Why Your Best Salon Staff Keep Leaving (and How to Make Them Stay)

Does it ever feel like the moment you get your team together, someone hands in their notice? Well, you're not alone. Today, we're going to tackle one of the biggest headaches in hair and beauty, why good staff keep leaving, and more importantly, what you can do to stop it. Hello, hello, hello, my salon friends. Phil Jackson here, your queen of salons, coming in your ears again with another dose of Wise Owl Wisdom. How on earth are you? Achingly well, I hope, as we steam into the middle of September. How's business? How's life treating you? I have to say, the relief of having the children back in school so that I can finally get some bloody work done. Oh my goodness, it's been a very long summer. I've enjoyed it immensely, don't get me wrong, and the weather's been glorious here in the UK, but I am ready for some routine now. Ready for Q4 coming towards us soon, and that's my favourite quarter of the salon year because we get to do all the good fun marketing stuff. We get pumpkin spice season, we get Halloween, we get Black Friday, we get Christmas, and we get to make some decent money, my darlings, and I am here for it. So how are you preparing for Q4? Why not reach out and let me know? Phil at buildyoursalon.com is my email address. You know I love hearing from my salon owner friends. Anyway, so there's a perky bit. How about some doom and gloom? Let's start with a bit of blunt truth, shall we? And first of all, apologies if you don't have a team in your salon business because this episode is going to be a deep dive into basically how we can keep ourselves sane when people decide they're going to resign, how we can minimise the number of staff leaving and why they go in the first place. But we'll start with a bit of blunt truth because the unfortunate fact for the business owner is that loyalty in our business sits with the stylist or the beauty therapist much more than we want it to, much less than with the salon brand. Clients tend to follow people, not logos, and that's because what we do, what we sell, how we make our living is deeply personal. It's not like we're shifting piles of shoes or selling coffee. We're touching people's faces. We're touching people's hair. We're touching their skin. Goodness me, some of you are even touching their genitals. And that is intimate. It creates a powerful human bond. A client doesn't just fall in love with a haircut or a facial. They start to build that bond with a person delivering it. They trust them. They confide in them. They're often sharing those personal stories they would never tell their closest friends.

And that's not something you can easily transfer to another team member just because they work under the same salon name. Other industries don't work this way. If your favourite barista leaves Starbucks, you probably don't hunt them down at their next job. You just keep buying coffee from Starbucks. But if your favourite therapist moves a couple of streets over, there's a fair chance you might think about following them. Because the relationship isn't just with the salon, it's with the individual. So that's what makes it so hard to build salon level loyalty. And I know some of you can do this. I know some of you do do this. But as a rough rule of thumb, we can expect when someone leaves to lose a chunk of their clientele. And a lot of owners invest in their branding, their decor, even their marketing campaigns to build their name. And those things do matter. But when push comes to shove, the bond between your client and the professional usually will win. And until we accept that truth, we can't put the systems in place to help protect the business from that risk. So we've got to take that bitter pill. And I wish it was otherwise. I really do. But that's the reality. So that brings us to the bigger question. If clients are so loyal to the people delivering the service, how do we make sure those people actually want to stay with us? What is it that pushes good team members to walk away? And what can we do to help keep them? So let's dig in to why they leave. Let's break it down. And the first big reason I see or I have seen for a very long time is lack of progression. If someone can't see a future in your business, they will create one somewhere else. They would if you don't see you taking care of their future, they will look after that future themselves. Stylists and therapists want to grow. They want to develop. It's why we get so switched on by external training and going on courses is because we want to feel that we're actually developing, whether that's improving our skills, moving up the career ladder or taking on more responsibility.

We need to feel that we're on a journey. If all they can see is the same chair, the same bed, the same column year after year after year, they're going to start looking for new opportunities. Next up, your salon culture. And this one is huge, much bigger than we give it credit for. Nobody wants to feel that they're working in a place which is heavy, which is gossipy or that you're not treated fairly. If you've got cliques forming or if you're avoiding difficult conversations, that negativity is going to spread fast. The salon becomes somewhere that your team is just kind of enduring rather than somewhere they thrive. And I have to say, I had a zero tolerance to gossip and bitchiness in my salon. I absolutely knew this was the reason why people left. And the reason I knew people left for bitchiness is because when we were recruiting, that was why people told me they wanted to leave their existing salon. If you've got somewhere that they've got lots of cliques forming, you need to get rid of that toxic culture. Even your most loyal team members, my darlings, will eventually get worn down and leave if they're not enjoying the space they're in. Even if the money's amazing, it will get to them in the end. But while we're on the subject of money, let's be honest, pay matters. Now, you don't always have to be the highest pay packet in town, but it helps. And it certainly does need to feel fair and transparent. People need to know that their efforts are being properly valued. And the way that we measure value is through money. If people feel underpaid or undervalued, they're going to jump ship for a better offer, particularly if they feel they can be making more money as self-employed. Next up, burnout. What we do is physically very demanding. It's emotionally very demanding. When people are telling us those intimate secrets, that has a toll on us. And if your team are constantly covering sickness, doing back-to-back treatments, giving up weekends, they're going to hit a wall. And when another salon comes along that promises an easier rotor, a lighter workload, they're going to take it in a heartbeat. And one extra point that I think often gets overlooked is poor recruitment.

