361 Stop Saying "We're Like a Family Here"

[upbeat music] There's a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in many small businesses, but maybe particularly so in salons, and that phrase is, "We're like a family here," or something along the lines of, "I treat my team like they're my family." And then you wonder why you feel exploited and disappointed when they leave, because inevitably people will leave. You see, the problem is that they're not your family, unless, of course, they actually are your family, but then that's another podcast altogether. Now, look, I understand what people mean when they refer to their employees as family. Usually it comes from a really good place. They're saying that we care about each other. We spend a lot of time together. We've been through things together. We've watched people grow up, get married, have children, go through divorces, lose parents, buy houses, have various health problems. We've celebrated birthdays and weddings and babies. We've probably had a few arguments [chuckles] along the way as well. And in the salon industry particularly, because we work so closely together, those relationships can become incredibly strong. So I understand why people use the word family, but I want to challenge it because, well, your staff are not your family, and I actually think that pretending they are can create some fairly serious problems in the business that impacts on everyone. I am Anthony Whittaker, and welcome to this week's episode of the Grow My Salon Business podcast. Now before anyone starts writing angry comments to me, I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't care about your team. In fact, quite the opposite. As a salon owner and manager, I think you should care enormously about the people who work for you, and that's the point. You're the salon owner and manager. You're not their parents or sibling. I think you should want them to succeed. You should support them, develop them, celebrate their achievements. You should always treat them with kindness and respect. And when life throws something at them, as life inevitably does, I think that good employers recognize that we're dealing with human beings, not machines. And so they will sometimes cut them some slack or help them out in whatever way that they can. But none of that makes them your family. They're your team. And I think there's an important difference, because families and businesses exist for completely different reasons. And when we confuse the two, that's often when the problems begin. So in today's podcast, there are five main points that I want to build this episode around. [air whooshing] Before we carry on, a quick word about our sponsor, Zenoti. If you run a salon, you'll know that the real challenge isn't just about delivering great service. It's everything else, appointments, staff, marketing, payments, client retention. The list never seems to end. Zenoti brings it all together in one platform with AI that personalizes client communications, automates everyday tasks, and helps your business run more efficiently. Less time tied up with admin, more time growing your business and looking after your clients. And if you're curious to find out more, there's a link in the show notes.