STAFF EMPOWERMENT AND WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT

In this week’s blog post, we chat to Beauty Business Expert and Founder of the International Salon Business School, Liz McKeon, about Staff Empowerment and why it is so important when it comes to business success.

Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people, in communities and in business. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling your own life and claiming your rights.

Staff empowerment examples include giving your team members autonomy and responsibility to manage their own work, objectives and deadlines. Instead of micromanaging them, you provide them with the tools and support necessary for success and you trust them to manage their own column.

In order to implement a strategy of employee empowerment, you need to first be able to trust your employees. As the team leader you can promote a culture of empowerment by promoting this sense of trust. Give your staff a voice by requesting and acting on consistent feedback. Provide them with the opportunities to grow and develop by regularly offering options for career progression and increasing their responsibilities.

Recognise employee achievements to help improve confidence levels and engage with your team to establish clear expectations and guidelines. Share your objectives and vision so that your team understand how their role contributes to overall salon success.

The benefits of staff empowerment are increased trust in leadership, improved motivation levels, increased creativity and higher levels of employee retention. All of this increased performance and productivity will also improve the bottom line of your business.

To empower employees:

1. Recognise great work and celebrate employee’s achievements. This will help them feel more empowered and push them to continuously improve their performance. Support, encourage and praise your employees and show that you are invested in them.

2. Show your staff that what they say matters and their feedback is important. Encourage your employees to provide regular, honest feedback. Continuous performance monitoring established open channels of communication and transparent dialogue.

3. Support your staff and provide learning and development opportunities. Help your employees to develop professionally and encourage them continuously improve their skills and knowledge. Reward exceptional workers and design a clear path for development so that they strive to hit their next goals.

Make sure that your team know that you are there to support them because you care about their contribution to the overall success of the business.

Salon Software systems like iSalon can be particularly effective in helping with monitoring team performance, ensuring your team are on the right track to helping your salon, spa or barbershop towards gaining fantastic results.

The iSalon Reports feature allows you to understand what’s working and what isn’t. You can track every aspect of your team member’s performance, from products and services sold to absences and appointment book gaps, allowing you to keep a handle on where performance could be improved.

The iSalon miSalon feature is also a fantastic engagement app for your iSalon system, which helps your team members keep track of their own individual targets from anywhere – a great tool if you want to give your team some control and allow them to feel further empowered!

For further information on Liz McKeon, visit: www.lizmckeon.com

For further information on iSalon and to book a demo, visit: www.isalonsoftware.co.uk