Pulse September 2021 | Page 35

provider community and drawn job applicants to the spa . This has created a relatively large staff and unlocked seemingly unlimited revenue for White Elm , the revenues of which rose by 56 percent from 2019 to 2021 . THE TAKEAWAY : Not everyone can open their own school , but everyone can provide some type of support for those who are pursuing further education . Doing so often requires a mindset shift away from a fear that the employee will ‘ train themselves out ’ of your business . Says Hart ,“ If you hold on to someone so tight that you can ’ t let them out to blossom , you ’ re going to be in a non-growth cycle . I think I come at it differently because I ’ ve not been a massage therapist ; it ’ s helped open my eyes and others ’ eyes to the potential of what may be out there .” ■

Providing tuition reimbursement for massage therapy or esthetics programs is a big step , but financially supporting continuing education is often lower-cost and lower-risk . All of the spas featured in this story make it a point to allocate funds to CE courses and training . Here are a few of their top tips :

1 . RUN A CONTEST . White Elm Day Spa recently held a challenge to see which staff member could complete the most online webinars through their resource partners in a single month . The winner knocked out 25 seminars and , in addition to being paid for the training time , received a $ 20 bonus per certificate .

2 . BRING CLASSES TO YOU . Polo Club of Boca Raton , Sea Island Resort , the Lodge at Woodloch , and Fusions Spa and Wellness are radically different spas , yet all four mentioned bringing CE classes directly into the spa . Whether you ’ re the smallest day spa or the largest destination spa , talk to training providers to see if they ’ re willing to bring the training to you : It ’ s likely that they are .

3 . WORK WITH YOUR RESOURCE PARTNERS . Many resource partners offer free online trainings , seminars and certifications , especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic . The online nature of these educational resources makes them easy to access and complete , even for timepressed service providers . Reach out to your spa ’ s resource partners and see what they have on offer — there ’ s no price better than “ free .”

FEATURED SOURCES

SEPTEMBER 2021 ^■ PULSE 33