way. (The sandwich system works well for this, one compliment, one improvement, one compliment.)

Begin simply with – how are you feeling /doing? This will make it more comfortable and flow into a conversation rather than a meeting!

Some great questions to ask might be:

Are you happy here?
What is your favorite service to do on a guest?
Are you happy with your work?
What area would you like to improve on? What education will help you? What can I do to help?
What was your best accomplishment so far? Did you feel celebrated/acknowledged?
Can you name three things that would help you love being here more?
What part of the day do you feel most productive?
What was your biggest roadblock last month? How did you overcome it?
What do you do when you feel stuck or unsure?
Who do you turn to for help?
Who inspires you in the tribe?
Whose opinions do you respect?
Is there anyone you find difficult to work with? Can you tell me why?
Do other tribe members give you feedback? Would you like more feedback from them? From me?
What would help us work better as a tribe?
What things do you worry about?
Are there times you feel Undervalued? Overwhelmed? Stressed out?
Can I do anything to make things easier for you? What can the tribe do to make it easier?
What do you like about our culture/tribe? What don’t you like?
How can I support you better?
What is the percentage of my involvement with you? Would you like more or less?
What is something I can do better?
Is there any situation that I could of been more help?
Did you achieve your goals? Do you need our/my help? What is your next goal? What are your next steps to achieve these goals? How Can we help you achieve these goals? (For goal setting structure see blog post: Goals or whatever you’re calling them)
Is there anything else you’d like to share/discuss with me?
How are you feeling about our conversation?

Don’t forget to celebrate their accomplishments! A tribe member needs this and is 71% less likely to leave your salon just by acknowledging their hard work.

These questions will help you understand their mindset and how they feel about the salon and the tribe. It will help you make the salon better and help your tribe grow. After every one on one you need to create a summary that provides you with a list of discussion points, goals, issues, development paths, next steps and needs. This is important for your business plan, follow-ups and future one on ones.

A follow-up should be made by bimonthly, a quick check in with your tribe members to see if they need any help or how their next steps are going. This keeps focus on goals and growth!

Now you can see how important one-on-ones are to your tribe and how it will help you remain a tribe!

#2. Salon Meetings (Weekly – One Hour)

Salon meeting done weekly will help you stay connected as a tribe. This is where you celebrate each other, learn from each other and keep each other on track.

You want to start with a fun activity – an ice breaker exercise, learn a yoga pose or listen to a feel-good video for the first five to ten minutes. This relaxes everyone and makes everyone feel open to ideas and sharing.

Then share numbers and goals for the week. Talk about strengths and weaknesses and solutions to problems. Talk about promotions, upcoming events and ideas.

Having weekly meetings might become boring or familiar so to switch things up learn a new technique, go on a short field trip, bring a speaker in or let them contribute/lead the meeting.

You will want to have an agenda to stay on track but don’t worry, as you develop your weekly meetings this will become easier for you and you’ll learn to organize your time.

Make sure you always allow extra time for enjoyment, creativity and innovation. Always take the time to celebrate accomplishments, birthdays, anniversaries or anything else you wish!

Monthly meetings will keep your salon and tribe on the same path, plus they are fun and productive.

#3. Tribe Building (Quarterly)

We have all heard of ‘team’ building, we know what it means but do we know how important it is to a tribe?

It will build bonds and relationships outside of the salon. It allows the tribe to be together in a fun and relaxing way and it breeds trust and honesty.

Tribe Building does so many wonderful things; it helps everyone see each other in a different light, it allows connection, it increases morale, motivates, gives a chance for celebration, team spirit, fun, innovation, creativity, communication, imagination and creates a friendly work environment. Tribe members will have larger imagination when they are around people they are comfortable with. The positives are endless!

There are lots of things to do for tribe building and best of all; they don’t have to cost you a lot! There are many inexpensive and fun ways to bring your tribe together, here a just a few:

Minimal Cost

Scavenger Hunt
Yoga/Dance
Nature Walk
Paint or Coloring
Board Games / Cards / Charades
Outdoor Games (balloon toss, three legged race, egg & spoon race, follow the leader, ect)
Cook a meal together / Potluck
Dream Boarding / Inspiration Wall
Fashion show (dress eachother up)
Battle of the Bands (karaoke)
Volunteer together
Walk in a Parade together
Engage in activities tribe members do as outside interests/hobbies
Book Club
Pretend your in different professions (photographer, make up artists, nail techs, massage therapists ect)

Of course there are many ways to do Tribe Building with an expense attached to it, I would try to do one of these at least once a year and let your tribe know it’s because they are so spectacular!

