Pulse November / December 2022 | Page 37

“... creating new services that don ’ t require a massage license — more body treatments , more things in the salon — so that people who are frustrated that they can ’ t get a traditional massage have options .”

SACRIFICE + TRAINING = SUCCESS With flexible scheduling becoming a necessity over the past two years , one panelist wowed her fellow panelists and session attendees with a seemingly radical move that may just have to become the norm for many spas in the current climate to attract more talent :
“ Marriott has decreased the amount of hours that employees have to work to be full-time and have their benefits ,” noted The Ritz-Carlton South Beach ’ s Liz Correa ,“ so that has also attracted more talent . It used to be 30 hours minimum per week that you had to work to maintain fulltime status — now it is 24 [ hours ]. [ We offer these employees ] full benefits just as if they work 40 hours .”
Marriott has also shifted its outlook to be more open to hiring young , unproven talent to arrive at its current fully-staffed status . Correa continued ,“ If we see that there is potential [ in the candidate ], we definitely take that into consideration . If we see that there ’ s passion and there ’ s an interest , we definitely give that opportunity to those candidates .”
At the Hotel Washington in D . C ., Ludmila Milic offered a tremendous example of exactly what Correa was
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2022 n PULSE 35