As salon owners, our business is people. People are our revenue, so we’re scared to death when the top producers walk out the door. Whether they go to chair rental, leave for bigger opportunity or become your competitor, sometimes we feel captive to them. In the process, we may ruin our culture and create conflict by giving them what they want.
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The Pareto Principle (The 80/20 Rule)
Culture is a buzz word that keeps popping up in business reviews, classes, and with consultants. As we see reports and data coming out about different generations, ways to run a business vertically vs horizontally, or different personality tests, it’s easy to get confused on how to go about it.
One rule that doesn’t change from culture to culture or generation to generation is the 80/20 rule. It’s the Pareto principle, which states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. It’s in both nature and economics.
In business, the 80/20 rule would suggest that 20% of the people do 80% and vice versa. I’m sure a few people may come to mind? We all have a few staff that we wish we could duplicate. If we could hire 10 of them, then our business would thrive!
Most of our policies, our handbooks, and our guidelines are written for the 80%. We want them to thrive but within boundaries. We help them to build their business, we get them education, help build their confidence, and coach them along the way.
But there are always those few remarkable individuals that just don’t need the extra push. They’re self-motivated, introspective, goal oriented, and don’t necessarily need the daily encouragement. They’re what we’ll call our A Players. They are the top producers, you can count on them, and they get things done. Unfortunately, they tend to be the first to leave too. It’s not that they want to; they’ve hit a ceiling.
So do we treat them the same as the 80%? I wouldn’t.
- To download an Ad Copy template for attracting your core employees (80%), click here.
- To download an Ad Copy template for attracting the top players (20%), click here.
Retaining Your A-Players, Your Top Producers
This is personal for me because I was that 20% top producer, who loved my job, loved my co-workers but left and now have become a competitor to a boss I still admire. So what would have kept me? Now that I’m a boss, I ask myself this often and have done research and found I am not alone. Here are a few key ideas on how to address your top people.
1. Opportunity
Creating opportunity is key for top players. If you don’t have opportunity for them, let them create it. If you don’t have a training program, let them write it. Keep them engaged, and this is where you’ll gain their loyalty. Lack of opportunity is usually the #1 reason they’ll leave.
2. Recognition
Top players don’t want to be treated like the 80%. I mean if they’re doing the heavy lifting, they should be recognized! You can do it through mentioning their performance at meetings, giving them rewards, or even taking them to dinner and thanking them individually. If they’re a top player, treat them like a top player!
3. Listen
Top players have great ideas that are often ignored. It may be they want to do something that hasn’t been done before, or you don’t know how to go about doing it; get them involved. Dismissing their idea completely can impact their performance, and it often comes with a bad attitude. Hierarchy does not work with the elite, so speak to them as an equal.
4. Rules
A lot of times, top players don’t do well with rules. Again, they don’t want to be treated like their co-workers who aren’t performing as well as them. Remember, they are driven individuals so give them clout. Let’s say an A player comes in dressing poorly. Rather than punishing them, have them give the talk at the meeting about dress code. If they’re a top performer, usually they will rise to the occasion. If they are told what to do, they often push back.
5. Goals
They need goals in order to stay focused. With a goal, they become focused and efficient. Without them, they become unhappy and defiant. The good news is, they don’t need tons of coaching, they just need a target. Give them space to hit the target as long as it’s respectful.
Building Individuals That Create Solid Teams
In the salon industry, I often hear the term “teamwork”. But what is it exactly? Does a team that gets along well but produces mediocracy and gossips necessarily make a great team? A question that sounds ridiculous is “how many people on a team would it take to beat Bobby Fischer in chess?”.
The idea here is if you want to build a great team – build great individuals.
To hear more on this particular topic, have a listen to Phorest FM Episode 119:
Our intelligence is incredibly complex, and as a result, a great individual can far exceed the value of many mediocre minds. Harvard Business Review states, “Our brains work very well individually but tend to break down in groups. This is why we have individual decision makers in business (and why paradoxically we have group decisions in government). Programmers are exponentially faster when coding as individuals; designers do their best work alone; artists rarely collaborate and when they do, it rarely goes well. There are exceptions to every rule, but in general this holds true.”
The best example I can think of is Phil Jackson with his numerous championships. He built individuals that created solid teams, not the other way around. If he had built the team first, he would have never helped shape Michael Jordan. If he had built the team first, Michael Jordan would have had to fit into a box, and it would not have allowed him to shine.
So the idea here is to allow people to flourish. Don’t make your top producers fit exactly into this idea that you’ve contrived as teamwork. Not all people thrive in the same environment. Quantity is better than quality when it comes to people; so build up your “Michael Jordan’s” but also know that not everyone has to be a Michael Jordan. See people as individuals and create a strong dynamic with multiple facets.
Don’t forget to download your recruitment Ad Copy templates here (80%) and here (20%).
For more great tips, check out our full resource on how to set up, run and grow a successful salon business.
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This article was originally published on Amanda Olusanya’s blog and re-published on the Phorest Blog with the author’s permission. Featured image shot on location of the Thrive Sessions 2-day workshop, in Denver. © Phorest Salon Software.
