human touch
By J a m i s o n s to i k e
building a recruiting Pipeline
With more than 32,000 oPen Positions
within the U.S. spa industry—more than 28,000 of which
are service providers alone—it’s critical that spas look
outside the box to establish new recruiting pipelines. One
of the more consistent and impactful ways to do so is to
establish a strong, positive relationship with a local
college or school.
Woodstock Inn & Resort, located in Woodstock,
Vermont, has prioritized recruiting from its local school
as a way to ensure a steady supply of new therapists for
its booming spa. The spa, despite the premium
reputation of the property, had previously struggled to
find massage therapists. “There was no strategy to
finding massage therapists,” says Michelle Adams
Somerville, who oversees the spa at Woodstock Inn &
Resort. “We used local Craigslist, job banks, our website,
Indeed.com. We realized that we needed a better way to
reach people that were considering spa as a career.”
“Somerville views becoming
involved in the school’s
internship program as the
single biggest factor in the
success of the recruiting
pipeline.”
Step one of building a recruiting pipeline for Somerville
was getting to know the local school’s director. Says
Somerville, “it all started because one of our massage
therapists taught at that school.” Through that connection,
Somerville got to know the director, and she invited the
director to visit the spa and receive a few treatments. From
there, both Somerville and Lead Therapist Sara Smith
began teaching courses at the school, getting them
valuable one-on-one exposure to students. Combatting a
bias against working in spa was paramount to the initial
success of the program, according to Somerville: “Massage
schools are very focused on private practice as being the
only option once you get out of school.”
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Currently, Somerville and Smith invite students to visit
the spa as part of their classwork. “We have to get rid of
the myth that spa is just a fluff and buff,” says Smith,
adding that “the students come here and see how we’re
set up, what products we use, and that’s what really gets
the student to want to work here.”
Taking care of the business side of spa is a big selling
point for the students, according to Somerville, who
informs the students that working at a spa means one
doesn’t have to supply their own linens, find their own
guests or do their own accounting.
After two years of teaching and building trust, the
director of the school consulted Somerville and Smith on
how they might suggest tweaking the school’s
curriculum. “They didn’t train them on hot stones, and
they were taught to do a 60-minute massage, not a 50-
minute massage,” notes Smith. The school adjusted its
curriculum. Now, therapists hired from the school are
essentially ‘plug-and-play’ when they start at the spa.
Somerville views becoming involved in the school’s
internship program as the single biggest factor in the
success of the recruiting pipeline. “I think the first thing a
spa should do,” says Somerville, “is be part of the
internship program. If we get an intern here, we train
them. Our staff gets to know them. They learn our policies
and procedures and protocols in advance.” Smith adds that
they’ve had two interns every year since they became