S T R AT E G I C TRAINING
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HITO As part of its leadership role, New Zealand Hair & Beauty Industry Training Organisation Inc (HITO) has been developing a ‘road map’ for the future of training in the hair and beauty industries. The road map has been informed by workshops across the country with salon owners, HITO apprentices, the New Zealand Association of Registered Hairdressers (NZARH), education and training providers, and other stakeholders. The workshops built on research studies which HITO has commissioned over the last five years. HITO has developed a draft road map which describes the hair and beauty sectors, and its education and training arrangements as they are now. It also identifies a vision of how they might look in the future, and some of the actions HITO might need to take to support this vision.
CREATING A ROAD MAP FOR THE FUTURE
2010 Hair and beauty sectors now
Education and training now
Actions to achieve desired situation
Hair and beauty sectors in the future
Education and training in the future
2020
WHAT DO THE HAIR & BEAUTY SECTORS LOOK LIKE AT THE MOMENT? Industry Features Feature
Evidence
Implication for training
Service sector
Hair and beauty are in the service sector, where business success depends on the service provided to clients.
Client service depends on the skills of individual stylists. Training plays a key role in lifting skills and raising professionalism of the sector.
Creativity
Highly creative sector, driven by fashion and trends.
Students/apprentices are attracted to the sector because of its creativity. Qualifications are not necessarily an indicator of creativity.
Wide geographic spread
Salons are spread across New Zealand.
Training needs to be spread right across the country, so that apprentices and other salon staff can access local training.
Competitive, with low profit margins
The hair sector is competitive. Profit margins are low and there is a possible ‘over-supply’ of salons.
Training can be used as a point of difference/source of competitive advantage over other salons.
Hair sector is stable, beauty sector is growing rapidly
Spending on hairdressing services has grown at the same rate as overall spending since 1998. Spending on beauty services grew at about four times the rate of overall growth in spending.
Training demand is likely to remain stable in hair, but growing in beauty.
Increasing market segmentation
The hair and beauty needs of different regions (e.g. Auckland) and population groups (e.g. Maori and Pacific) can be different.
Skill needs will be different for different groups and places. Qualifications and training products and services might need to differ too.
In Australia, there is a trend towards larger salons and larger chains developing national businesses. Mainly small to medium enterprises (SMEs)
Hair and beauty sector businesses tend to employ smaller numbers of staff than the national average. 90% of all businesses in the industry employ less than 10 staff.
Small businesses tend to have less formal in-house training systems than large businesses.
Salons may need more innovation
Many salon owners have progressed through the salon and could have been in the industry for a long time.
Management and business training can offer new ideas and enhance salon performance.
Growing workforce (especially beauty)
From 2001-06, growth in the number of people employed in the beautician occupation (60%) was higher than in the hairdressing occupation (10%).
Growth in the demand for beauty training.
Young
The average age of people working in hair and beauty was 34 years – younger than the national average.
Understanding the training needs of “Generation Y” is important.
Female
88% of people working in hair and beauty were women compared with 47% across all sectors. Women tend to spend less time in the labour force than men.
A positive return on investment from training is needed in a relatively short timeframe.
European
80% of people working in hair and beauty were European.
Training may be required on the hair and beauty needs of non-European people.
Low paid
In 2006, people working in hair and beauty earned around 40% less than those across all sectors (mean income of $24,700 compared with $38,900).
Reduces the attractiveness of (moving into or staying in) the sector, and squeezes the return on investment from qualifications to the student/apprentice.
Part-time
31% of people working in hair and beauty worked part-time.
Part-time workers are less likely to participate in training than full-time ones.
Many employers & self-employed
60% of people working in hair and beauty were paid employees compared with 76% across all sectors. 15% were employers (compared with 7% across all sectors) and 24% were self-employed (compared with 12% across all sectors).
Restricts the up-take of apprenticeships, which are generally targeted at paid employees.
Lots of movement between salons, but not much movement to other sectors
In 2008, the quarterly worker turnover rate in hair and beauty (19%) was higher than across all sectors (17%) However, in 2007, the annual industry turnover rate in hair and beauty (10%) was lower than across all sectors (12%).
In 2008, the quarterly worker turnover rate in hair and beauty (19%) was higher than across all sectors (17%) However, in 2007, the annual industry turnover rate in hair and beauty (10%) was lower than across all sectors (12%).
These factors suggest that people may tend to move between salons, rather than from hair and beauty to other sectors.
These factors suggest that people may tend to move between salons, rather than from hair and beauty to other sectors.
Not many doing management qualifications
2% of people working in hair and beauty held a qualification in management and commerce compared with 8% across all sectors.
Low take-up of management training has a flow-on effect on the take-up and effectiveness of all other types of training.
High take-up of level four qualifications
38% of people working in hair and beauty held a level four certificate compared with 11% across all sectors.
High penetration of apprenticeship training, which is at level four.
Low take-up of school qualifications
28% of people working in hair and beauty held no secondary school qualifications.
Gaining a formal qualification may be highly valued by (but challenging for) people with few school qualifications.