If you don't put the work in up front to make sure your shiny new stylist or beauty therapist is a perfect fit in your salon, and I'm talking about skills and values and personality, but you can't be surprised when they move on quickly. Sometimes that's a blessing in disguise. If we've got the wrong hire, them leaving is much better than trying to make it work. But if it keeps happening, I would have a look at your recruitment process. It might well need tightening up. Don't just hire warm bodies to fill a space. The people you bring in are shaping your culture. And if they're not a good fit, it's not going to work well. So they're the main reasons that people walk away. There are things that we can control to keep people with us for longer. We're going to have a look at those after this message. Are you ready for some predictable in your salon business? Do you want to know the secret to steady salon income? I'm Phil Jackson, your queen of salons, your undisputed queen of salon memberships. And I've helped hundreds of salon owners just like you turn their businesses from a very spiky takings graph into something much more steady and predictable. My Memberships Made Easy program will help you stop chasing new clients and wasting your time on social media, turning your existing clients into more profitable raving fans who support your business even in the quiet times. My proven membership framework gives you everything you need. Ready to use membership templates, pricing strategies that actually work, even scripts for selling your memberships by email and in person. The program's backed by my signature 90-day no quibble guarantee. Take the program, take the bonus coaching call I'm including. And if you're not ready to launch your memberships program at the end, I will coach you myself until you are. If you're ready to offer your clients something truly exceptional, ready to build that predictable stream of salon income, head to queenofmemberships.com forward slash podcast for a very exclusive rate on my best-selling program. Head to queenofmemberships.com forward slash podcast. Let's get started, shall we? All on, build your salon. So here's the good news. There's some stuff that we can do to take back control. Let's talk about the stuff that you as the owner can do to make a real difference to your retention. And the first up, I've mentioned it already, is progression. Even if you've got a small salon business, even if it's just you and one employee,

you can map out a career path. And it doesn't always need to mean huge job titles or lots and lots of layers of management, but it does mean showing people how they can grow and how they can develop. And if that's moving from junior to senior or taking on some of the extra responsibilities, activities like mentoring new staff or training or coming up with advanced techniques, or even just becoming the go-to for an area of your business, we can have someone who's the go-to for social media, for example, or we used to have a retail champion for certain brands in the salon. So if your team can see a future with you, they're more likely to stay. Next up, we've talked about this already, culture. And this one is entirely in your hands, and it's about what you tolerate. If you tolerate gossip, it's going to spread. If you tolerate poor behavior, it sets the tone. The people who... But the opposite is true as well. If we reward teamwork, if we celebrate wins, if we recognize when standards are being surpassed, then that strong positive culture... I mean, it's not going to guarantee that people stay, but it's certainly going to help them think twice about leaving. And then third up, money. You've got to be reviewing your pay, reviewing your benefits regularly. It doesn't... Like I've said, you don't have to be the best paying in town, but you do need to be fair. You do need to be transparent. And I think the team needs to understand that you're paying as much as you profitably can. They need to feel that there's not much gas left in the tank as far as wages are concerned. But I will say, I don't think that people necessarily come into our business for the money. I think there are easier ways to earn the money. Let's face it, darlings. But things that... If you can't pay more, there are things that we could do to bring alongside that financial package. Things like flexible scheduling, professional development we've talked about, or even just showing some appreciation along the way. Protect your team's energy. Make sure you're respecting their days off, respecting their boundaries. Don't always lean on the same people. If you've got a colour sickness or holidays, build rest into the system, even into the day. You know, as a salon owner, we want people back-to-back 100% utilised, but I promise that's a really quick way to burn your team out. Actually, about 85% utilisation is a lot easier to manage and doesn't lead to people feeling absolutely exhausted. Of course, you know, on the run-up to Christmas, for example, we want people maxed out. But all day, every day,

that's going to get really tiring really, really quickly. And I want to really shift your mindset when it comes to thinking about retention. And this is the biggest... I don't want to call it a trick, but this is the biggest tool that I had in my toolbox when I was managing my salon. And that's something called planned obsolescence, which is a very grand term. But in other words, my darling, you accept that people will leave, and they will. The days of someone joining your salon business at 16 and staying until they retire, my love, they are long gone. So start to put some figures on that. If you keep your stylist or you keep your therapist, let's say on average for four years, plan for that. Make a plan. What's going to happen in four years' time? When are we going to start recruiting someone new? And then when you're in that recruitment process and we're recruiting someone new, we've then got a little yardstick to figure out if it's worth investing in them. Because if you've got someone who comes along who you think is probably going to be with you for four years, but it's going to take you two years to get them profitable, well, maybe they're not going to be the best fit. So if you invest in that person, are they going to stay long enough for your investment to pay off? Now, why does planned obsolescence help? Well, if they do leave at year four, we were ready. If they leave sooner, and this is the big mindset shift, it doesn't hurt as much. You've still protected yourself. Okay, they didn't leave when you thought they were going to leave, but you knew they were going to leave. And it takes away you feeling like the rug has been pulled from underneath your feet. If they stay longer than the four years, brilliant. Your investment's paying off more than you expected. But the key is not to be caught off guard, not to take every resignation as a personal failure, but to build that staff turnover into your strategy. So that's what you can control, the career path, the culture, the money, the well-being, but most of all, that realistic approach to staff churn and staff turnover. So how do we handle it when people do happen, when people do leave rather? Well, let's be realistic. People are going to leave. Life changes come along, opportunities come up, partners move city. It happens. The important thing isn't trying to stop every single resignation.

