Staffing strife

RafflesAmrita, Raffles Dubai.

Staff recruitment and staff retention are the two issues most likely to cause consternation to operators across the leisure industry in the Middle East. However, there is perhaps one area where the issues stand out as being most prominent and concerning - and that is the rapidly expanding spa industry in Dubai, UAE.

Recruitment expert Stephen Farrow, manager - Middle East for The Buzz, a specialist recruitment agency for the leisure and spa industry that has recently been established in Dubai, says he is regularly told that recruitment is a struggle for spa managers.

"The main issues for recruiting in the GCC at present are based around salaries and exchange rates," he explains. "Generally most workers earning around the US $300-$900 per month mark are not as attracted to coming to work in the region, due to both inflation here and also the improvements in their own economies.

"Another problem linked to nationality comes from a language perspective. Spas are having trouble finding good Eastern European or Russian speakers to be able to converse with their new client base," explains Farrow.

"Recruiting locally is the hardest thing and staff poaching is on the increase in the GCC, with therapists prepared to move jobs for just a few extra dollars per month - a trend that we have seen occur typically in the hotel industry for many years, particularly in Dubai," he adds.

It's not just the new spas to open in Dubai that are focusing on staffing issues.

According to Catharina Panjaitan, spa manager at The Fairmont Dubai's Willow Stream Spa - which opened five and a half years ago - staff turnover across the industry is very high.

"I don't think there will be a pool of therapists to choose from in Dubai for a long time. There may be a lot of poaching in the next few years, with spas losing a lot of therapists to promotion," says Panjaitan.

So, with spas expected to launch or expand on almost a monthly basis in Dubai, what can spa managers do to overcome the issues of recruitment and retention?

Leisure Manager caught up with four spa managers from some of the newest spas to launch in Dubai to find out their approach.

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