Do you shake your client’s hand the first time you meet them or do you believe it is an antiquated practice?

The estheticians of yesteryear were trained to shake the hand of the client as they introduced themselves for the first time. In fact, many estheticians trained abroad still practice the handshake.

Call us old fashioned, but we still believe in the handshake. It’s a show of respect and professionalism. Shaking your client’s hand when you first meet them adds a touch of class to your salon or spa.

WHAT DOES YOUR HANDSHAKE SAY ABOUT YOU?

People use different handshakes. It is important to know what message your handshake is sending to the receiver.

Types of Handshakes

• Jell-O hand: this handshake is often interpreted as a sign of passiveness, weakness, lack of energy, or drive. This handshake tells your customer that you are lacking confidence in your position. For the receiver of this handshake they can be left feeling awkward after this limp shake.

• Death grip: this handshake is aggressive and firm, but often too firm for the receiver leaving their hand feeling numb or pained. Although the giver of this handshake is attempting to portray dominance and assertiveness, it can be seen as overly aggressive or offensive in some situations. This handshake is not appropriate for the nature of the beauty industry and should be avoided in customer service.

• Hand Cradle: this handshake is used as a display of affection. The giver of the handshake can use this as an opportunity to show the receiver that they are protective, caring, and trustworthy. It is most commonly used and most appropriately used between individuals who share a bond or emotional connection. Similar to a hug, it can be considered inappropriate in a customer service setting, or first interaction.

• Missionary: this handshake is a display of dominance. It involves the giver turning their palm down leaving the other individuals palm turned up. The giver in this situation is showing that they feel superior or dominant over the other individual. This handshake should be reserved for situations in which a powerful statement is to be made. Refrain from using this handshake in customer service situations, or with your authority.

• Lady fingers: this courteous handshake is used by women when greeting a man. It is used to keep distance between the lady and her greeter by extending her arm towards him and allowing only her fingers to be grasped. This handshake is not inappropriate in a customer service interaction, even with male customers.

• The go-to shake: this handshake is appropriate for most situations as it is neither overpowering nor lacking in confidence. This handshake involves a comfortable grasp and a quick 3 second shake. Both parties’ hands are vertical and exert an equal amount of pressure. This handshake tells your customer that you are a professional and consider them equals in your interaction. Always ensure you are making eye contact with your greeter when shaking their hand. TIP: If the person is holding your hand for too long gently place your other hand over theirs and pull away.

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Are you interested in joining the beauty industry? ESG is a Beauty Industry Resource Centre. Our Career and Employment Consultant is ready to help you design a career path that is right for you!

We recommend starting off with esthetics basics like Waxing.

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Looking for jobs in beauty? Try our job bank.

Visit our job bank for Beauty jobs in Edmonton and area. It is Alberta Beauty Industry- focused and contains up-to-date job listings in Alberta. ESG offers short training courses to help you reach your goals one step at a time.

EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP

If 2019 was a tough year for you, don’t worry, a new decade is here! No matter the challenges of last year, we’re here to share with you the recipe for happiness and satisfaction in 2020. In this post, we hope to shed light on the subconscious mind and how it dictates your luck through mental models.

The New Year or birthdays are a great time to reset your thinking because it provides a memorable timeline to help you measure your progress.
Whether you know it or not, you practice mental models in your everyday life.

What are mental models?

Mental models are a collection of thoughts that make up your subconscious attitude.

Over the years and unbeknownst to you, your mind has been creating mental models as a result of your childhood experiences and your perceptions as an adult. Subconsciously, your mind uses the mental models it created to anticipate the results of an event or decision, and also to reason and explain your choices, good or bad.

Let’s look at some examples of mental models. Do any of the following phrases sound familiar to you?

▸ I can’t”
▸ “Why speak up? It won’t make a difference”
▸ “If I want something done right I have to do it myself”
▸ “I don’t care”
▸ “I have no time”
▸ “What’s the point?”

Can you think of a time when your mental models influenced a decision you made in the workplace?

Examples of mental models in the workplace sound like this…

▸ “Seniority rules”
▸ “We can’t be all things to all people”
▸ “Don’t rock the boat”
▸ “Who do they think we are”
▸ “We don’t have the resources”
▸ “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”

But how do mental models influence luck?

The Law of Attraction is the theory that you attract positivity into your life by having a positive outlook on life. The premise is that you can think or speak something into existence. Sounds like hocus pocus right?

