“I’m all about training because you have to help grow your managers, and that’s the only way as a business owner I can have a good night’s sleep.” – Hobi Haque, Great Clips Franchisee
As a small business owner, Hobi Haque is used to handling a range of responsibilities, from payroll to marketing to culture building and everything in between.
Wanting to create a strong culture at his Great Clips locations, Haque turned to Francis Tuttle Technology Center’s Workforce and Economic Development team to help form a customized training series for the salons’ managers.
Great Clips’ Managers Offsite Meetings serve as continuous learning opportunities for the salon leaders and are a way to value and retain them, give them space to problem solve, and equip them with actionable strategies for leadership.
Haque operates four Great Clips locations in Deer Creek, Edmond, El Reno, and Mustang, with a second Mustang location opening soon. As his number of franchises grew, Haque had to delegate more tasks to his managers.
Haque recognizes that while the stylists are professionals and artists who went to school to learn their trade, they may not have a background in business. Thus, he wants to equip them with business knowledge and a skillset to thrive while running the day-to-day operations in their salons.
“My goal has been to create a culture where stylists feel comfortable and work hard,” Haque explained. “I want to help them to grow and help to show the bigger picture.”
At a Francis Tuttle job fair, Haque told someone he was interested in managerial training. Haque was then introduced to Consultant Molly Scalf, and along with Trainer Tami Shaw, they later connected to discuss what he was looking for from training.
“This particular project is special because the sessions balance training and organic collaborative discussion,” Shaw said. “Experienced and novice managers get to pause for a deep breath, add tools to their toolkit, and navigate through the messy privilege of management together. Great leadership and communication have a huge impact on employee job satisfaction, engagement, and retention. Being on the journey to help these managers grow, so they can lead their staff well, is a privilege.”
Currently, the managers are meeting quarterly and sometimes have their assistant managers join, depending on coverage at the salons. So far, the group has met three times, with Shaw facilitating the sessions.
“Tami can bring something brand new or a customer perspective to the managers and talk about ways to solve certain issues, which is a great help,” Haque said. “I know our managers are appreciative of the discussion they have in the meetings.”
The first meeting served as an introduction and conversation about personal core values. The group talked about staff retention the next meeting, and during the third, they focused on self-growth. They left with an assignment to create vision boards for their personal and professional lives.
Following training, Haque and the managers go out to lunch and often do a team building activity. Haque has already seen the impact of the Mangers Offsite Meetings on his staff. The managers have loved the opportunity to learn from each other, and Haque has noticed a stronger, more cohesive team form as a result.
For example, one manager went on a weeklong vacation earlier this summer and without being asked, the other managers jumped in to help cover at her salon while she was out of town.
“This is exactly the culture I had in my mind the past 10 years, and this plan is happening,” Haque shared. “I appreciate their hard work.”