Incentivizing Your Team

Business is flat, sales are down, salaries are frozen … and morale is not so great. What is an owner to do? This is a dilemma that has been faced by most employees and employers throughout the past two-to-three years, and it’s a very important issue to address. What creative means can your facility adopt to incentivize team members?

We asked this question in the August Vocal Point Survey, and here’s what you had to say.

“Our staff members are the best,” states Elaine Greenberg, owner of Ageless Remedies SouthPark in Charlotte, NC. “They take pride in their accomplishments and so do we, the owners. Besides the basic salaries, we provide key financial incentives based on production—either commission or total revenue. Therefore, everybody has a stake in the overall team performance.”

Education plays a key role as a team incentive for Lindsay Garric, owner of fabYOUglam in Reno, NV. “I offer the opportunity to apprentice as a makeup artist to my independent contractors. The skills they gain assisting during photo shoots and special event makeup is incomparable,” she explains. “Knowledge through experience is power!”

Clara Brown, director of Riverfront Royale Salon & Med Spa in Vidalia, LA, agrees with this philosophy. Her spa offers an all expense-paid trip to a conference or educational event. “Another great incentive is a complimentary trip to another spa,” she says.

Team-building also holds powerful incentives, according to many of our respondents. “I have offered my staff various incentives such as team-building activities, a limo, dinner and evening out with spouses and significant others, indoor skydiving and dinner cruises on the lake,” says Lacey Lockhart, spa director of LifeSpa & Salon in Colorado Springs, CO. “This allows us to work as a team to achieve greater success as a whole, and it also builds camaraderie as well as friendly competition.”

Incentives are a key to your business, emphasizes Lynn Braden, owner of Facelogic in Chino, CA. “Every day we have a goal sheet so the team can visually see what its upgrade and retail percentages are for that day. At the end of the year, team members who have attained their goals at least 90% of the time get their names in a drawing for a week in Cabo in a penthouse suite at the Playa Grande—flight and room paid for. They may invite up to seven guests.”

Meme Curtis, medical esthetician at Premier Dermatology in San Francisco, sums it up by highlighting a very key issue. “The small things matter, like surprising staff members with coffee, tea and fresh fruit in the morning, or with a card of appreciation; taking the staff out for a happy hour; gifting a service or a product; offering a personalized gift certificate to somewhere; or providing a paid day off for good work.”

Whether your incentive is small or large, keep in mind that often, it truly is the thought that counts.

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