You’ve probably heard the phrase “it’s not personal, it’s business” more times than you care to remember and each time you have likely cringed and wished that particular piece of jargon made it on the ‘do-not-say’ list for the year. In theory, it sounds like it makes sense, right? After all, you award promotions to your staff based on their impact on the business in the new position, not based on their personal qualities…. Or do you?
As a leader, you can likely confirm that old adage is simply no longer relevant as personality and how a person is regarded by their peers plays a large role in whether management is in their future. An attitude of “me, myself, and I” can really hold staff members back and stop promotion prospects dead in their tracks.
Helping your promising team members succeed may include working on what HR managers call “Soft Skills”.
Soft Skills
Soft skills are also known as “people’ skills”, and 77% of employers say that they’re equally as important as hard skills, or technical abilities. These are the little, interpersonal, traits that demonstrate your value as a team member. They won’t show up on a sales report, or a balance sheet, but they’re a vital cog in the machine of every business.
Check out these top 10 soft skills identified in a recent study by Harris Poll, on behalf of CareerBuilder.com
Someone with good soft skills will be a supportive, pleasant, positive, and valuable presence around the business. Someone who supports their peers in the workplace is someone who management will recognize as someone who needs an influential role.
Support Your Peers
According to recent findings, 86% of managers and HR managers believe that teamwork – and how someone interacts with the collective – are the most important things in deciding whether or not to promote an individual, so it makes sense to encourage peer-to-peer support in your salon teams. Positive affirmation for work done or a helping hand to those on the team gets the feel-good vibes flowing, but it helps the overall morale of the group.
How can you encourage peer-to-peer support?
- Match up complementary employees for a month at a time and task them with a team project.
- Create a ‘share the love’ program where employees can anonymously give some praise to their team.
- Utilize committees in each salon and and give them regular tasks.
- Get out of the salon and do team building exercises to help establish and maintain positive relationships.
- Address conflicts directly and constructively to create a positive outcome.
How do you encourage a loving, supporting atmosphere in your salons?
