tangirl

When hiring, look for people who work well with others. You want employees who can handle the collective process.

Set a good example for your staff.

Encourage one-on-one discussions between staffers rather than structured meetings. Personal relationships breed trust.

Hold informal retreats to foster communication and set goals.

Reward collective accomplishment whenever possible, even if the reward is only juice and bagels.

BooBop

thing is they all say they work well with others... how you figure that one out?

tangirl

Getting them to work well together is a matter of trial and error. But, through the interviewing process you should be able to pose some questions that would let you know if they can really work as a team or not. Make sure to ask questions about past experience and what sort of team accomplishments they have achieved. Asking about past experiences working as a team should open them up.

Tracie Williams

We have a few forms in place to help us with the hiring process and to eliminate any communication errors.

We have a "Interview Sheet" that we use during an interview with our questions we want to ask. Amoung them we ask the question "Do you have Team experience?" or "Have you ever been part of a team?" If they have been on a cheerleading team, basketball team, any sports team then they usuallly have a good concept of being a team player. They are taught that by their coach. We also ask "Have you ever dealt with an upset customer? How would you handle that situation?", "Why do you want to work in the tanning industry?" Find out their goals. Most people don't even know there is a tanning industry, find employees who what to learn as much about it as possible. That can only benefit your salon.

Along with the application we hand out "Employee Availabilitiy" forms. It allows the applicant to list day for day what hours they are available. Put this in their file so that when you begin their schedule they can't return and say they can't work on Saturday's. Pull that form and show them where upon applying they gave you their availability. If they can not commit to what they obligated themselves to then you have no obligation to keep them on your staff.