Training – The problem, the solution, the future

04May10

Should have retrained

I was asked the other day when, and why, we went from ‘just’ running shops to opening and running the training Academy. I thought it was a fair question and I don’t think we have documented it anywhere and what’s the point of a blog if it isn’t for something like that. A lot of the post below is lifted from a business plan so might feel a little heavy in this context but if anyone is interested this is where we came from, this is what we do and this is were we are heading.

“One of the biggest challenges we have faced as we have grown over the last five years has been in the recruitment of staff. Whether it be the quality of their cutting, their personality, their attitude, their ability to understand customer service, their ability to sell or simply their ability to work independently but as part of a team, we have struggled. Unable to find a satisfactory solution elsewhere we created one of our own.

As a result we have taken our largest challenge and created our biggest opportunity.

To solve our problem we created a bespoke course of 8 weeks duration where we went back to basics, we covered all relevant aspects of what we wanted from a barber. We got our staff to forget their bad habits, to understand that they are stakeholders in the business and, critically, to relearn the fine art of barbering. This was hugely successful, we saw immediate returns in terms of customer satisfaction, team morale and increased revenue.

Then the recession began ….. and business really took off.

Our barbers talk to customers, thats what we train them to do. Our customers talk to their friends, thats what they like to do. However during 2008/9 our customers started talking to their friends, about our barbers. And it wasn’t just about the shops, or the cuts, or the products, or the music, it was also about the training that they got when they joined the business. So when people started losing jobs in the recession we started getting enquiries from bankers, and secretaries, and engineers, and entrepreneurs, and soldiers, and the list goes on. Eventually we gave it a go and ran a 8 week course for 6 guys who each had a story that appealed to us and who were willing to personally invest in their own futures. The course went very well. The guys learnt a skill on a vocational level, we trained them to a standard where we would be willing to employ them. As it turned out, 6 companies agreed with us,  and all the students following graduation had full time job offers and are now pursuing careers in barbering.

From there we haven’t looked back. We are now running full, regular and popular training courses through our city shops. We are able to manage a flow of models through the sophisticated use of the internet and local press, likewise we have now perfected a modular approach to the teaching of the course and a growing reputation for running a short vocational course that is affordable and appropriate for people looking to start afresh in an incredibly exciting and growing industry.

Our students are currently coming from all walks of life. We stick by our original ethos of training people to a standard where we would be willing to employ them within our own group. As a result we pre-vet all students, if we feel that no amount of training would instill the right attitude in an applicant, or their behavior would be detrimental to the group we will politely decline the application. We are fiercely proud of our brand and what the course represents so we expect the same level of professionalism in our business partners, our trainers  and our students as we expect from ourselves.

The effect of the recession were soon felt far beyond the square mile of the City of London. We now receive applications for our courses from across the UK, Europe and even China. With sterling continuing to struggle and the fact that our courses can be completed under a tourist visa therefore reducing the administration, we see this wider geographical interest continuing. Our proven success, increasing media profile and partnerships with a number of career transition specialists has created a healthy order book of students wanting to join the courses and find their own way as masters of the trade.”

Fancy joining us then please get in touch for more info.

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Tags: Barber shop, barber training, barbers, chinese students, decline in sterling, Entrepreneur, ex forces, new start, quit work, recruitment problems, retrain, staff, start ups, training