Do you feel like someone managed to zap all of the energy out of your normally happy salon? If you’re feeling this way, it probably isn’t in your head. It isn’t unusual for employee morale and mood to fall a bit during the winter months.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) affects a lot of people, and it could be bringing down the mood in your salon. You may be focused on keeping the books balanced and having a stellar marketing plan, but keeping your employees happy is equally important (if not more so).
Salons are supposed to be happy places, and customers won’t feel at home in a salon full of gloomy people. Luckily, there are some simple ways for you to beat the winter blues in your salon.
How To Beat The Winter Blues In Your Salon
The cold, short, and dark days of winter can start to wear on people regardless of their profession. It’s estimated that nearly 10%-20% of the entire US population has some form of SAD
You may not be able to snap your fingers and make it spring, but there are some things you can do to beat the winter blues in your salon.
Let There Be Light
One of the reasons why winter is such a gloomy time is the lack of light. Daylight hours are shorter, and the nights are longer. Unfortunately, you can’t make the sun shine more, but you can add more light to the salon.
During the day, keep the blinds and curtains open so you can let in as much sunlight as possible. If you want a quick fix for the Winter blues in your salon, simply buy a few more standing lamps or touch lights to the salon. That’ll give you the light you’re missing out on. If you want to take it a step further, get lamps that mimic natural light.
Get People Moving
When you’re a stylist you spend a lot of time on your feet. You may move a bit, but you’re pretty much standing in place most of the day.
Some light stretching or some exercises could be what you need to brighten the mood. Encourage stylists to take a five-minute stretch break between clients.
It’s been proven that taking a stretch break can help boost productivity and help people focus. A quick stretch could help your employees immensely.
If you have some fitness buffs at the salon, consider starting the day off with yoga. Everyone gets in a workout before their shift, and they get to have a nice boost of endorphins before they start their day.
Improve Posture
When you’re thinking of ways to stop the winter blues in your salon, proper posture may not have been what you had in mind. Despite that, the right kind of upright posture can do wonders to help improve the mood of your employees.
Standing upright with your shoulders back and your chest out can help boost feelings of confidence and positivity.
People that work in salons won’t always be able to have the perfect posture. They’ll have to stoop down to do their work occasionally, but when they don’t have to they should stand as straight as possible.
Crank Up The Music
Music and moods go together hand in hand. It isn’t unusual for salons to play music during the day, so why not make your playlist as positive and fun as possible?
Start off by asking your employees what their favorite “feel good” songs are. When they hear their favorite song during a long shift, you can expect to see those winter blues melt away.
After you’ve done that, bulk up the list with fun, upbeat music. EDM and other electronic music is always a good choice. It’s fun, it rarely has lyrics, and it’s designed to keep people energized and happy!
Promote Healthy Eating
Traditional winter holidays manage to do an excellent job of making people happy and depressed at the same time. The holiday cheer is great, but the hours of parties and loads of junk food can start to affect people’s moods negatively.
A proper diet can do a lot to help improve moods. You can’t control what your employees eat when they’re off the clock, but you can promote healthy eating habits when they’re at work. Make sure you have healthy snacks around the salon and give your employees plenty of access to water.
Focus On The Fun In The Present
Winter may be gloomy weather-wise, but there’s plenty to do to keep people occupied. If you want to improve the mood and beat the winter blues in your salon, focus on the good things the winter will bring.
When you spend time focusing on the benefits of being in the present, they won’t spend their time longing for warmer days. Encourage your stylists to talk about fun holiday looks for their clients. Have them focus on helping their clients get the perfect manicure for their holiday party or a flirty and fun hairstyle for Valentine’s Day.
Motivate Through Fun Activities
We just mentioned how focusing on fun holidays can help improve the mood in your salon. Holiday fun is always helpful, but you should focus on creating fun for your staff when the holidays are over.
Now is the time to start planning office outings and find a way for you to make your own fun. Happy hours and salon dinners are some of the simplest group activities to plan. See how often your staff can get together, and offer to cover a portion of the night off.
You don’t have to stop at nights out, make sure to keep your employees motivated when they’re at work. Offer to buy lunch one day a week for the staff, and whoever books the most appointments for the week can pick what you eat.
Next Steps
As you can see, beating the winter blues in your salon can be easy. With a little extra effort to make things fun, you can have happy staff throughout the year.
Now that you know how to make your staff happy, let’s take some time to focus on the clients. Check out our blog post on how to build clientele.
Beat the winter blue by downloading Daysmart Salon Software absolutely free!
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