Low literacy
In the UK, people working in hair and beauty have twice the level of dyslexia compared with the UK population.
Students/apprentices may struggle with written training materials.
Support/personal contact (by trainers) is important to small businesses.
Young people tend to require high levels of support in their training.
WHAT DOES EDUCATION & TRAINING IN THE HAIR & BEAUTY INDUSTRIES LOOK LIKE AT THE MOMENT?
There are three main parts to current education and training in the hair and beauty sectors:
How well is the current system working?
Full-time pre-trade education and training courses
Perceptions and feedback from participants of HITO’s recent workshops, and findings from research studies carried out by HITO showed:
Targeted at school leavers and others who are considering a career in the hair and beauty sector. These are offered by polytechnics and private providers.
HITO apprenticeships Targeted at people employed in the hair and beauty sectors. HITO apprenticeships provide a combination of on- and off-job training. Off-job training and assessment is undertaken by polytechnics and private providers, all of which also offer full-time pre-trade courses.
Management and business training Targeted at salon owners and other senior staff in the salon.
Some concerns about full-time pre-trade training Salon owners and apprentices raised some concerns about full-time pre-trade training. • Inadequate screening of students, and unrealistic expectations of the hair and beauty sector among students. • Inappropriate skills being covered. • Variety in course content and standards. • More students than the sector can absorb. • Poor value for money for students and Government.
People working in the hair and beauty sectors are more likely than others to leave school without qualifications. However, they are also more likely than others to get a qualification after they have left school. HITO apprenticeships therefore play a key role in skills development in the hair sector.
Apprenticeships generally considered to work well
HITO currently has around 1000 apprentices. Apprenticeships are a traditional form of education and training in the hair sector. Full-time pre-trade training courses are a more recent development. There has been rapid growth – students in hair and beauty grew by 22% between 2001-07, largely due to growth in beauty.
• Promotion of apprenticeships. • Screening of salons for their suitability to take on apprentices. • Explanation at the start e.g. HITO expectations of the salon owner, training plan for salon owners to follow. • Consistency of assessment. • Understanding why apprentices drop out.
What do you think about the mix of training provision at the moment? Does anything need to change for the future?
Salon owners and apprentices are generally positive about HITO apprenticeships. They value that the apprentice works on real clients in a commercial setting, and like the off-job training as well. There were opportunities for improvement, including:
Low take-up of management and business training • Effective management and business skills are critical to the success of salons. • However, the take-up of such training tends to be patchy.
Do you agree with the issues raised? Are there any issues which haven’t been raised? What is the most important issue for HITO to address?
WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN FOR THE FUTURE? Future education and training context Value for money and ensuring completion The Government has indicated that it wants greater value for money from its education and training spend. This is in the context of the recent global downturn and local recession. Ensuring that qualifications are completed is an area of growing emphasis, which HITO welcomes.
Reviewing the national qualifications structure The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) is currently undertaking a targeted review of certificates and diplomas at levels one to six. If the proposals of this review are implemented it will mean that the current Level Four National Certificate in Hairdressing (Professional Stylist), which can currently only be fully completed via an apprenticeship in a salon environment, could be completely undertaken in an education and training provider environment. This would be contrary to much of the feedback received in the workshops (and in HITO’s previous research), which indicates that salon owners highly prize skills learnt in the workplace. Many salon owners believe that an individual needs to be able to perform in a commercial environment before being deemed a fully competent qualified stylist.
2010 Hair and beauty sector now: • • • •
low margins low pay high workforce churn hair sector stable, but strong growth in beauty
Education and training now: • low take-up of management and business training • apprenticeships generally working well but low wages and high workforce churn reduce completion rates and squeeze return on investment • some concerns raised by salon owners regarding full-time pre-trade training
Actions to achieve desired situation: • increase take-up of management and business training • increase qualification completion rates • increase the return on investment from apprenticeships • ensure “mix” of training available meets the sector’s needs
Hair and beauty sector in the future: • highly successful businesses “virtuous circle” of higher charge-out rates leading to higher pay, enhanced staff retention and greater customer satisfaction
Education and training in the future: • high take-up of management and business training • high qualification completion rates • apprenticeships are valued - high returns to apprentices and salons • training available is suited to the sector needs
Do you agree with the actions HITO has listed? What do you think are the priority actions? Has HITO missed anything out?
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HITO’S ROLE HITO’s vision for the hair and beauty sector is that by 2020 the sector will be seen as highly professional, and will be full of successful businesses. Education and training arrangements should support the achievement of this vision. By law HITO is required to provide an overview of skill and training needs for the sectors it covers. This means that while HITO’s main role is arranging apprenticeships, it needs to look beyond the apprenticeship boundaries to focus on skills training for the barbering, beauty and hairdressing industries. Some of the issues raised in the recent workshops and HITO’s earlier research studies relate to full-time pre-trade courses. Over recent years HITO has forged strong links with providers, who play a key role in apprenticeship off-job training. While HITO can pass on feedback to providers, it cannot tell providers how to run their businesses.
For more information about HITO visit
www.hito.org.nz