Mr. Anderson

Spas, Health & Fitness

Spa Development and Asset Management: Human Capital Management

By Peter Anderson, President, Anderson & Associates

In a spa environment, both customer and employee expectations are different expectations... from many other business environments. Specific medical and psychotherapy environments aside, there are few business environments where "customers" are expected to be naked physically, metaphorically or both. This exposure, in turn sets the bar for the therapists to deliver an ultra-high level of care and nurturing which is (not surprisingly) independent of the price of the treatment.

Insight, sensitivity and compassion are elements that should be organically incorporated into a spa's corporate culture. Spa employees, like other departments in a hotel, should think of themselves as a "family". Respect of the faux-family means minimizing opportunities for in-fighting while maximizing the synergistic power of the spa team. Building a team of competent and caring technicians is the most important step in creating a successful spa.

Items that go into building that team, discussed in this article, include:

Establish Proactive Communication

As the resort or spa manager/owner, one of your main objectives is to convey to your employees what you want of them. Establishing and maintaining this mutual understanding is one of the keys to successful management of a spa.

Communication in a spa environment through regular, informal conversation is necessary because this is part of the continual management process. Vision and Mission must be reiterated in EVERY manner possible...i.e., written, orally, newsletters, e-mails, conversations, and most of all in ACTIONS. Because communication is both a function of words and deeds, nothing undermines effective leadership more than when words and actions (from management) are not in sync. As a default, the workers will always believe the actions.

Ways to enhance conversation include:

• Create an open door policy to all employees; (Knowing that they have the ability to walk into your office sends a strong message that you are available and accessible to your employees. You may be surprised at the information and insight that is brought to you with your open door policy.)
• Set aside times during the day/ week to be available to all employees; (Setting aside time can resemble professorial office hours or it can be as informal as ensuring that you have an employees lunch two or three times a month. An open door policy will not work if it appears you have an open door, but no time for your employees. Problems seldom schedule themselves around your availability)
• Value their input - respond immediately to employees (they are your internal customers); (As a rule, your employees will never treat customers better than you treat them. Set the bar high and realize your interaction with staff sets the tone and standards at your spa.)
• Create opportunities to foster informal discussions - social outings, happy hours, company picnics/ parties; (At the risk of generalizing, spa employees are often socially oriented and thrive on interpersonal interaction. Play to that strength and create opportunities for spa employees to support each other and the team, at large)
• Be frank, but kind with your feedback to employees "The certainty of misery is better than the misery of uncertainty"; (Kind honesty is sometimes rare in a corporate environment. It is always best to operate from the perspective that your employees want to do their best and your honest feedback can assist them in becoming the best at what they do..)
• Reinforce the positive behavior; - Publicly praise/ privately reprimand;

Hire for Long-Term Success

It is imperative that you as a spa manager are aware of the TOTAL skill sets(s) necessary to achieve the collective mission/ vision of your spa. When you hire, identify the missing elements you need in your collective talent pool and look for that talent (or its potential) when selecting new employees. It is important to remember two items when hiring: i.) identify, recruit and place talent wisely and ii.) hire friendly and train technically

When all is said and done, it is better to hire on attitude. An employee's attitude (sometimes used interchangeably with work ethic or personality) is something you have little or no control over. Remember, seldom will you find the perfect candidate to fill a position at the time you need them. So if you are going to make compromises in your selection process, make them relative to someone's technical qualifications, because you can always train someone with less technical experience. It is highly unlikely you will be able to materially re-orient someone's personality traits.

This is somewhat counter-intuitive when you are interviewing and looking to find a skill set that will best address your short-term needs getting you through the next few weeks or months. It is always better to look at the long-term goals of the organization and determine what role the potential employee could possibly play in the long-term success of your spa. Clearly, there is great attrition in the spa environment and many employees will not work out over the long-term, but a long-term perspective in hiring will help mitigate some of these problems.

Create a caring workplace - Money isn't the only thing

Competitive compensation and great workplace are important starting places to evaluate the lure of a particular spa. To that end, money is only one component of value. Many Gen X and Gen Y (workforce under 35) have only worked during times of relative prosperity. They have the personal background to appreciate (and the luxury to select) employment options based on factors besides money. When working conditions interfere with their "lifestyle" often the work environment will take a backseat to personal issues. This sometimes results in decreased performance at work or a change in employment.

This trend is exacerbated by the profile of employees that traditionally and typically are attracted to the spa industry. Spa technicians, by nature tend to be nurturing, emotionally-based information processors. (While this is a broad generalization that will not always hold true, it is a factor to be considered when leading and developing your spa employees.) Regularly scheduled opportunities to listen to your employees address their needs and reinforce their importance within your organization and show through your actions that you value them is vitally important, especially in this environment. Intangibles such as work-life balance, leadership quality, training, advancement opportunities and work environment sometimes outweigh money in decisions to stay or leave

Top pay may keep people on the job, but it won't motivate them to go the extra mile. To elicit the best performance from your employees, you have to pay attention to the intangibles and strive to create a caring workplace.

Design a family atmosphere that emphasizes teamwork and mutual respect. Always have an open door policy where employees feel free to air their opinions and even grievances to their superiors. When the business is doing well or when certain milestones are reached, throw a celebration of sorts, so as to create a sense of achievement and let the employees know that their efforts are appreciated.

The bottom line is: if the company takes care of its associates, the associates will take care of the company.

Promote from within - when possible.

Promotion from within is in essence, all about HOPE. Elevating associates to positions of leadership perpetuates corporate culture and sends a strong message that the spa is interested in rewarding excellence among their employees. It is also an excellent retention tool. In addition to being a vital component of their professional team, most people want to enhance their lifestyle. This is done by developing a skill set that benefits the team and then being compensated appropriately for it.

The classic example of this is the Spa Director who can say, he/she started with this spa 6 years ago as a receptionist or therapist and thorough the years has earned the opportunity to train and develop into this position. This is a strong, positive message for most employees. Job potential is often more important than the actual job itself. You want to have employees that have unlimited employment choices. You can start that trend, in-house by providing many choices to your employees. In an environment like this, it might be a surprise to see how many employees become superstars.

Conclusion - Intent for Success

People are the voice, face and attitude of your spa. The success of your spa is directly linked to the "intent for success" that is instilled in each representative of your organization. No hands-on, service-oriented business is going to run without occasional errors. However, when the intent for success is focused, the number and severity of problems may be minimized and those that do surface can be easily ameliorated. It all starts and ends with how you lead your staff.

Peter Anderson is a principal of Anderson and Associates, which focuses on the issues of spa development and wellness programming for hotels and resorts. Mr. Anderson consults for the inclusion of spa programs and wellness therapies. Mr. Anderson's firm conducts market and financial analysis by tracking and evaluating spa and wellness trends which include emerging healing modalities in the allopathic and alternative medical disciplines. Mr. Anderson holds a Masters from Cornell and a Bachelors of Arts in Psychological Basis of Behavior from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Anderson can be contacted at 310 -392-9368 or peter@anderspa.com Extended Bio...

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