Some Cost

Go to anther salon and get your hair/ nails/ make up done
Dinner at a restaurant
Escape Room
Night away
Paint ball
Axe Throwing
A Movie/ Drive In
Theater/Concert/Speaking Event
Flower Arrangements class
Hot Air Balloon Ride
Paint Night
Museum
Tour your City as tourists
Yoga Class
Swimming
Adventure/Amusement Park

It is extremely important that your tribe remains engaged with you and with eachother. These meetings will help your tribe remain a tribe and the salon become healthy, happy and profitable.

Angela

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Tribe Series: How to find your Tribe: The Interview

May 23, 2018September 17, 2018 Angela

I know you will have time to get to know your new tribe member once you’ve hired them. I love what Heather Yurko, owner of PIP University, calls this; your dating period. I want to make sure you get a real feel or vision for your potential tribe member before you start dating. Let’s face it, most blind dates don’t end well! You want to have some information before you enter into a dating relationship. How can you do this? The interview.

Interviews are tricky because, like a date, they generally show up with their best possible self or in some cases; their false selves. This is why it is important that you do multiple interviews, yes, multiple. Take the time to do three or four interviews, this will give you opportunity to get to know your potential tribe member.

The first interview is the most important. This interview should be all about them and their personality. We all know skill can be taught but a tribe member is more than the job, more than how well someone can cut or color hair. If they are weak in an area it will be easy to teach them, personality cannot be taught. We really want to get as much information as we can from them; ask unique questions and lots of questions to better understand their mindset. Most importantly – you must answer the questions for yourself. Your answers will help your intuition and you will know how like minded they are to you and your tribe.

First Interview: Let them know this interview is strictly for you get to know them better and to please answer as honestly and accurately as they can. Some of these questions are light and fun, some are more thoughtful but together they will help you better understand the person who wants to be apart of your tribe.

What’s your story?
What’s your why?
What are your values?
What’s your super power?
What’s your spirit animal?
How would your best friend describe you?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
If you had six months with no time or money constraints what would you do?
If you won $20 million tomorrow what would you do with it?
If you could have dinner with anyone who would it be?
What type of car are you?
What teams/groups/hobbies do you devote your time to outside of work?
Who is your role model and why?
Tell me about time when you were a leader.
How do you handle criticism?
What are the titles of the last three books you’ve read?
Would you rather be liked or respected?
What brand of shampoo and conditioner is in your shower right now? Brand of products?
What is your favorite song?
When you are alone in your car what do you think about?
What was the last gift you gave to someone?
What was the last thing you watched on TV? Why did you choose to watch that show?
Tell me about a time where you were a mentor.
If you were Shipwrecked on an island and you had plenty of food and water what two items would you want with you?
Rate your memory from 1 to 10.
What do you worry about and why?
Who has inspired you and why?
How do you define and measure success?
Tell me about a time when you worked as part of a team.
Tell me about a time where you worked as part of a team with an interpersonal conflict, how was it resolved?
Tell me about a time when things didn’t go the way that you hoped, promotion, a project, ect.
Explain a situation where you wish you would have handled things different.
Tell me about your most stressful situation and how you handled it.
When were you most satisfied in your life?
What impression did you get from walking into our salon?
Why do you want to join our salon?
What excites you most about working here?
What are your expectations of me?
How will you contribute to our goals and Mission (if stated on the website)
Why should I hire you?
If I hired you and granted you three promises – what would they be?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Do you have any questions for me?

I know this seems like a lot of questions but you need to invest some time into getting to know them. It will save you time in the long run and your tribe will be happier because of it. Reflect on their answers, ask yourself if they fit into your vision. Do they have similar values and can you see them as part of the tribe? If the answer is yes, then on to the second interview.

Second Interview: is skill related, you want to find out their strengths and weaknesses and how they will grow and help grow the tribe. What can they bring to the salon? What level of skill are they at? Can you help them grow? Can they help you grow? This is where you want to see their portfolio and resume.

