Hands, Head & Heart - the employers search for a rare species

The continued growth and emergencies of new technologies within creative and service based industries has only further fuelled the need for a rare breed of staff that possess not just the practical skills and qualifications required for positions, but the soft skills or so called ‘heart skills’ needed to be successful, according to French Beauty Academy Managing Director Luke French.

A recent report from Deloitte , The path to prosperity, Why The Future of Work is Human explains,  two-thirds of jobs will be soft-skill intensive by 2030, suggesting that the jobs of the future will require fewer manual skills and more cognitive skills with the report identifying the average worker having gaps in those identified critical soft skills which will only grow over time.

With over 500 students graduating each year from The French Beauty Academy into a service based industry, Managing Director Luke French knows first hand the challenges faced by employers in finding quality staff that possess not just a qualification, but the soft skills required to be successful.

More than any other industry, the client experience of wellness and beauty treatments is framed by their unique personal interaction with the practitioner. It is an exchange that demands the utmost trust, discretion, sensitivity and compassion.

“More and more we were hearing from feedback from employers directly related to the human and heart aspect of staffing, those characteristics that can’t be automated by technologies and further indicating that a qualification will only take students so far,'' said French Beauty Academy Managing Director Luke French.

Developed over many years with industry, The Academy delivers an innovative Service Excellence Program to their students that ensures their graduates exemplify the premium standards  anticipated by patrons in a luxury service environment and needed by industry. The intention of  developing the Program was to meet Beauty industry, workforce and vocational needs and services and to promote readiness for the industry on multiple levels; cognitively, emotionally and socially through experiential learning, social learning and mentoring.

Encompassing grooming and presentation, self-love, self-awareness, etiquette, grace and manners, language and communication skills, service standards and work ethic, the program aims to teach key professional development attributes and groom confident, mature, well-presented graduates.

Furthermore, the competency skills and knowledge in this program are transferable and not necessarily industry specific so they can be translated into any work environment and support  the development of ‘Employability’ skills.

This program is offered free of charge to its current Diploma students, funded by the company founders in support of the company’s mission being “the empowerment of women through education”.

For further Information contact Luke French lukef@thefrench.edu.au |  www.thefrenchbeautyacademy.edu.au