Maintaining a sense of urgency is a management responsibility not to be taken lightly. Complacency can quietly infect even the most successful businesses. It usually begins during a period of smooth sailing, when the “business as usual” mentality sets in, leadership relaxes, and the urgency that previously inspired growth and performance wanes. Personal agendas take a precedence over the business’ goals and needs. The team loses focus.

Perhaps more than any other, the salon/spa environment is a fertile breeding ground for complacency. At most salons and spas, a “pecking order” keeps gridlocked and overbooked technicians in square opposition to new technicians trying to get established. In the middle is a mix of rising stars and underachievers…and those who are simply satisfied with their present level of performance and income. If an owner or manager, by choice or necessity, spends a lot of time behind the chair, the grip of complacency tightens. Efforts to rally staff enthusiasm are hit-or-miss. Conflicting personal agendas and a lack of leadership blur the business' focus.

At Strategies, we get many questions from well-intended owners seeking the magic formula to motivate staff. There is no magic formula, but there is a formula. It’s a process of focusing staff on performance priorities, and devoting the time and attention to establishing goals (and keeping them at the forefront of staff’s daily activities). For example: There is a big difference between telling staff they must improve retention rates, and keeping retention goals and performance data posted. Telling staff to improve, but without clear goals and objectives, is like launching a rescue flare. It rises high and shines bright, and you hope against hope that someone sees it before it falls and fizzles. Setting monthly goals and posting the scores every week — or even every day — keeps everyone focused on growing the business. It’s one ingredient in the formula.

In contrast to shot-in-the-arm motivation that yields short-term results, focus mobilizes your team for maximum short- and long-term performance. Focus brings consistency to client service and technical execution, which directly improves retention rates. Focus also dramatically reduces errors and drives efficiency upward. It propels sales to record levels because everyone is pulling in the same direction. Focus is the difference between “business as usual,” and a high-performance environment.

What are you doing to keep you and your staff focused?