There’s a psychological explanation to this theory. Most people understand this theory to work with the following formula:

A leads to B, where “A” represents your “positive” thoughts and “B” represents your reward

However, the Law of Attraction has much to do with you mental models. The law works under the belief that positive mental models allow your brain to recognize when good things are happening to you in life. In other words, your brain’s “radar” is turned on to see opportunities and possibilities as “luck”.

So it’s not that you “attact” something that wasn’t there before, it’s that your mind attributes a positive emotion (gratitude) to a particular event or experience that is happening to you anyway. When you reset your brain’s mental models, this creates a self-feeding cycle of proof for you that good things do happen to you, no matter the size or significance of event or experience.

Examples of positive mental models are:

▸ “I can do it”
▸ “People are fundamentally good”
▸ “We all have our bad days”

Mental models impact behaviour and can either help us achieve our goals or block us from achieving them. Don’t feel bad if some of your mental models need some rethinking- they live in our subconscious where they lurk until we shed a spotlight on them.

How can we change our mental models?

The first step is simply to be aware of your thoughts. Next time you come across a challenge, identify the problem in order to plan a solution.

Planning and organization is the best way to overcome things that scare us. Once you have a plan in order, put it into action and observe the results for future reference. This in turn will recalibrate your brain’s mental models.

Self reflection

When good things happen to you, do you see them as a blessing, or just dumb luck?

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EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP

Beauty Industry Resource Centre

Do I include tips when calculating CPP and EI deductions?

There are 2 types of tips.

• Controlled
• Direct

Controlled tips

Controlled tips are mandatory to the client. For example, spa parties may include a mandatory 18% gratuity that is included in the bill. If you include or “control” the tip amount in the final bill, then these tips must be included in the insurable earnings (wages + VAC pay + tips + commission). Anything considered “insurable earnings” must be accounted for when calculating the EI and CPP deductions.

Direct tips

Direct tips are out of your control. A client may or may not tip you or your service providers. Only the client is in control of the amount of tip they choose to leave. You as the employer are simply passing the tip from the hands of the client to the hands of your service provider. Direct tips are NOT considered insurable hours and are therefore not included when calculating EI and CPP deductions.

The declaration of tips is the responsibility of the tip reciever when filing their personal taxes.

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Learn more about tips and gratuities.

EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP

Beauty Industry Resource Centre

(780) 604 2772

DO I HAVE TO PAY EI FOR CHAIR RENTERS?

Did you think Employment Insurance and Chair Renters would never come up in the same sentence?

CTV NEWS Saskatoon did a report on how salon owners that rent our chairs are impacted by Employment Insurance fees imposed by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

The report focuses on Stacey Zielinski , owner of The Beach Beauty Bar in Martensville, Saskatchewan. Like many others, Stacey was under the impression that chair renters are independent contractors and therefore are not governed under employment laws and regulations.

Luckily for Zielinski, her tab was not too high, as only 1/5 hairstylists was a chair renter. This got us thinking though, how does this impact the industry?

What does this mean for salon owners who only rent out chairs?

Renting out chairs to hairstylists has always been an attractive option for salon owners. Renting out chairs produces consistent income, removes employee-related issues, and was formerly believed to eliminate the cost of wages and MERCS.  

It is widely believed that the salon owner does not pay money to the renter; but they do however collect money from the renter. Typically, the hairstylist pays a monthly fee to offer services to their growing clientele from an already established salon.  In exchange for this fee, the salon owner allows use of the chair and fixtures during operating hours.

Contrary to popular belief, salon owners are liable to pay Employment Insurance fees to the CRA for chair renters. Normally, independent contractors from other industries are not eligible for EI, however, there is an exception for barbers and hairstylists.

Normally, EI is paid to employees based on the hours worked per pay period. Because chair renters dictate their own hours, the CRA calculates EI fees on the number of days the chair renter offered services in the establishment.

Why is there an exception for barbers and hairstylists?

As it was explained by a CRA representative, this exception was put into place to secure the income of a hairstylist in the event that the salon owner is no longer able to provide the chair renter with a space to work from. Examples are salon owners who are evicted from their rented space or go out of business.  

What is the difference between independent contractors in the beauty industry versus other industries?

Nothing really. We searched for answers but could not find a clear explanation for this exception.

