MEMBER PERSPECTIVES
CONTINUED
Of course, onboarding doesn’t truly stop once an
employee is booked with clients: consistent training and
continued monitoring is part and parcel of integrating
new employees into the spa. With an effective initial
onboarding program in place, Altitude Spa is now turning
towards crafting a more consistent training schedule for
employees after their first few weeks. “It’s easy to get
people trained and think, ‘Alright, they’re perfect at their
job,’” says Green, “but then a couple years later a client
will mention that they didn’t get a hot towel under their
neck like I mentioned they would.” Following-up their
first phase of onboarding with an extended second phase
of training, then, is Altitude’s next big project.
A Purposeful Training Program
Milk + honey spa, the day-spa side of product-maker milk
+ honey, recently completed such a project. With six
Altitude Spa provides new employees with a gift bag of branded swag.
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locations across Texas, however, doing so meant hiring a
dedicated Education and Training Manager to spearhead
the spa’s onboarding and ongoing training efforts.
Employee surveys determined that milk + honey spa’s
ongoing training could stand improvement, says Regional
Director of Operations Teresa Sokolow. “We attempted to
find solutions, but we weren’t really hitting the nail on
the head,” notes Sokolow. “We wanted somebody to
focus on this area and make it a better experience.” Milk
+ honey hired from within, elevating one of their veteran
stylists, Kate Allen, to the position.
Allen’s first task was revamping the spa’s salon
apprentice program. Says Sokolow, “we’d had an
apprentice program for several years, but it wasn’t as
effective as we hoped.” Allen overhauled the program,
reducing its duration from nine months to six, and
enforced stricter requirements for the program’s