INTERVIEW
The service and performance training programme will roll out in Asia and the long-term aim is to secure accreditation from an international training body
having packages and longer therapies, rather than just a 30-minute treatment and that’s impacting positively on retail sales too.” Each spa, she says, has its own monthly
performance targets which she closely moni- tor from Chicago – “it’s my responsibility to make sure they achieve these”. And monthly results are collated and reported in using TAC’s Reservation Assistant. She watches average treatment times/dura-
tion and therapist utilisation particularly closely she says: “We have spa suites (rather than treatment rooms and a separate lockers), so we need to factor in an extra 30 minutes in the average treatment duration to allow for customer changing times. So, we’re not looking for people to have just a one-hour treatment. We aim for 1.5 hours in our city locations and between 2.5 to 2.7 hours in resorts.” T erapist utilisation is good indicator of
how business is going too, she adds. If the rate is 80 per cent or above, an alert will be sent to the spa manager that it’s time to start recruit- ing. If utilisation is below 50 per cent, however, then it’s a pointer that something’s wrong. O’Connell also considers revenue man-
agement a crucial aspect for a spa director to control and is currently working closely with TAC to set up a lower pricing structure on spa booking systems for treatments in off -peak periods.
PUSHING THE ENVELOPE
It’s not only delivering on numbers that O’Connell is mindful of at Hyatt. With the company having already secured a string
We only have spa suites, so we add an extra 30 minutes onto our average treatment
duration. We’re not looking for a one-hour treatment... we’re aiming for at least a two-and- a-half-hour average in resorts
of spa awards, there’s pressure to keep pro- ducing high-quality experiences too. T e winning formula “is down providing a local/ cultural experience,” she says. “But it’s also thanks to consistency of service and the pas- sion of the teams.” She pins the levels of service on the fact
that there’s generally quite a low turnover of staff in spa facilities – the highest move- ment is typically from the concierges who tend to leave aſt er three to four years. Yet she openly admits that it’s going to be a struggle to match this in developing spa markets. To meet this challenge head on she and the spa council of experts have cre- ated an internal training programme. T e idea is that growing a therapist’s skills and giving them a structured career path will encourage loyalty as well as ensuring high service standards are met and exceeded. T e programme is spread over three lev- els, with the fi rst lasting six to eight weeks
36 Read Spa Business online
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and covering service protocols, the guest journey and around fi ve basic treatments such as a massage, facial, wrap, scrub and foot treatment. Aſt er eight months, a ther- apist can progress to the second level of training which is carried out on the job and focuses on more specialist treatments such as electronic beauty services and lym- phatic drainage. Aſt er another eight months it’s predicted that they’ll then be ready for level three which will cover advanced ther- apist skills including training new joiners, monitoring current staff and reviewing over- all standards and procedures. “We’ll start using this in the countries that
have developing spa markets because that’s where we’ll need it most,” says O’Connell.
“Initially therapists will receive a Hyatt cer- tifi cation, but we eventually hope to partner with an international training body.” On top of this, O’Connell’s also working
on a management programme to include familiarisation for new directors/managers which involves shadowing one of the coun- cil of experts for a week or more. She concludes: “My overall goal is to
continue to push the envelope in terms of creativity and conceptual development. And what I really want to see is existing ther- apists advance and develop their careers and to bring in new people and see them progress as well. “T is will enable us to maintain consist-
ency and ensure the brand integrity remains intact, even while we’re expanding so much and so rapidly.” ●
SPA BUSINESS 4 2011 ©Cybertrek 2011
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