Be professional; offer a clean and stable work environment; have a salon manual outlining rules and procedures; offer paid vacations after the first year and add bonuses for perfect attendance; and never, ever criticize a technician’s work or her appearance in front of others.-Sonya Shackelford, Nail Station, Duncanville, Texas
I give them every advantage and benefit that I would want myself as an employee. This includes education, great pay, and monthly meetings that provide support, solutions to problems, and generate new ideas.-Shelly Gerig, AAA Classic Nails & Tan, Ft. Wayne, Indiana
Provide them with a nice place to work that has a good, clean atmosphere. All of my technicians are booth renters and I don’t hold a tight rein on them. They want to stay.-Beth Spoerle, Nail Creations, Victoria, Texas
We installed a very efficient ventilation system, which is important to our technicians for heath reasons, of course. I’m also considering offering shares in the company to my top money-making technicians as an added bonus.-Margaret Warren, Nail Flattery Amelioration, Brampton, Ontario, Canada
I hire technicians with personalities and tastes similar to my own so we can all get along. With the warm and friendly atmosphere at the salon, clients—as well as technicians—are more at ease.-Terri Knopp, RTistic's Nail Salon, Moses Lake, Washington
We treat employees as family and listen to them, pay them well, offer them bonuses for high quotas, and run retail contests. We also have an annual Christmas party and an annual summer picnic.-Carole Schreiber, A Touch of Class, West Chester, Ohio
Never take money away. Never cut the pay of loyal, dependable, hardworking nail technicians. Take cuts elsewhere and find new ways to bring more money in—expand, retail, offer more services, even raise the prices—but never dip into the pockets of your good nail technicians. They will leave, no doubt about it. Take it from us, we did.-H. Hostel, F. Pobe, D. Sabaugh, X-Otic Nails & Tanning, Clinton Township, Michigan