TALENT TOPICS

BY JOSH CORMAN

LAYOFFS , FURLOUGHS , ATTRITION AND HEALTH CONCERNS have upended the spa industry workforce in the last 12 months . Spa leaders have made a seemingly endless number of difficult staffing decisions , juggling their team ’ s needs and an array of restrictions and new procedures , usually while extending their own professional responsibilities well beyond the limits of their job descriptions . Now , as spa directors and operators look ahead to bringing more employees back into the spa and scaling up operations , they must navigate the delicate balance of maintaining their staff ’ s health and safety , forecasting demand and rehiring or reconstructing their teams as efficiently and effectively as possible .

To better understand the talent and workforce challenges spa leaders will face in the coming months , and how they can address those challenges , Pulse spoke with Andrea Zemel , whose title at spa management company Trilogy Spa Holdings is simply “ People and Culture .”

Pulse : As spa leaders strategize about rehiring and reconstructing their teams and operations return to “ full-scale ” status , what factors are key to keep top-of-mind ? ANDREA ZEMEL : It starts with mindset . Asking , “ How will this be successful ?” and truly diving in deep with your current processes and SOPs . Not only , obviously , from a sanitation guidelines standpoint — I think we in the spa industry did that well , but making sure you ’ re following your state ’ s guidelines , even as things return to “ normal ,” will be important . From an employee standpoint , communication is key . Creating those guidelines and SOPs , creating those trainings , really setting those key expectations from a spa standpoint so they have the lay of the land even before they come on board and the employees feel comfortable coming back . What will the spa look like ? What will employees be doing that ’ s different ? There ’ s a lot of back end work to make sure they feel comfortable , but at the end of the day , if they feel comfortable , then they ’ re going to create a comfortable experience for the guests .

P : What did you learn from reopening your spas that might help others plan to return to full-scale operations ? Z : One big thing is flexibility . We opened seven days a week following the shutdown due to COVID-19 , but that may not be realistic . Maybe it ’ s best to open Thursday or Friday through Sunday . Be flexible with your hours of operation , which in turn affects your employees . Assess your space and create guidelines for 25 percent occupancy , 50 percent occupancy , and so on . Another thing to think about is , will there be enough business ? What kind of business will you have ? What does local business look like at that particular spa ? How do you scale back a business if you were used to opening seven days a week , ten hours a day , for example ? Really , you ’ re strategizing for the unknown .

P : We know that , even before the pandemic , there was a talent shortage in the spa industry . There has been some worry in the industry about the talent pool shrinking due to attrition . Do you see that having an effect on implementing a talent strategy going forward ? Z : You know , I feel that those service providers who have been in this line of work for a very long time will continue to stick around even after the pandemic . I think we need to be cognizant of those new individuals who just came out of school . They may look at the effects on the industry and say , ‘ I don ’ t know if this is such a good deal .’ They might be hesitant with the uncertainty . But really investing in your people helps . That was a main focus for us . We offered extended medical benefits , even to employees who didn ’ t work a full schedule . We wanted them to know we still wanted them here with us . Keeping employees engaged with who you are as a company , your values , your culture — you have to really connect with your people , because everybody is dealing with this differently . Some people are really freaked out , and people deal with stress differently . We can ’ t put those per-

48 PULSE ^■ APRIL 2021