Salons and spas are both positive and high-pressured environments, sometimes leading to stress in the workplace. If left alone, stress not only impacts your staff’s wellbeing, but also your business through tense environments and high employee turnover. To combat this, we have outlined several tips to help you identify and manage stress for a positive working environment.
Identifying stress in the workplace
First, it’s important to know how to identify stress in the workplace. Tension can manifest itself in a variety of ways. These can typically be grouped into three areas; physical, emotional and behavioural. Physical stress can take the form of headaches, indigestion or weight loss/gain for example; emotional stress signs can include difficulty in concentration and forgetfulness; behavioural stress can display in irritability, being withdrawn or tearful. These are just some common signs of pressure, although some may be hidden behind a stoic demeanour. That means some signs may not become apparent until you speak with your team.
Discuss the causes of staff pressures
Some staff may not wish to approach you first to discuss stress in the workplace. This isn’t necessarily because they don’t want to, but because they may not feel they can. Therefore, it’s important to reach out to them on a regular basis and ask if they’re doing okay. This will open staff up to discussion, which can take place in a more private space in the building. When they talk, make sure you listen to their problems carefully and non-judgementally for a resolution.
Resolutions for home-related stress
Is your staff member’s stress caused by problems at home or in the salon or spa? If the stress has been caused at home, it’s important to show empathy and understanding. Whilst you’ll be unable to help directly, you can support your colleague in other ways. For example, direct staff to resources such as their GP, the Mental Health Foundation’s resources or Mind’s contacts for anxiety, stress and mental wellbeing. No matter what, make sure to offer follow-up meetings for their progress.
Resolutions for workplace stress
If your staff’s stress has been caused by the workplace, you can help directly. For example, they could be feeling overwhelmed by their non-stop diaries, meaning you could intervene by making sure their workload is shared between staff and that they’re taking suitable breaks. Or perhaps the problems stem from other members of staff, which can lead you to positively resolving workplace bullying and conflict. Sometimes, it could even be the environment, due to lack of natural light, places to take a break, or options to eat healthily. You can tackle these directly using our wellness advice to maintain positive mental wellbeing. Whatever the case, make an active effort to implement changes and you will improve the environment for all employees.
Software to help relieve stress in the workplace
Business management systems like Salon by Premier Software® and Core by Premier Software® can help relieve staff pressures with a variety of functions. Not only can it set-up internal appointments to check up on your team, but you can schedule staff rotas with suitable breaks and wait times between appointments, ensuring staff have time to breathe. In addition, both systems offer options for online bookings, freeing staff from answering the phone every few minutes and ultimately relieving pressure.
To find out more about how Premier Software’s systems and services can reduce stress at your salon or spa, book a free presentation below.