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How does the company recruit new staff?

Image: The atmosphere at the salon is critical to its success - for many clients it provides the opportunity to have a chat and a cup of coffee as well as a new hairstyle.

Most recruitment is done through word of mouth. The original recruitment was carried out by Jilly using people she had worked with in the past and who she felt were right for the business. Now, it is much harder to find suitable recruits as the business grows. Some staff may be recruited as a result of contacts through other staff, others may come through contacts the business has with the local Further Education College and others may be through accident - for example, someone who knows someone whose daughter happens to be studying hairdressing at college.

New recruits are taken on for a three-month trial basis. There are particular problems with recruiting juniors because Jilly finds that many are not prepared to work hard to learn the business, to gain the experience needed and to develop their skills. Some new recruits think they know it all; others are reluctant to give time to the business when necessary or simply feel that what they are being asked to do is just too much like hard work!

Appropriate staff are vitally important for the business. The atmosphere in the place is a key competitive advantage; it has to be relaxed, business like, professional and welcoming. Simple things like assessing the state and condition of a client's hair before washing it so that important information can be passed to the stylist before the main work is done is very important.

Staff with 'an attitude' destroy that atmosphere and can be damaging to the business. For example, Jilly explained that one former member of staff began to discuss other staff in the presence of customers and upset the working atmosphere of the place. When this worker left, the 'sniping' continued and this is seen as being very damaging.

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