Please tell me your strengths and weaknesses.
Would you rather improve your strength or weakness?
What is your specialty/What is your favorite thing?
What skill do you want to improve on, what is your plan to improve it?
To date; what professional achievement are you most proud of?
What don’t you like to do? Why?
What three attributes or skills will you bring to the tribe/salon?
What did you contribute to your last salon?
What, professionally, have you done that you would not want to repeat?
Tell me about a time you set a difficult goal. Did you achieve it? How did you accomplish it?
Why did you leave your last salon?
What would your last tribe members say about you?
How do you plan on developing your skills and knowledge?
Give me three words that describe your ideal Salon environment.
A year from now what have we achieved together?
Do you have advice for your previous boss?
If you do not get this job what is your Back-up Plan?
What is your average retail and sales per guest?
Do you work well with a structured environment?
Why do you want to join our tribe?
Do you have any questions for me?

After this interview you should have a better understanding of them and their capabilities. If you think they are likely a good fit for you and your tribe there is at least one more interview to go, depending on you, maybe two.

Third Interview: this interview is for your tribe. Always involve your tribe in the hiring process, they have to accept this new member just as much as you do. Let them ask questions, they will surprise you and ask things you would never think of! Keep in mind this can be intimidating. Set it up as a friendly/ informal gathering, we do not want to scare them! You could have some snacks and drinks. For the first 15 minutes let the tribe mingle with them and eachother, watch how they interact. Then do an icebreaker – have some fun and break the tension! After that you can leave the rest of the interview up to your tribe! (Bonus! This is a fun team building excersice!)

Fourth Interview: (if you wish) this is where you can test their skills, if that is what makes you more comfortable with hiring. Don’t forget, as I mentioned previously; skills can be taught. Ask them to bring in a model or mannequin and get them to show you their skills!

After the three to four interviews you should feel comfortable with the decision to hire them or not. However, most importantly trust your instincts, they will guide you to the right fit and most likely you won’t go wrong when you trust yourself and your tribe.

What questions would you add to this?

Angela

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Tribe Series: Your Tribe

May 9, 2018June 13, 2018 Angela

Working with salons we always talk about the team. My question every time is what do you call your team? Are they your employees, your staff, your team, or your tribe?
I move through the levels then, if you have employees or staff wouldn’t you rather have a team? If you have a team wouldn’t you rather have a tribe?
An employee or staff are exactly that, you dictate everything to them. You tell them what hours they work, you tell them what you pay them, you tell them what to do and there’s generally nothing inspiring about being an employee.

A team, which is what most of us have, will help you with your business. You welcome their ideas, you work together for their schedule, pay and what they want. You help each other and work together and have goals. They will be inspired and have passion but they may not be 100% in sync with you and the salon. They could disagree with things that are happening in the salon or don’t get along with other team members.

A tribe should be your ultimate goal. A tribe works together for the same mission they have the same values and similar vision. There’s an understanding, they want what you want. These are the people that will give you their Blood, Sweat and Tears and they will work with passion, love and drive. A tribe will continuously look for inspiration and motivation, they will bring ideas and help execute them. They will be loyal to a fault and your guests will comment on the salon atmosphere, ‘you all get along so well, it’s always a pleasure to visit ‘ They will all get along and bring their best selves everyday.
A tribe will make it easier to have a culture, to be branded and to make money.

Education is also a big role in these types of people. Employees will take education if it’s paid for and may not even show up the whole time. A team will want some education and want to improve, especially on a technical level. A tribe will be constantly taking education, growing themselves, the salon and eachother. They will take any education to improve themselves, technical, business and personal growth.

So what do you have? I know a lot of you will say you have a few of these, a mixture of two or even three. I’ve experienced all three as well, but here’s what I know, they will never reach a tribe status if there are others in the mix. An employee, over time will pull the team down, a team member, over time will pull the tribe down. It is very hard to juggle a mixed culture and usually the people you are grateful for become less inspired and less passionate. You get further away from tribe every day.

I am not saying give up on your people, but we do need to take a hard look at what is best for the tribe, offer them a chance to change and do what is necessary to help them. As long as there is growth from them you know you are heading in the direction of tribe, if there is still resistance then perhaps the best thing, for the both of you, is for them to move on because, let me tell you, they are not happy in that situation either.

How can you achieve tribe? This is what a tribe wants: equality, leadership, structure, loyalty, honesty and direction. You can have rules but they must be for everyone, you must treat everyone without judgment and from a kind and loving place. (Insert your values here) Competition should always be with oneself and there should always be goals to reach. (Professionally and personally) A tribe wants to belong together and grow together. A tribe is unstoppable!

I hope you are working towards having a tribe. Life will infinitely change at the salon, tasks become easier, happiness will be present and guests will be attracted to the salon when you achieve tribe status.

Angela