Recruiting Haircutters (or Being Recruited)
One of the most common questions I hear from business owners: “Where can I get good haircutters?” This is a consistent challenge in our business. One upside of the corona virus pandemic is that both sides of the job market for hair pros is strong right now. There are haircutters looking for good jobs and there are employers looking for talent. NOW is a great time to find your next great team member or your next great opportunity.
Her are my tips for employers and employees.
Employers:
1. Run a great business – Be high profile in your community. Be the place people want to go to for their haircut. Team members will come clamoring. Be the place with a full waiting room.
2. Have a pile of prospects - Recruiting is a 24/7/365 activity. Always be taking names and applications. Do not just look for team members when you need one.
3. Build relationships with schools – Hang out in the clinic. Help on the floor. Get to know the students. Invite them in for a tour and a free service. Know them before you need them.
4. Double up your advertising – Every ad for your business can be a recruiting ad, too. “Always seeking the next great team member” in small print on the bottom. Tell all your clients you are looking. They already know anyway. Every client knows a haircutter. Friends and family are connected to people in the business. Offer a headhunting bonus. Send me a haircutter. As long as they work here, your haircuts are FREE. Now they have a vested interest. It takes a village. Spread the word and the responsibility.
5. Network with other shops – The bigger your network, the more help you have. Everyone knows someone. Be the guy/gal who knows everyone. If you want information, be sharing information. People want to help people, especially people with the same challenges.
Employees:
1. Know who runs the great businesses - Be sure they know you, too. Make connections. Visit the chop. Have a service. Network. Connect.
2. Fill out a lot of applications - Be sure you are in the file cabinets of the best employers.
3. Use time in school to make the best connections - Use your school placement team to foster the best connections. Do not let the placement people place you. Visit and apply to everything. Then you decide.
4. Be the haircutter people want to hire – Set goals and share them in your interviews. Look to find the right fit. Be open to learning.
5. Leave a good trail – Be sure no former employer can have anything bad to say. Leave a job with the same professionalism and class that you went in with.
The market for jobs and team members is good, healthy and strong. So are the opportunities in haircutting right now. You can hire and build $100,000 haircutters. You can be a $100,000 haircutter. You can find the right situation to make that happen, too.
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