While everyone will shout from the rooftops that cosmetology continuing education is key to getting and keeping clients, not to mention staying motivated and firing up the creative juices, when it comes time to talk about funding hairdressers' education people get a lot quieter. I believe that every salon should have a policy that addresses salon educ
ational funding, although I’m flexible concerning the details.
The simplest way, and what would likely get stylists’ vote, is for the salon to foot the entire bill. But too many salon owners have discovered the hard way that staffers value cosmetology education more when they make a personal investment. When a training session is completely paid for by the salon, at the last minute a few staffers will come up with excuses for not attending! However, any cosmetology program that has the stylist and salon sharing the cost in some agreed-upon percentage is okay with me.
Retail is probably the most common tie-in to continuing education. Rather than pay stylists a retail commission, many salons put the monetary value of a commission toward either the stylist’s personal education or a general team fund. Another popular method is to hold either service or retail sales contests, with the winner receiving a trip to an academy or hair show. Although that’s paid for by the business, typically the increased retail sales the contest generates provides the funding. If your salon doesn’t have a program in place, bring it up at the next staff meeting!