130: Handling a Toxic Co-Worker

You know who we’re talking about…she’s the one who never has anything nice to say about anyone else and is constantly complaining. Don’t let her bad vibe crush your zen attitude.

Don’t succumb to the power of gossip. 

It’s a rare person who isn’t at all interested in gossip, but next time one of your coworkers is telling all the dirty little secrets about another salon employee just walk away. It’s one thing to want to know celebrity dirt, but it’s another to partake in a dish session about what someone “heard” about someone else in the salon. It’s just bad form to perpetuate rumors and the easiest way to get that gossip to stop spreading rumors is to ignore her. She’s not going to keep talking if there’s nobody interested in her story.

Don’t EVER talk about clients in front of other clients. Period.

End of story. As soon as a client hears you talking about another client, she will wonder if you do the same with her once she leaves the salon. It’s unprofessional. If your coworker is doing it, don’t engage her in the conversation.

Be like a duck and let it roll right off your back. 

If you have a complainer on your hands, just ignore it. You don’t need to snap at the person, just walk away.

Deal with your dirty laundry in the laundry room. 

If you absolutely must say something to another coworker, don’t ever do it in front of clients. Ask to speak to the offending person in the back room or later when the salon is closed. Only then should you bring up your concerns with how the person is conducting herself.

If it isn’t something you can work out between yourselves, get the manager or owner involved. 

Sometimes it takes a third party to solve the problem. Or if it’s more serious and you suspect your coworker of something worse than idle gossip, you definitely want someone with authority to intervene.

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Chapters

• 3:16 What to do if you have a co-worker who likes to gossip.
• 5:16 Never talk about it on the salon floor in front of clients.
• 7:05 How to deal with toxic co-workers in the salon.

Transcript

1:31

Hmm, we've all had one right be at work. And whether they're gossiping, or I don't know, they just don't have anything nice to say about anybody. We've all had those co workers, right? So what do you do about it? Because you know, you don't want to go tattling to your salon or every time something happens. So, what are we gonna do? Well, hey there, this is Danise. And this is the salon ownership Made Easy podcast for salon owners who are searching for simple solutions to their everyday challenges. I've owned several six and seven figure award winning salons in my 30 year career. With so many changes happening in our industry these days, it seems like salon owners need a shoulder a hug, and a big dose of reality. Think about it. We didn't learn how to be successful salon owners in beauty school. So why don't you let me share what has worked and what hasn't worked for me over the years, you do have what it takes to be amazingly successful. So let's do this. I'm excited you're here. If you're in business to make 2023, your best year ever in your salon, you want to be sure to get signed up on our waiting list for our brand new course know better do better your entire roadmap for salon success. It's gonna include best interview practices, onboarding, how to develop your values and culture, how to train your front desk, taking the fear out of selling retail, knowing your numbers, so you can make a profit, how to coach your team to success and so much more, to get your name on our waiting list. So you'll be the first to know about it, just go over to salon ownership made easy.com forward slash waitlist, we'll see you there. First of all, if you have a co worker who likes to gossip, and I'm not talking about gossip about what the Kardashians are doing, I'm talking about talking about somebody else in the salon. Just don't don't succumb to it, just walk away, or just say, hey, we don't do that here. You know, they'll get the message loud and clear. Or if you don't feel like you have the authority to say that. Why don't you just walk away, just don't be in the break room with them at the same time. Or if there's nobody to talk to, she's not going to talk anymore, right? Because there's not going to be anybody to tell her gossip to so if everybody would just stay away from being in that that circumstance, then there's nothing to gossip about. Another thing is don't ever ever talk about clients in front of clients ever period. Oh, my gosh, how awful. We've all been there though, right? We've all thinking that we're doing a client. We're doing a client who's been with us for years, right? We almost consider them friends, family, whatever. And we start talking about, oh my gosh, did you know that Miss Judy came in last week and Oh, blah, whatever. I don't even know. Don't do it. Because guess what? The client sitting in your chair is going to wonder if you do that. Behind their back about them is not a good feeling. What if you have a co worker who complains a lot complains about everything. We've had those people in our lives that are just like the cup is half empty all the time. Just be like a duck. Just let it roll off your back. Okay, and just leave the room. It's like a tornado negativity just feeds into negativity. And it just takes the whole culture and the whole everything down with it. Just leave the room. Just walk away. Same thing about positivity. Positivity is contagious too. You know. Another thing that you might want to consider too is say you have a co worker who did something on the floor of the salon floor in front of clients that really either made you feel really mad, bad, sad, I don't know. Never, ever talk about it in front of guests. Never take the dirty laundry to the laundry room. Yes. Take it to the break room. Maybe after work. Or if you if you feel heated in that moment, just say Hey, can I speak to you for just a moment and you go back to the break room or somewhere out of earshot. So you can say hey, what you just said really bothered me. But never in front of clients never on the salon floor, the salon floor is your stage and you are on 100% of the time the clients do not need to know that there is anything going on between anybody. And truly and if it's something if you have a co worker and you feel like you can't work it out because there's been situations when I had my salons that wow, we for whatever reason, the two co workers just couldn't get get along. For whatever reason. If you feel like you can't handle it amongst yourselves, and you can't come to some adult conclusion, then you need to get your supervisor or your salon owner involved. Because you definitely need an eyewitness or a third party to help sort out the issue. Maybe you work separate schedules, maybe your salon manager owner can help you see something in a different light, maybe there's something going on in your co workers life that you're not aware of that. That's the reason why they're showing up kind of bitter or bent out of shape, I don't know. But just remember that every workplace, you're going to have somebody that probably rubs you the wrong way. It's normal. It's life. And we as adults have to learn how to deal with it. I just know that on the salon floor, it needs to be professional, if you know what I mean. Keep it classy, keep it professional, keep it fun for your guests, they're coming into our space to get away from their reality for a while, if you will. So hope that helps a little bit. If you have a toxic co worker, that you really don't know how to handle reach out, I've probably seen it all in my last 30 years. Reach out, I would love to hear from you. I'd love to know how you handled it. Or if you did, sometimes, sometimes how you handle it as you you quit, which is awful. But yeah, just remember that it is a normal thing that happens in the salon, you you put a lot of usually women in the same environment and there's going to be something some kind of drama. We just hope as salon owners and the salon managers that we can all deal with it and and help our cultures be come stronger. So hopefully these little tips helped you. And just remember, it's not about the little things. It's all about the little things. Hey there thanks so much for listening to the salon ownership Made Easy podcast today. Would you do us a favor? If you got value out of this week's episode? Will you share it with your friends? And while you're at it, go ahead and leave us a review. That way more business owners like yourself will find us and we can help them with the challenges they may be facing too. Thanks again, and we'll see you next week. Take care