CHUK June 2019

#BusinessEdit
LIFE
LESSONS
KEN’S CLINIC
GOT A BUSINESS HEADACHE?
LET KEN WEST, DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS
EXPERTS 3•6•5, OFFER A PERSONAL PRESCRIPTION
GEMMA AMURA
IT’S SCIENCE
Be nice and work superhard.
My first hair event
at the age of 18 opened my
eyes to a bigger world of
possibilities. I knew I wanted
to one day be on that stage.
I have worked, assisted and
given my everything to this
industry. I truly believe you
get back what you put in.
Spread the glitter! My
mum always said leave a
little happiness wherever
you go. I pride myself that
my smile is my logo, my
personality is my business
card and how I leave people
feeling is my trademark.
Education is key. As
an educator for 10 years
before opening my salon,
I value the importance of
other educators visiting
us. Booking out time for
training allows the team to
flourish, make mistakes and
have fun in a role that can be
extremely demanding.
Have fun. It’s what’s it all
about. I promised the team
we will never be so booked
up that we don’t have time
to enjoy our creations and
celebrate every guest. We
photograph every client and
build an Insta story of them.
KEN’S DIAGNOSIS
I’m afraid I’m going to be controversial
in my answer as I am not a fan of the
NVQ process when it comes to creating
qualified stylists. I realise it’s a process to
gain a ‘qualification’, but I’m unaware of any
salon owner who believes that a trainee is
salon-ready just because they have passed
their NVQ. With that in mind, I would leave
the NVQ qualification to an outside body and
focus on training, in the salon, the practical
skills required by a stylist.
Now, more controversy! If I was training
to be an accountant I don’t think I would
learn accountancy on a Monday and then
spend the rest of the week sweeping floors,
cleaning and making cups of tea. What is
that teaching me? Forward-thinking salons
need to consider how to get a trainee onto
their salon floors in (preferably) under a year.
To do that would require a totally different
approach. Training would then have two
clearly defined areas. NVQ training and
practical skills training. As I said previously,
I would leave the NVQ to a trusted outside
partner and invest more of my time and
resources into the practical training. In my
perfect world a trainee would spend one day
a week on their NVQ, two or even three days
on practical training and the rest of the week
shadowing and learning salon craft.
I would employ support workers to do
other salon duties but they would not be on a
training programme. They would be people
I’m looking at ways
of restructuring
apprentice
training. How
can you bring the
NVQ completely
in-house?
JOE HEMMINGS,
BLOGGS SALONS
of any age who want a job, not a career.
I can hear many salon owners saying: “but
this is impossible”, “I can’t afford it and I
don’t have the time to provide the practical
training”. Depending on your size I accept
this may be true. But this is where we need
to start thinking outside the box.
Take three salons that are within travelling
distance of one another and who are all
of the appropriate standard. They form a
training ‘co-operative’ and each provide a
trainer for one day a week. All three salons
allow their trainees to receive three days
of practical training each week and one
day of NVQ education a week. Currently,
over a three-year apprenticeship a trainee
might, if they are lucky, receive 144
days of practical skills training
(excluding NVQ). If they did that
training at the rate of three days
a week, they could be trained in
48 weeks, not three years.
There is no right or wrong,
and this is purely my
opinion. However, I
believe now is the time
for something radically
different. And
whomever offers
fast-track training
could have potential
trainees queueing
outside their door.
DO YOU HAVE A BUSINESS HEADACHE YOU’D LIKE KEN TO HELP WITH?
Email KenW@365Hair.com or tweet @creativeheadmag
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CREATIVE HEAD