2 mins
Ditch the drama!
Liz McKeon shares how to avoid your salon becoming a soap opera
At its simplest, drama is what happens when there is emotional tension between people. It’s great on Netflix, as it keeps you hanging on the edge of your seat, waiting to see how the story unfolds. But, in business, drama creates friction which diverts attention from the all-important business tasks required to keep the salon afloat. together in a small environment, you are bound to have occasional drama, friction and conflict. This has to be managed and monitored, otherwise it can lead to the distraction becoming severe enough to affect productivity and create a negative work environment – which is the last thing you need for clients.
When you have multiple personalities working Friction can reduce productivity, cause an undercurrent of resistance, create an unpleasant environment for your employees and make your life unbearable. A salon with continual drama is like living in a soap opera, and if the drama problem isn’t tackled, a soap opera is what you will end up running, rather than a profitable business.
To become proactive in heading off this damaging drama culture, follow these steps...
1
Set policies and include a section in your company handbook that defines salon drama and outlines the policy for handling it. Drama can be described as spreading untrue information, discussing personal matters at work, antagonizing colleagues and blowing minor issues out of proportion to get attention.
2 Clarify roles and develop detailed job descriptions, indicating specific responsibilities, who reports to whom and what tasks are associated with each position.
3 Put
a stop to gossip and have a zero tolerance policy in place.
4 Halt the salon rumour mill by being upfront with your team about salon news that affects them directly.
5 Document workplace drama and ongoing destructive behaviour.
6 Oversee dispute resolution and mediate conflict resolution between people who create drama on the floor. This may involve letting each person have their say and then clarifying the company’s position on the issue.
7 Enforce penalties appropriate when dealing with drama in your salon. If you have a stated policy, have given offenders warnings in the past and counselled them on their behaviour, it is time to take whatever action is necessary. This will help other employees understand that the company is serious about maintaining a drama-free workplace.
THE MAIN CAUSES OF WORKPLACE DRAMA
POOR COMMUNICATION
Failure to share key details about projects, salon policies and other work-related topics can disrupt the flow of work and lead to unnecessary drama.
BAD MANAGEMENT
Incompetency at salon leadership level will hurt team morale and productivity, resulting in a trickledown effect that creates lots of friction.
HIGH-STRESS WORK ENVIRONMENT
A little stress can help with performance, but a lot of stress has a negative effect. Salon floors are stressful environments, so remember to manage the stress levels.
Liz McKeon is a business coach who specialises in the hair industry. For details about business seminars and industry workshops go to www.lizmckeon. com