Is the spa industry in general more concerned with profit than with people and personal and environmental health? Unfortunately, some of the reactions (from industry voices and in professional networks) to the current economic recession would seem to suggest that this has been so.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) encourages organisations to consider the interests of the community by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on society and the environment with regard to all aspects of operation. Triple bottom line is the measurement of the environmental, social and economic performance (planet-people-profit) of CSR objectives.
An analysis by A.T. Kearney (management consulting firm) conducted in 2008 for 18 industries (including healthcare, travel and leisure, and personal goods) reveals that during the current economic slow-down, companies that showed 'true' commitment to sustainability appeared to outperform their industry peers in the financial markets.
Sustainability practices were defined in the study as 'those geared towards protecting the environment and promoting social well-being while achieving shareholder value'. The report helps to distinguish between genuinely committed companies (who do show financial gains) and those whose efforts are simply to improve public relations or catch up with industry leaders (who, by contrast, do not show gains).
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Other companies take more tactical approach, viewing sustainability first as an opportunity to improve their reputations. They make small efforts such as upgrading an environmental policy or rebranding existing initiatives under the guise of sustainability. The efforts are deemed complete when a sustainability report is published and an award won for a track record of social responsibility.
I believe it is time for the spa industry as a whole to examine more honestly its own approach to business and take seriously what it really means to espouse sustainable values and practices.
Strategist or Opportunist?
There is a subtle difference between encouraging spas to see the current economic situation as an opportunity and seeing opportunities in the current economic situation. The first could inspire a more searching review of values and methods, asking whether these have been as sound as we thought. The second, is more likely to result in a superficial response - the approach of an opportunist. The first takes a long-term view, the second a short-term one.
A recent post on Susie's Spa blog left me with some questions and concerns about these different approaches. As President of SpaFinder Inc., Susie is a well respected and experienced spa industry commentator. She certainly knows the trade but the ideas she puts forward seem more opportunist than visionary in this case. They may also perpetuate a business paradigm that has contributed to the current economic recession.
Susie refers to the old adage about making lemonade from lemons. I'd like instead to speak to the wisdom in this well-know quote from Anthony Robbins: If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten. Sometimes, it's not easy to see these repeating patterns because there is also the constant of change. There is a balance to be struck between knowing who you are (what you stand for, what you do in alignment with that) and responding creatively and flexibly to change.
Below is an extract from Susie's post listing her '5 solutions' with my comments interspersed. I encourage you to answer for yourself the questions posed. Like Susie, I invite and welcome feedback and further discussion. You can comment below or email me directly.
Susie says:
Well, I have a few ideas to get the lemons to lemonade conversation going. I look forward to hearing yours!
1.Change Messaging: Move from words like pampering to wellness, prevention and stress reduction. Line up with the Obama Stimulus Package with terms such as integrative health, behavioral changes, and health coaches.
I ask:
What kind of shift happens when you simply change the words you use without changing what you do (and why you do it)?
What does it mean if you change what you do, not because you believe in something, but because it might get you a piece of pie?
What is the true foundation (vision, mission, values) of a service that quickly changes itself to suit fashions or trends or climates?
Could a business that behaves like this be authentic, ethical, honest, and based on a strong and clear set of values in practice?
Seth Godin illustrated this recently, on his blog 'All Marketers are Liars' in a post called 'Just saying it'. He used a big restaurant chain as an example and it's quite applicable here since restaurants, like spas, are in the business of providing service.
In this case, for the sake of marketing panache, the company chooses to say it is from a state where it in fact has no base and no venues. Another lesson illustrated in the post is that people do notice this kind of thing, and they do mind.
If you are a luxury spa and you specialize in pampering because that's what you love and what your clients love and what you do best, will it really work to hide behind false terminology?
Could a creative mind find ways to enable authentic expression and experience of luxury while operating a sustainable business (in terms of environmental impact and social responsibility).
Does luxury (sometimes defined as what is not essential) have to mean overuse of resources, including money?
Isn’t true pampering really a matter of simple healthy pleasures, rendered in an atmosphere of genuine caring?
