The Spa at Sea Island is as busy as ever , which makes scheduling flexibility crucial for therapists .
from the craziness of the world for the last year — that flexibility becomes even more important .”
For Nate Smuin at Sun Valley , keeping staff well-being is top of mind as well , especially as COVID-19 restrictions slowly lift even as questions about health and safety remain .“ To me , being out front with expectations is key ,” he says .“ The last thing you want is to brush it off and then have somebody come in and be overwhelmed because then you ’ re setting them up to fail .” Smuin recognizes , however , that no matter what policies the spa adopts as time goes on , making employees feel heard and supported will be crucial to the entire operation ’ s success . “ One thing I ’ ve really taken away from this is listening to the staff ,” Smuin says .“ What is this person ’ s concerns ? Are they going to be okay long-term ?” Though this kind of intensive evaluation of employees ’ mental state has become par for the course during the pandemic , feelings of uneasiness about the return to “ normal ” operations are likely to remain in place for some time , so maintaining a sense of how staff is coping through frequent check-ins and authentic communications will be important in the months ahead .
Because Cause + Medic Spa is aligned with an established retail operation through its own product line , Robin Vega says that part of her staffing plans involve recruiting therapists and estheticians for the busy summer period who have an interest in expanding their role beyond the treatment room .“ I ’ m an entrepreneur , and I ’ ve worked with different startups , so my hiring process is always , we all wear multiple hats . No one does just one thing ,” Vega says , noting that many of the individuals they have interviewed have expressed a strong interest in diversifying their skill set to be more attractive and gain more flexibility in the post-COVID market . “ So far , the ones we ’ ve talked to love the idea of diversifying , especially coming off of a pandemic ,” she says . “ When we do interviews , we let them know , yes , we need to have massages , but we want to have other workshop opportunities and teaching and sales , other things that are available to you when you come on board as a partner with us .”
It seems clear that , in the wake of the pandemic , spas are set to experience differing timelines and varying challenges related to staffing , scheduling and maintaining cohesive teams . But for an industry that spent much of 2020 in an ever-evolving state of reimagination and reinvention , confronting those challenges also means that things are creeping toward normalcy , which is something of a good problem to have these days . ■
FEATURED SOURCES
ANGELA HUTCHINS Director of Spa and Fitness THE SPA AT SEA ISLAND
NATE SMUIN Assistant Spa Director THE SPA AT SUN VALLEY
ROBIN VEGA Spa Director CAUSE + MEDIC SPA
MAY 2021 ■ PULSE 31