Team Motivation Without the Rah-Rah

48% of salon owners say that managing and motivating staff is the hardest part of running their business, and for many, February is when this hits the hardest. Just after that January buzz, we get the February funk. Today, five things that actually work, cost almost nothing, and don't involve cheerleading. Hello, hello, hello my salon friends. Phil Jackson here, your queen of salons, coming all over the internet with huge globs of my wise owl wisdom. How on earth are you? Achingly well, I hope, as we steam into February. My goodness, it's getting colder and I don't like it. I thought we were getting ready for spring. Actually, it's March. It always catches me out. I always think March is going to be spring, and it never is. It's always the tail end of winter. But at least we can see that the days are getting longer. How are things for you? How's February looking? In my salon, February is always, always the toughest month, and the only blessing that I can find in February is that it's short. So today, I want to talk about motivation, and particularly team motivation, and some of the stuff that we're getting wrong as far as motivating our teams is concerned. And part of it, I think, part of the big problem that we have is we are obsessed and focused about money. And money is not why people come into the hair or beauty industry in the first place. I promise there are much easier ways for you to make the same money. Yes, of course, pay matters, especially at the moment when people are struggling, but it's not the main motivator. Throwing commission at motivation problems does not work. If it did, you wouldn't need this episode at all. Real motivation comes from the five things that we're about to cover. So if it's not about commission, what's it about? Well, number one, it's about feeling valued. It's about recognition and appreciation. And these things matter more than most owners realise. When did you last genuinely, specifically, thank someone for doing a great job? Not just a pat on the back saying, good job, actual specific acknowledgement of what somebody's done. It costs nothing, but it's very easy to get forgotten in a February slump, particularly if you're not feeling motivated yourself, because who's motivating the owner ultimately? So this week, I'd love you to take some time, find some specific acknowledgements that you can give out to each team member on your team.

Now, sometimes we can do this publicly in a team meeting or in our groups, in our WhatsApp groups. But do bear in mind, there are some team members who would rather die than be called out in a team meeting. And that's not motivating for anyone. So use your discretion. Maybe it needs to be acknowledged publicly. Maybe it's something that's a bit more discreet that happens by the coffee machine when you both happen to be on a break. Tip number two, look at growth and learning opportunities. Now, I'm not saying this is free, but I do think it buys you a lot more bang for your buck. And I've said before, in fact, I said in the last episode, if you don't take your team members' future seriously, they will take it into their own hands. And everybody in our industry loves training. There are so many therapists and hairdressers that are leaving places that don't train, don't invest, so that they don't feel that they're motivated and they don't feel they're progressing in their careers and they're moving on. It's not the money. It's the progression. It's that feeling of development. It's that feeling of reaching your potential. Now, here's where I think we get more bang for our buck than training. Firstly, we could be sharing skills internally. If you've got team members who know something and get them to share their knowledge, it's a way of boosting your team at very, very little cost for yourself. You're just paying for the time. But if you think about, let's say, a £500 pay rise for one team member, £10 a week. Now, that's going to cost you a chunk. Let's say you're on 20% profit margin. That's going to cost you £2,500 worth of service to fund that increase in somebody's pay. And for £10 a week, honestly, are most team members going to notice it? Are they going to feel better on £10 a week? Probably not. Spend that £500 on a training session. Bring someone into the team to train and motivate the entire team. It'll probably cost you the same £500, but it's going to have a much bigger impact. Also, look at online education. I don't think it's as motivating, but make it consistent. Let's have quarterly, as a minimum, investment in our team skills, not just a one-off. Tip number three is around autonomy and control. If you micromanage professionals, they will leave regardless of the pay. No one likes to feel that they're under their owner's thumb. Yes, of course, we need standards, but there's a difference between having standards and exerting control.

Let people decide a little bit how they deliver those services within your quality framework and make it a collaborative conversational piece. Make sure it's planned rather than just winging it. Go around your team. Ask each team member. What's one thing I could change that makes your job easier? You might well be surprised. I went round my entire team and I didn't tell them I was going to do this ahead. I did it all in one day and I asked every team member if they could change one thing in the business that would make their job easier, what would it be? And I'd already decided that I was going to do whatever they said. I didn't tell them that bit. I just wanted their input. And it was just very casual conversations. It wasn't done in a team meeting. I went to each team member individually. One girl was thrilled to bits when I said that we needed a better quality mop. It cost me £8 for her to feel that she had some input in her day to motivate her. Honestly, the ideas range from that to restructuring our commission structure and everything in between. Got some amazing ideas. They understand the job better than you do. Use that knowledge. Use that understanding to improve your business. Tip number four is clear expectations and communication. We now have two generations of younger team members who are so used to crystal clear targets at every stage of their academic career. Then they come out of academia. They come out of school. They come out of college. And we just expect them to just know what they need to do and get on with it in the workplace. We need those crystal clear expectations that they're used to. They've been coached and taught to hit targets all the way through school. We need those performance expectations to be really clear in their job descriptions as well. One-to-ones need to be monthly as a minimum. If they're not hitting all the measures, move to fortnightly. If they're struggling in more than one area, coach, coach, coach. We're down to weekly one-to-ones. Don't assume that your team understands what amazing performance looks like. And finally, tip number five is build a culture that is not draining. February is when these things come to the surface, I think. It's when toxic culture becomes unbearable. It's when we notice the drama. We notice the cliques. We notice the favourites. And we notice that person that you don't want to deal with. People want nurturing, positive environments.

And so should you. Make sure we're reinforcing work-life balance. It matters more to the current workforce than it did to your generation. Portfolio working is the norm now. Embrace it. Embrace flexibility around hours. Make sure that we're doing as much as we can to create a culture of collaboration. Quick reality check. If you genuinely can't pay more or you can't pay enough in terms of commission, we need to look at your pricing. And also do bear in mind that sometimes if someone's just toxic, retention is the problem. Let's not try and keep people in the business if they're just not going to get there. Not everyone's aligned. Not everyone can be motivated. Some just need to be motivated to leave. So there we have it. What have I missed? How are you dealing with the February funk? I would love to hear from you. My email address scrolling at the bottom of the screen right now. I know this funk hits teams and owners, but these are five things that cost almost nothing. What an amazing project for you to bring into your salon this February. Just a few short days until I'm coming all over the airwaves with another dose of my wise hour wisdom. And until then, take care. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.