spa_policies_procedures

The Spas Essential Policy and Procedure Manual

One of the biggest jobs as a manager, and probably one of the most difficult, is to be a mentor to the staff that you oversee. Mentoring is leading by example, being inspirational and motivational. It is guiding someone to bring the best out of them each and every day. This can be very challenging for any manager because there are always so many things working against you. There are many factors that affect your staff’s performance. For example, they don’t know what they should do, or why they should do what you want them to do. Perhaps they don’t know how to do what you want them to do, or they have personal limits that prevent them from performing well. They might even anticipate a negative consequence for doing what you want them to do or there is no negative consequence for poor performance. The list of factors for employees not performing well is long.

As a spa director or manager, my focus is to switch from solving problems to creating and maintaining good performance in my staff. The first step in getting there is good communication as miscommunication is usually the cause when things go wrong. The best form of good communication is communication in writing. A Policy and Procedure Manual is that very important and essential written communication. It is everything that as Director, Manager or Business Owner you need your staff to know how to do, when to do it, when not to do it, why to do it and what the consequences are for not doing it. It needs to be specific and written out very detailed so that all staff clearly understands all of the “rules” of the business and their job position.

Only the Management of the spa can determine what the business and work guidelines will be for each employee. The business as a whole will have general policies and procedures that all employees in the company must be obligated to follow so that the business will run efficiently and be successful. So this information will compile one manual for all individuals in the company, an Employee Handbook, if you prefer. Also, each department in the company will have its own policies and procedures, for example, Housekeepers have different duties than Receptionists, who have different duties than Therapists, so each department should have its own policy and procedure manual. So the Employee Manual or Handbook has general policies and procedures and the employees’ department manual will be more specific in its outline.

Before we delve into the exact specifics of what a Policy and Procedure Manual is, I would like to be clear as to what a Policy and Procedure Manual is not. A Policy and Procedure Manual is not a contract of employment, therefore it does not guarantee employment with the company. This fact should actually be stated somewhere in the introduction to the Policy and Procedure Manual. In the United States, employment can be terminated “at-will” which means that either the employer or the employee can terminate their working relationship at any time for any reason, with or without notice. Notice given to terminate employment from either the employer or employee is given and should be given out of courtesy and professionalism.

So what is the difference between a policy and a procedure? Company policies are all of the company rules, regulations or guidelines as well as the description of working conditions. Policies will include things like wages, benefits, holiday schedules, personal conduct, dress code, expected documentation for personnel files, sexual harassment policy, safety procedures, cleanliness expectations, employee evaluation, compensation and promotion , reduction of work force, attendance and illness, agreement of confidential company/client information, personal data requirements, orientation and training, work hours, correction and disciplinary action, state or federal law issues, such as, workers compensation, disability, medical leave and maternity policy, military leave, and jury duty. Lastly, policies include also some of the smallest issues like phone and fax usage, food, smoking, and music.

Procedures are different than policies in that procedures describe ‘how-to’. Some specific how-to examples are as follows: How to do a signature facial, how to fill out a skin care prescription, how to answer a phone call or greet a client, or how to operate Vichy shower equipment. The how-to’s can go on and on, and again will be specific to each employee in each department of the spa. Over all, they can break down into a few basic categories, such as Client Care, Service Guidelines and Room Set-Up. (See our article on Developing a Spa Training Program.)