Dayspa

AUG 2014

DAYSPA is the magazine of spa management. Spa owners and spa managers turn to DAYSPA for spa management trends, spa management tips and more.

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92 DAYSPA | AUGUST 2014 MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP THE EMPLOYEE BUY-IN You've got your employee handbook written—great! Now when do you give it to your employees? Obviously, if you already have em- ployees onboard, you should give them the handbook immediately. As for new hires, experts agree the best time to present it is on their fi rst day of employment. (Brown suggests, however, that you might want to pro- vide potential new hires with any job description portion of the handbook during the interview session.) When you give both new and exist- ing employees the handbook to review, indicate that they should sign or initial the page (usually it is the last page) that states that the employee has received and read it, and that they fully under- stand it. That signed sheet should then be kept in the employee's personnel fi le. According to Antoline, this part of the process is very important because, should a problem arise with an employ- ee, the sheet acts as proof that they re- ceived the handbook. "One common claim by employees is, 'I never saw a copy of the handbook, I didn't know I was bound to these rules and regulations,' " he says. "The employer wants to be able to remove the opportunity for the employee to argue that." Kantor reveals that her handbook's sign-off sheet includes a passage af- fi rming that the staff member shares in the spa's core values. "It's very im- portant that they read, understand and feel comfortable with it, so both par- ties know that they really want to work at Chill," she explains. "It just shows we're all on the same page and we have the same energy." Shuster actually reads through the Fusion LifeSpa handbook with each new employee during orientation so they can discuss it together. She also has the newbie sign each page as she goes through it. If something comes up later, "We can say, 'we went through a lot of information, let's look at the policy and make sure you remember signing it'," she says. "Then we can talk about how this applies to the current situation." What if an employee doesn't com- pletely agree with a policy in your handbook and wishes to debate it? Brown suggests that owners hear out the employee because the more open a dialogue you're willing to have with your team, the better a team you will ultimately have. "Engaging in those conversations is healthy, and often- times your staff has better ideas on how to do things than you do," she points out. "They may have worked at another place where a different policy was more effective. So listen to their ideas—we don't know everything!" Corrie Pelc is a freelance writer and editor based in Sacramento, California. Save up to 62% when you sign up for a digital subscription to DAYSPA. dayspamagazine.com Sign up and save! The digital edition is portable, hyperlinked and searchable, with extra features not available in print—delivered to your inbox before the post offi ce delivers the print issue. Read the spa/ salon industry's leading business magazine on the go! DAYSPA is now available in digital format online, on your tablet or smartphone.

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