photo: Oliver Cahill

There are three key elements to attracting and retaining great staff. Showing you care about their wellbeing, helping them to progress their career, and recognising hard work.

Core by Premier Software assists with all these, helping protect staff against repetitive strain injuries with RSI points so operators can easily identify how close staff are to their set limit.

Using the Staff Snapshot report, operators can also benchmark staff performance to help them achieve their goals, while the system’s commission structure helps incentivise staff to meet their sales targets.

Information such as products sold, treatments completed, client attendance and repeat business can be emailed to the operator to share with staff to keep them on track with targets.

The software can also be used to reward staff through discounts on retail or appointments, which will automatically apply at checkout.

Premier Software has also partnered with Smartbox, Red Letter Days and Buyagift to boost revenue and streamline staff time through the digital redemption of vouchers, reducing admin work for staff.

We’re working with the UK Spa Association to raise awareness of staffing issues and offer a guide on how to boost recruitment. To find out more, go to www.premiersoftware.uk/blogprem and search for ‘recruitment’.

photo: mindbody

One way to encourage retention in this sector is to ensure that staff members are protected from multi-task burnout.

Mindbody’s AI receptionist – Messenger[ai] – deals with reception-related administration duties 24/7, answering calls when staff are busy by automatically sending a text to the caller to ask how the spa can help.

It can also answer Frequently Asked Questions, book appointments and automatically follow up with clients to prompt them to rebook, allowing therapists to focus on client’s treatments, rather than reception duties.

Using the Mindbody marketing suite, spas can also win back lost clients, convert drop-ins to members and upsell treatment add-ons and enhancements, creating more earning potential for the spa team. One of our clients is pulling in an extra US$3,800 a month using Messenger[ai].

Spa employees can also get instant feedback on how they’re impacting the business by checking the new Mindbody Insights app to view key metrics linked to the number of clients they attend to, what treatments the clients choose and their retail expenditure. They can also participate in contests with the rest of their team.

photo: Frank Pitsikalis

Professional people choose to work in the spa industry because they want to provide exceptional care for guests and performing administrative tasks takes away from the time they can allocate to this calling.

The adoption of technology helps spa operators relieve their staff of administrative tasks, operate effectively with fewer staff members and engage with opportunities to increase revenue and streamline operations.

ResortSuite integrated software solutions help spas relieve their staff from having to spend time on administrative tasks in two ways. Firstly, web and mobile modules allow guests to easily book or make changes to their appointments, view their itineraries, and fill out health questionnaires without the need for staff involvement. Secondly, these modules can automate labour-intensive tasks, such as inventory management, product ordering and commission assigning. Staff also benefit from an online/mobile view of their work schedule and operators can easily track staff hours for managing payroll.

Watergate Bay, a destination spa hotel in Cornwall, UK, launched the mobile app in 2020, recording 16,000 sessions and 200 spa bookings in the first month – all of which would have taken a substantial amount of staff time if made in person.

Integrating these modules into the system allows seamless information sharing across a spa and the automation of manual tasks, while enhancing staff productivity by ensuring they can focus on providing an exceptional level of care to guests.

photo: Ricky Daniels

Recruitment is definitely an issue within the spa sector, particularly for customer-facing roles.

At Trybe, we’re constantly working on solutions to make the use of tech more time-efficient for staff. This is demonstrated through the online booking facility we provide, as well as all employees being able to access their rotas and timetables, so they’re able to plan around appointments and colleagues’ schedules.

Our spa software is built for the industry by the industry, meaning staff have the ability to feed suggestions back at any time to ensure we stay current, responsive and as user-friendly as possible.

Fully cloud-based, our software can be accessed at any time and from anywhere in the world, so staff are no longer tied to a particular computer or location when at work. It also involves less staff time taking bookings, as all treatments are bookable by the customer online, 24 hours a day. This enables staff to focus and excel in their main areas of work.

Trybe is super easy to use, and requires very little training to get started. There’s only one upfront cost and no additional costs for licenses, so less money is spent on software. This allows opportunities for funds to be put into other areas of the business, including staff remuneration.

photo: Roger Sholanki

When employees feel they’re integral to an organisation’s success they’re more likely to feel invested, stay longer and promote the business to their talented friends.

Book4Time makes a positive impact on employee wellbeing and manager-employee relationships because it provides valuable performance management insights, which allow spa managers to coach employees and encourage them to progress their careers.

Spa team members can access schedules and guest information at any time, without having to be on-site, so they can prepare for their work day.

Automatic alerts inform them of new guests and guest preferences – including special notes on conversation topics and their preferred therapist. This information helps them create an exceptional guest experience and encourages them to take a personal interest in the success of the business.

In addition, we’re investing in new software features that will use AI to automatically distribute bookings to under-utilised staff to ensure everyone gets their share of non-request bookings, as under-utilised staff are usually the first to be let go.

The ease of scheduling makes a difference. Research has found that routine instability in work schedules is associated with psychological distress, poor sleep quality, and unhappiness – more so than low wages. Unhappy employees are more likely to quit, meaning a reliable and manageable schedule is key to employee wellbeing.

photo: Emily Martin

To aid staff retention, the Employee Mobile App empowers staff to own their success by giving them mobile access to their schedule, appointments, guest profiles, commissions and performance goals. With these insights, providers can put their expert knowledge to good use and go into each guest appointment feeling confident and ready to deliver the best experience. This gives each guest a memorable visit and helps staff increase their average ticket price and earnings, contributing to their long-term happiness and success with the brand.

The beauty and wellness industry is all about building connections and making people feel good. Zenoti’s ezConnect enables staff to communicate with guests over SMS and nurture lasting relationships by encouraging guests to book an appointment and recommend products they may not have considered. Strengthening these bonds helps staff feel valued and invested in the business and its customers.

The biggest issue spas face is attracting and retaining enough staff to drive revenue. To counter this, it’s critical to empower them with tech solutions that boost their earning potential by making it easy for clients to book.

Furthermore, ezPulse increases team collaboration, speeds up issue resolution and boosts motivation, while SmartShifts optimises the scheduling process and improves retention by empowering employees to stay in control of their time.

We also offer support via Zenoti University to equip staff with access to continuous learning modules. https://university.zenoti.com

photo: ANDREA MILLER

When a business is either understaffed or mired in manual processes, staff can feel overwhelmed and unproductive, so making life simpler for service providers is a critical factor in reducing burnout, increasing productivity, and allowing more time for quality client engagement and career progression.

DaySmart Spa simplifies spa management with HIPAA-compliant software, allowing employees to spend more time focused on the customer experience and less time bogged down with administration.

One example is checking inventory – a time-consuming process that’s important to manage and hard to control. DaySmart Spa allows staff to automate inventory management with up-to-date reports based on sales activity. It’s adjusted with each sale, providing insight into which products are the most popular or profitable and which are not selling as expected – without all the counting.

Staff members can also reduce the time spent on managing the appointments calendar by using the DaySmart online appointment booking system. This allows spa customers to easily schedule their own appointments and receive reminders in either text or email format.

The job of spa management should be to minimise operational headaches, so service professionals can deliver exceptional service.