Recruiting for spas has never been more difficult than it is today. Shortages of managers and licensed staff, such as massage therapists, estheticians, and nail techs, are at an all-time high. Here are eight top tips for recruiting new talent for your spa, from line-level staff to senior-level management.
- Line-level staff like receptionists and locker-room attendants are the face of your customer service, and often, they are ultimately your sole sales people for services and products. General recruitment can be done online through posting sites like Craigslist, which is most local to your area.
- What often works best in seeking talent is to encourage your management staff to poach great customer service staff from coffee shops, restaurants, and other establishments they frequent. They can do this simply by passing along their business cards to potential candidates who exhibit the characteristics of your business culture and job needs.
- Posting on community college job boards and visiting colleges for career fairs is an excellent option to reach mid-level staff for supervisor or administrative roles. This demographic is usually ideal for working evenings and weekends. Hiring college staff also provides you with an opportunity to mentor them to advanced managerial roles as they complete their education. College graduates often seek career growth first at the location they are currently employed.
- Encouraging current staff members to use their social media accounts to share openings in your organization is a wonderful way to reach a mass market of similar demographics for hire. Social media is often overlooked, but Facebook has clearly been a major source for human resource professionals to source new talent.
- If you are unable to source quality licensed staff, research on-demand options with your leadership team to help fill gaps in the schedule and generate revenue. On-demand companies like Zeel and Soothe are excellent options.
- For licensed staff members, such as massage therapists and estheticians, using association boards like the ISPA Job Bank and trade magazine job boards are essential tools in sourcing needs. I would encourage you to post on some of these sites at least twice annually, even when you have no openings, as this keeps your company name in the minds of prospective hires. This also helps plan for employee attrition.
- For senior management roles, such as general managers, spa directors, executive chefs, and even directors of human resources, using a recruiter can be very effective. Most recruitment companies have seasoned hospitality recruiters who can source through their own database and usually have an inside track on who’s looking. This can save valuable time not only in sourcing qualified candidates but also in streamlining the interview process and getting your candidate on board more quickly.
- Employee referrals far outweigh any other options in seeking new talent. A potential hire is far more like to stay with an organization if a friend is their coworker. It’s human nature to want to surround ourselves with like-minded individuals with similar characteristics, so encourage your best staff members to recommend a friend.
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