New Salon Team Members: Setting Expectations, Targets & Growth

From 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal will be reduced from two years to six months for employees in England, Scotland and Wales. Whilst a change in the law may prompt some concern, we see it as a useful prompt for salon owners to think about something we are interested in: how you set up a new team member for success.

Setting expectations for a new salon team member

It's their first day.

They might not know anyone yet, and they don't know how your salon works. Even if they've worked in another salon, don't assume they know what you expect.

Salon expectations can vary hugely from one business to another.

So, have you actually explained what success looks like in your salon?

What are their targets?

How should they be looking after their clients?

What contribution do you expect them to make to the team?

What are they working towards?

The clearer you are from the beginning, the easier it becomes to have useful conversations later.

Give your salon team something to work towards

This is where targets can make a real difference.

Building your column sounds straightforward, but what does that actually mean? More clients? More service takings? Better retention? More rebooking? A new stylist needs to understand what you're actually asking them to achieve.

It's not simply about monitoring whether someone is hitting a number.

It's about giving them a clear idea of where they're going and what's expected of them.

This is one of the areas we work on with salons through MySalonManager, helping owners put practical targets and structure around team growth.

Keep talking to your new team member

You don't need to wait until the end of a probationary period to find out how someone is doing.

A conversation after the first day, and perhaps again after the first few weeks, can be incredibly useful.

What's going well?

What's not?

Do they understand what's expected?

Is there anything they need more support with?

And importantly, is there anything you need to do differently as the salon owner or manager to help them succeed?

This can have huge benefits for both of you. It helps create the supportive salon environment and open communication that your team will thrive on.

A final thought

The changes to unfair dismissal legislation are a good reason to review how you bring new people into your salon, but this doesn't need to become an HR exercise.

Set expectations. Talk to your people. Track progress. Support them.

If you're looking at your own salon and thinking your team targets, performance or growth could have a bit more structure, that's exactly the sort of thing we help salon owners with through MySalonManager. Book a free 20-minute strategy call to talk through where you are and where you want to get to.