Good Hiring Practices for your Spa Business: Check References and Credentials
By ISM on Apr 21, 2008 in Spa Management
While most people are generally good, honest, and upstanding individuals, there are those few bad apples that choose to exaggerate, pad, or outright lie about the things that are listed on their resumes. People do this for a variety of different reasons, but one of the most common reasons is because they don’t think they are going to get caught because very few hiring managers actually do check their applicants’ references and verify credentials.
This can be a disaster for your spa business because hiring people who don’t have the proper experience or training can lead to dissatisfied, mistreated, or even injured clients. You could also end up with a lawsuit if a client is injured or mistreated and this is no time to find out that a therapist is not licensed in your particular state or doesn’t have the background they claimed.
So, it is essential that you check references and verify credentials for each and every therapist you are considering hiring, before you hire them. You just might be surprised by what you find when you do!
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Eunice | Apr 29, 2008 | Reply
Its is very important that we also check the credentials or background check our staff especially if we are to train them and the spa will shoulder all training expenses, which, by the way is NOT inexpensive. We were always having a hard time retaining staff because the owners forgot or neglected to produce a contract of employement or memorandum of agreement between the staff and management/administration. Sometimes, the staff would go AWOL after the training or leave after just a month of two without due notice. The spa is left on its own or we were short-staffed.
Aside from background checks, it is also vital to ask relevant technical questions to the applicants.
For example, a massage therapist should be able to enumerate the differences between a Swedish massage and a Shiatsu massage.
Ethical and attitude based questions should be raised too: e.g. how much do you like your job? why are you applying with us? what are the things you wish to contribute and learn from? how long do you wish to work with us? What are your expectations?
Upon passing initial interview, a spa manager applicant should be able to input ideas relating to operations and marketing when we are doing a spa tour with the applicant.
Then again, even if with enough caution there are still a few people who will take advantage. Therefore, we should definitely have to have contingency plans even with human resources and staffing.
Although not 100% a guarantee, this will at least separate the bad weeds out.
Eunice
yunesa@yahoo.com