In an industry that prides itself on the value of personal appearance, it is really important that your salon staff look not only professional, but in some cases, inspirational to your clients. Your staff are, after all, pivotal as to whether or not a client will return to your salon, and first impressions really are key.
Today we are asking the question, is salon uniform important?
Understandably for beauty therapists working with hot wax, nail polish and tanning equipment, it is important that their skin and clothing is covered by some kind of protective clothing, but is a branded uniform always necessary?
Uniform allows each and every member of staff to be easily identified in a busy salon, and also protects clothing from the messier side of the salon industry as we alluded to earlier. It does, however, leave no room for expressing individuality, which in a creative environment is often very important. So just where exactly do you draw the line?
We caught up with Steve Rowbottom, Director at Westrow Hair to find out his thoughts on wearing a uniform in the salon.
Do you think a uniform is necessary for stylists?
No, but we believe that grooming is. For us, each member of staff is reflective of our brand, and so we ensure that everyone understands our expectations when it comes to grooming from the outset. We work in the hair and beauty industries, and while we welcome individuality amongst our members of staff, clients need to feel that their haircare needs are being addressed by someone who takes their own grooming regime as seriously as they do.
While we don’t have a uniform as such, we did implement an all black-policy with our apprentices a year ago, and also had Westrow t-shirts printed for each member of staff at the Westrow Academy, and for those who assist on shoots and shows, to ensure they are on brand.
Do you think there should be more freedom to make a salon uniform more inspiring?
Yes. For us, and especially in the hairdressing industry, individuality is key; we have never expected our staff to conform to a one-look-fits-all policy. We allow our staff to wear their style personality on their sleeve, and tattoos, piercings and bold hair colour are all part and parcel of creative individuals working within a creative industry. To stifle that would be to stifle their individuality. Giving our staff the freedom to express themselves through their appearance is so important as when they are comfortable with the way that they look, they will thrive in the workplace.
At the end of the day, it’s your salon and how you’d prefer your staff to be presented is entirely your choice! We hope you’ve found this article useful when deciding which way to take your stance on staff uniform!
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