Does it make a difference if, instead of conjuring such experiences at will as a marketing ploy, they are part of the ethic of your business model?
Whatever experiences are offered (luxury or wellness or integrative health, etc.), they are best offered by people who truly walk their talk and who have themselves benefited from their methods.
With such an approach, everyone seeks the best possible outcome and everyone feels valued.
'If you don't set a baseline standard for what you'll accept in life, you'll find it's easy to slip into behaviors and attitudes or a quality of life that's far below what you deserve.' Anthony Robbins
People or profit?
Back to Susie:
3.Downsize: Cut at the top, and move people down one rung on the ladder. You save money and have people performing in places where they excel. (It’s a way of undoing “The Peter Principle.”)
My questions:
If staff are viewed as commodities, pawns to be shuffled around, are they really likely to perform and excel?
Moving someone to a position where they can work more competently makes sense if they have been in a job for which they were not competent. Doing this to save money is quite different.
How about adopting a non-hierarchical staff and pay structure and giving everyone the opportunity to have a say (and an investment) in the business that they in the end make possible?
Does the success of a business depend on creative contributions from everyone, shared ideals, community involvement, or just on the money to be made and the time it is made in?
Who is benefiting from the service offered and in what ways? Asking clients and staff what they love about receiving and giving the service might yield some unexpected insights.
I once had the opportunity to restructure a spa staff pay roll such that everyone from receptionist to spa attendant to therapist was on the same salary, and everyone knew the basics of all tasks.
My ideal would have been for me as spa manager to have been on the same salary also but my manager did not feel this 'possible'. I still dream of staff equality being possible and successful.
Practicing or preaching
Says Susie:
I wonder:
How can you practice what you preach, if what you preach changes like the wind?
Does practicing what you preach mean retooling your business to reflect the change in ethic you are proposing, or is it simply a matter of changing your brochure?
Who is the 'you' here? The owner who is about to cut staff salaries and wants to feel OK about that?
One way to view stress is as a valuable messenger, a call to action, a sign that something needs to change. From this viewpoint, we can choose to go more deeply into the nature of change rather than looking for ways to alter or manipulate it or to cut ourselves off from the cause of the stress.
This way, you are not just waiting for something to pass (making the best of a bad deal) but giving it your full attention. In doing so you may have insights and find solutions that are quite different from those you used in the past.
The bad deal might even turn into something much better than you ever imagined possible. But I don't believe this is possible unless you seek the best for everyone - staff and clients and the wider community around that. Long-term, not short-term, thinking.
True community
Susie suggests:
Even so,
Can a business without a strong internal foundation (vision, mission, values), a consistent message, a committed and valued staff really hope to convince clients of community? I don't think people are fooled by image for long. I once worked in a community that was supposed to model ecological and spiritual living. The community had internal problems and those who came on courses there were quickly aware of this, and thoroughly distracted from their studies by it.
More recently, I worked briefly in a large spa where the management personnel were on salaries far exceeding those of the staff who actually made the place run on a day-to-day basis. This, and the apparent unwillingness of the management to act in support of their staff's needs, was the main topic of conversation among those waiting to give treatments or taking their breaks or even at the reception desk. People who don't feel valued also don't give value.
The loyalty that Susie calls bonding to brand cannot be created artificially, it has to come from the heart and soul of the service on which a spa is based. To quote Seth Godin again: 'I don't think it should matter whether or not you're trying to make a profit. If you're out to provide a service, or organized to deliver a product, then look for a yes. At every interaction.' The 'yes' he is talking of is the ability to recognize what is needed and the willingness to try to meet that need.
I do not in any way wish to discount the very real challenges of making a business work and thrive but I truly believe that this can never be resilient or successful if we do not make everything we do and say consistent with foundational values that see people and planet as worth nurturing to the greatest of our ability. I'd be very happy to see discussions that address such questions appearing in spa industry networks.
'It is not what we get. But who we become, what we contribute... that gives meaning to our lives. Anthony Robbins
