Sally Emery – Hairdresser

“I love the routine of work and I want to be a good example to my daughter. I don’t want to stay at home on benefits”

At an age when many young people are still thinking about their career choices, Sally Emery had already found her vocation and at fifteen, started to work part time in a hair salon. Nearly twenty five years later, her passion for hairdressing remains and nothing can stop her, not even a horrific accident that left her with a broken neck, damaged shoulder and broken knuckles.

After a car accident in 2005, Sally wasn’t even sure she would be able to continue working, let alone continue her career as a hairdresser. However, her sheer determination to bounce back from her accident, paid off. After being away for three years, Sally is now back working in the industry she loves, as a stylist at the Aubergine salon in North Tyneside.

Employer’s story

Salon owner and manager Richard Watts is well aware of the labour shortage in the hairdressing industry. According to a 2007 report from Habia, the standards setting body for the hair industry, vacancies for stylists and senior stylists are amongst the hardest to fill. However, Richard still needs to employ only the best people for the salon. And when he recruits new staff Richard isn’t only looking for skills. He says: “I’ve changed my recruitment strategy. In the past my priority was to find people with the right skills but I learnt through experience, that just focussing on skills isn’t enough. I took advice from a consultant and he suggested I changed my strategy and focus on values that an employee can bring to a job rather than just skills.”

Employee values

Since adopting a new ‘value driven’ approach to recruitment, Richard has noticed a difference in the quality of staff he now employs and Sally is a good example of the type of employee the salon likes to recruit. “She has the values we like in employees such as a strong work ethic and she also takes pride in her work” says Richard.

Richard acknowledges that although Sally can’t work in exactly the same way as other hair stylists, he says that she brings value to the salon because of the additional skills she contributes. “Sally has good organisational skills which help with the overall management of the salon. She is also enthusiastic about her work and this is a good influence on the younger staff.”

Employee's story

“I’m a people’s person” says Sally, “that’s what I like about hairdressing. You get to meet so many people.” However, after her accident, she had to face the prospect of never being able to work as a hairdresser again. “But I wanted to get back to work. I’d never been on the dole and I wanted to be working with people again” says Sally.

When she saw the advert for a vacancy at the Aubergine salon, Sally was tempted to apply but worried how, with the restricted movement in her neck, she could make a success of the job. She also felt nervous about going back into an industry that had changed since she’d left it.

Making adjustments

After she had an informal interview with Richard, Sally’s fears were soon allayed. She’d worked with Richard many years previously in another salon and he knew her strengths as a hairdresser and also knew her values as an employee. After some discussion about what Sally could contribute to the salon in terms of values and skills, Richard was convinced that she was the right person for the job.

Since returning to work as a hairdresser, Sally has developed the art of arriving at the same outcome by a different route. She says: “There are certain cutting techniques that I can’t do the same way as other stylists but I can still get there by using an adapted technique.” She controls her pain with medication and by adapting her posture as she works.

“I think there’s a huge advantage to working in a small business because there’s much more flexibility than in a large company” says Sally. “I’m also very well supported by Richard and that makes a difference.” She adds: “Now that I’m back at work, I feel much more confident about my abilities. More importantly, I feel that I’m setting a good example for my daughter. I want her to learn that problems happen in life, but you have to move on.”

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