Spa Executive June 2021
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Staffing is a big challenge in spa<br />
and wellness. Here are some tips<br />
on how to keep your employees<br />
from quitting your spa.<br />
KEEP YOUR EMPLOYEES<br />
FROM QUITTING YOUR SPA<br />
The spa and wellness industry has been facing<br />
staffing challenges for well over a decade and<br />
today, “staffing” is the most common response<br />
from industry leaders whenever we at Book4Time<br />
and <strong>Spa</strong> <strong>Executive</strong> ask them what challenges they<br />
are facing.<br />
<strong>Spa</strong>s and wellness businesses can’t find the<br />
qualified service providers and managers they<br />
need, and turnover is huge. Meanwhile, the<br />
wellness industry continues to grow.<br />
We recently spoke with some industry leaders for<br />
a special Book4Time report to ask what they think<br />
spa and wellness can do to attract and retain talent<br />
– and maybe solve its ongoing staffing problem<br />
once and for all. Among the people we interviewed<br />
for the paper is Verena Lasvigne-Fox, Senior <strong>Spa</strong><br />
Director, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.<br />
Lasvigne-Fox told us, “At Four Seasons we believe<br />
that our employees are the heart and soul of what<br />
makes our company succeed and that is why we will<br />
maintain our leading position in the future. When<br />
hiring, we select carefully and don’t compromise.<br />
At Four Seasons we conduct behavior-based<br />
job interviews as opposed to technical-based<br />
interviews because we want to know who the<br />
employee is and make sure that employee values<br />
and personality are in keeping with our company<br />
values. Finding “the best” candidate is often easier<br />
said than done.<br />
“Our company spends a lot of time thinking about<br />
how we need to provide this future talent with an<br />
environment where they feel comfortable and feel<br />
they belong, that they have an opportunity to grow<br />
and hopefully have a career with us. Companies<br />
need to develop the ability to attract talent as<br />
this is critical to the future of our industry, and<br />
ultimately any industry. Attracting young talent is<br />
a huge focus today for us as a company. Once you<br />
have hired talented candidates, invest in these<br />
employees, offer them a career, and inspire them.<br />
They will stay longer with your company and you<br />
have lower turnover rates.”<br />
This is good advice. Let’s break down what we<br />
think it means to invest in your employees, offer<br />
them a career, and inspire them.<br />
<strong>June</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 7