The exception to the exception.

While a salon owner must pay the employer portion of EI fees for independent contractors, this fee is eliminated IF the chair renter is incorporated.

What is the difference between a sole proprietorship, a partnership, and a corporation?

All of the above are forms of entrepreneurship. They differ in a few ways including the annual costs and taxes payable to the CRA. The main difference is that in a sole proprietorship or partnership, the business is an extension of you (and your partners if applicable) whereas a corporation is viewed as an entity external to you.  It even has its own SIN, however, it’s called a BN (Business Number).

There are many benefits to registering your business as a corporation. Learn more.

Where does this legislation come from?

It is believed that this legislation was created to protect the income of women and single mothers based on the occupation’s demographic at the time the legislation was created.

Two conditions apply to this employment insurance regulation:

1. The barber or hairstylist offers services out of the establishment.
2. The barber or hairstylist is not the owner of the establishment.

What if the salon owner also owns the building?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter. Salon owners who own the building must also pay EI fees.

What if the hairstylist does not pay EI?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter. The onus is on the salon owner to pay the employer portion of a chair renter’s EI whether or not they pay their own premiums.

Does this legislation affect room rentals for esthetics services?

No, this legislation only applies to Hairstylists and Barbers at the time this article was published.

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EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP 

Beauty Industry Resource Centre

(780) 604 2772

Why is it so hard to write a resume?

Writing a resume is difficult when you lack work experience or the training required to do a specific job. However, even when you have experience and/or training, putting the words down on paper can still prove a challenging task.

We recommend breaking down your resume-writing into two components:

• Prep Day
• Typing Day

Prep Day

What is your job goal? Have you narrowed this down to the industry? The particular employer? The more research you do, the better your resume will look.

Now that you’ve thought about your goal, allow yourself some time to think about the skills you think you need to have for your goal. For example, if you want to work at a “ABC Salon and Spa” as a receptionist, ask yourself, “what skills does that receptionist need to have?”

• A good receptionist has a friendly demeanour and a welcoming smile
• A good receptionist knows about services and products sold
• A good receptionist is able to answer questions from clients
• A good receptionist needs to work well with people
• A good receptionist knows basic math
• A good receptionist is able to use point of sales and booking systems
• A good receptionist has good phone manners
• A good receptionist ensures the clean maintenance of the facility
• A good receptionist supports the team

Now that you’ve thought about the skills you would need for that particular position, ask yourself, “what skills do I have that relate?”

Don’t focus so much on your duties at your previous job, as much as the skills you applied there.

If you have little to no work experience, think about skills you may use on your free time. What are your hobbies? Do they include particular skills?

Now that we have a list of your skills to pick from for later, our second task is to think about the personality traits required for your goal.

For example, a good receptionist has the following traits:

• A good receptionist is friendly
• A good receptionist is punctual
• A good receptionist is organized
• A good receptionist is intuitive
• A good receptionist is research-oriented

Now that you’ve thought about the traits you would need for that particular position, ask yourself, “what traits do I have that relate?”

Typing Day

Now that you have well-though-out ideas, organizing them into a resume will be a breeze!

Types of Resumes

1. Chronological resume- your best bet if you have sufficient experience and the training required for your objective
2. Functional resume- an excellent choice for those with little to no work experience
3. Combo resume- best for those with skills from another industry not related to your job goal

Check out these helpful links:

Find a Job: A workbook to help you find the job you want

Work Search Basics

Visit our job bank.

Visit our job bank for beauty industry jobs. It is Alberta Beauty Industry- focused and contains up-to-date job listings in Alberta. 

Post your resume in our Resume Bank.

Our resume bank allows you to upload your information for Alberta beauty industry employers to view. We respect your privacy and confidentiality, employers must have a verified account to view your resume.

Before uploading your resume, consider the following notes for protecting your identity.

Are you an ESG alum?

We will help you with your career goals, including your resume! Call to book an appointment with our Career and Employment Consultant to discuss your career path.

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Are you interested in a beauty industry job but lack the requirements? ESG offers short training courses to help you reach your goals one step at a time.

With ESG, you can custom-design your beauty career by taking the courses you are interested in. If you are joining the beauty industry, we recommend starting off with esthetics basics like Manicures and Pedicures or Waxing and Tinting.

EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP

Beauty Industry Resource Centre

(780) 604 2772