It's about how you handle it when the dreaded letter lands on your desk. And the first thing which I'm not going to like is an exit interview. And it doesn't need to be a formal HR box ticking sort of interview, but a genuine conversation about what works while they were working with you, what didn't work, and what pushed them to make the decision so that we can learn the lessons for our remaining team. And you're not always going to hear what you want. And sometimes it stings. And sometimes, actually, it's better not to do this exit interview yourself. If you think one of the reasons that this person's leaving is you and you don't want to necessarily turn this into a slanging match, then offload it. Give it to someone else to do it. It doesn't even have to be someone who works in the salon regularly. You can get an outsourcer to come in and hold an exit interview for you. Also, if you don't think you're going to get the truth by holding the interview yourself, then I would definitely delegate it to someone else. But what you're going to get from that is some clues that make your salon stronger for the people who are left behind. Secondly, really importantly, you've got to protect your client base. You've got to make sure your client data is stored on your salon systems, not on someone's personal phone. The first thing we're going to do is change all the passwords on everything. We're going to change the locks. I don't care how much you trust this person. Change the bloody locks if they had a key. And the big lesson for me was I had an assistant manager who left and she was a really, really lovely team member and we got on really well. But my God, she hung around with some absolute dickheads and some of the boyfriends she had. I would not trust them, my darlings, as far as I could spit. And I thought, do you know what? If she's left her keys hanging around and they've managed to sneak off to Timpson's and get a couple of keys cut, I could be in really big trouble here. So get your locks changed, get all the passwords changed, make sure that your contracts and your policies make it crystal clear that taking client details is not acceptable and any breach, as particularly here in the UK where we've got GDPR problems, any breach of your client data, you've got to take that seriously, really seriously, and show the rest of your team that you won't tolerate it. Now, you're not going to be able to stop every client following and certainly these days of social media where lots of your team members are going to be connected with your clients and they'll be, you know, building those connections if they feel that they might be leaving, trust me. So it's not like it used to be where we could kind of be very quiet about where someone was going and say,

I'm not going to pass that information on. We can't get away with that anymore. So have some grace, give them the details that the clients are asking for and if they decide to come back to you, well, we welcome them back with open arms. Next up, look after the rest of your team. Anyone leaving, any change actually, can be uncomfortable and if you've got a popular team member, that's going to leave a bit of a wobble, to be honest, and morale is going to dip and rumours are going to spread and it's your job to check in, reassure, show that you're in control and show that you've got a plan and if you're calm and positive, then your team is going to be calm and positive too. Here's a tip that makes things a lot less stressful. Have all of your recruitment tools ready. So make sure you've got job ads sketched out and good to go. Make sure your job descriptions are reviewed and revised a couple of times a year. Even interview questions on file before you need them. Then, the minute someone resigns, you can spring into action. And I have always said in my business and my personal life actually, anyone can have one sleepless night out of me. You will never get two, my darling. But if I'm having that sleepless night, I need to be able to take action. That's how I find reassurance and find calm is feeling that I'm moving forward and moving on. So if I can't sleep, I can get up, post a job ad immediately. It doesn't mean that we're necessarily going to find a replacement sooner, but it gives you back that sense of control. So instead of sitting there stewing in your juices, getting all hot and bothered and angry that someone dares to leave your business, you're actually doing something positive to move forward. So there we have it. And I know resignations are never going to be fun, but if you're prepared, you're not going to feel quite so helpless or blindsided. But I don't have all of the answers. I've got a few. But what have I missed? Why not reach out and let me know, phil at buildyoursalon.com. I'd love to hear from you on this. I'd also love to hear from you if you would like to share your success story with me. And I keep getting people that kind of say, oh, I don't think I'm really right for a success story. I'm not right to come onto the podcast. I'm not big enough. I'm not successful enough. I promise you some of the most inspiring stories we've had have come from solopreneurs,

people that are working by themselves or smaller businesses. So please reach out. I'd love to be interviewing you on a future episode of the Build Your Sound podcast. Just seven short days until I'm coming in your eyes and ears with a wonderful interview episode over on YouTube as well. And until then, my darlings, please take care. Sit down and see what's going on with the queen of salons. Hair, beauty, and more successful tips for business owners all on Build Your Salon.