WELLBEING IN ACTION

Award-winning men’s hairdresser Jim Shaw, explains how, improving the wellbeing of the team and clients, can have a big effect on business

Men can often struggle to open up about their mental health and having a large male clientele and male team members, I trained in Mental Health First Aid to be able to help support both my clients and team whenever they may need it.

For us to look after our clients well, we need to look after ourselves too and ensure we have good wellbeing. Below are some of my top tips to help promote good wellbeing amongst the team and clients in the barbershop.

THE TEAM

Communication – ensuring you have good communication with your team is essential. Have regular meetings and one-to-ones to ensure they are happy and motivated at work.

Discuss with them their working hours and ensure they’re happy with them – do they fit around their personal life, kids or other commitments? If you can help make their life easier and be more flexible, this will increase their morale in the barbershop.

Getting the team involved in business decisions - allow them to feel involved and valued within the decision-making process and that their opinion matters.

Training - training is so important when it comes to wellbeing. Many of your team members will want to grow and improve and they can do this with the help of good quality training. Discuss in your one-to-ones with team members what their ambitions and goals are, and should they wish to work their way up the career ladder within the salon, help them achieve this.

Get them involved with projects/events out of the shop -Iregularly shoot men’s hairdressing collections and I love getting the team involved in this too, allowing them to see what different avenues are available to them within the industry.

Small extra touches - small extra touches within your salon space can help improve mental wellbeing. This includes bringing in fresh fruit and healthy snacks for the team to give them energy throughout the day.

CLIENTS

Refreshment offerings – clients come to the salon for a great experience, to feel relaxed and at ease and spend some time away from the outside world. Providing clients with refreshments throughout their visit is a great way to further enhance client’s experiences in the salon.

A relaxing/calming atmosphere – this can help be created with things like feelgood music and also by having nice aromas around the bar.

Treatments - it’s beneficial to think about the services and treatments you can provide and how you can improve on these. For example, for our gents, we always offer full 45-minute appointments and full consultations to ensure we have enough time to talk to them about any concerns they may have with their hair. This also allows us time to recommend and show our clients hair products that would work well with their hair type.

Complimentary add on services – we offer our male clients our own signature wet shave treatment, signature smell on all gowns and facials alongside their beard grooming services. Men also get a complimentary full head massage during their appointment and upon leaving the salon, can spritz themselves with a lovely scent from our aftershave station. Our clients love that they can come to the salon and have a full pampering experience and can leave feeling relaxed and refreshed and not rushed out the door.