Lisa Vitello has been in the pet grooming business for over twenty years. She is a Certified Master Groomer and Companion Animal Hygienist. In addition to grooming, her passion is teaching others and helping them to excel in the pursuit of their own career and personal growth. After going through the many ups and downs of being a business owner, and learning real solutions for the challenges we all face, she realized she could have the life she always desired. On her blog, The Grooming Guru, she shares tips and tricks for other business owners. She enjoys helping others discover how to be successful in their lives and grooming business. When Lisa isn't at her shop, she enjoys spending time at home with her family and large variety of animals. She lives on a small ranch with a vineyard, 2 horses, an ancient pony, a miniature dachshund, and a standard poodle. Maintaining all of this can feel overwhelming, but Lisa has stayed true to finding her balance in all of this. And, she continues to extend what she's learning to others. 
One thing I really love to do is to encourage my staff (and myself!) to learn new skills. This keeps them excited about learning, and the new skills that they learn enhance the overall business. However, with everything going on, sometimes it is difficult to remember what it is that everyone wants to work on.
Keeping track of our goals:
Because of this, I invented this exercise to assist in reminding us all what our goals are, and it has been helpful for me to remember exactly how I can help my staff achieve their specific goals.
At our monthly meeting, I give everyone a 3 x 5 card. I went around the room and asked them to come up with a goal for learning a new skill for this month. We wrote them on a 3 x 5 card, and I put them up on bulletin board where everyone can see them on a daily basis.
It was an easy choice for my finish groomers, as we are going to a Wheaton Terrier Grooming Seminar next weekend. Some of my other groomers and finish bathers are working on things like having a better “finish” to their grooms, creating better golden retriever feet, and poodle topknots. My new bathers didn’t really know what they should be working on, so I came up with some ideas for them such as trimming nails, or finishing out "easy" bath dogs (like labs, beagles, etc.).
We’ll review our progress during next month’s meeting, share what we’ve learned, and set goals for the following month. This gives me a chance to congratulate them for their accomplishment and encourage them to keep learning even more.
Our dog grooming service definitely needs to start doing this. Here is how we operate now: http://barkerspetresort.com/the-best-dog-grooming-service-in-fort-lauderdale/
Posted by: Avi Morali | 04/11/2012 at 12:55 PM
Thanks, Avi. Giving your staff opportunities to learn not only makes your business stronger, it challenges and encourages them. People who see that you believe in their success as well as your own will be happier, stay longer and work harder. You have a lovely website!
Posted by: Lisa | 04/13/2012 at 09:06 AM