The cellphone is forty two years old in April. I can honesty say that most of us can't imagine life without one! But I have this nagging feeling that the cellphone has moved from being a useful communication tool to being something that we revolve our life around. Texting, facebooking, emailing, snap chatting, tweeting and taking selfies...has it all gotten out of control?
Well at the end of the day what your staff do in their personal time is up to them as long as it doen't affect their performance and attitude at work. Salon owners are now facing challenges aound their younger team members constantly checking their phones during work hours. As a salon owner it's up to you to decide what's acceptable behaviour and put policy & procedure in place to clarify the situation.
I think that the salon should be focussed around the needs of the client and constant cellphone checking is a distraction as well as a safety/quality control risk (yes you have probably seen someone try to mix up colour and check their phone at the same time!) It's important to put your policy in writing and get to the team to sign off that they are aware of the policy and are happy to follow the guidelines. Unfortunately as always there needs to be a consequence so make sure you include the discplinary process around disregarding the policy.
My thoughts...well I believe that cellphones in salons should only be checked during personal time (breaks and lunch hours) they distract from the client focus and they also tend to bring personal issues into the workspace. One of my biggest fears is that we are growing a generation of young people who spend their whole life attached to a phone and are losing their ability to think independantly as well as lacking motivation and intiative. This is a big challenge for salon owners these days.
So whatever level you want your cellphone policy to be at my advice is you definately need to have one!
