Sunday October 9 saw the winners of the illustrious Australian Hair Industry Awards 2022 – Business named at a beautiful gala awards evening on the Gold Coast.

Launched in 2011 by esteemed trade visionary, Linda Woodhead, and the Mocha Group team, the AHIA’s – Business are renowned as the definitive awards program of business excellence for Australia’s leading hairdressers, salons, specialist businesses, educators and professional products. These accolades come as a welcome reprieve after challenging years with salons and hairdressers ready to look ahead and celebrate their achievements with one another.

The big winners were announced at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre as over 600 guests enjoyed a night of dinner, drinks and dancing. The highlight of the evening was the vibrant and action-packed dance and laser performance created and produced by the incredible multi-hyphenate Adam Williams. The stunning show brought burlesque into the now, drawing inspiration from the resurgence of Club-Kid culture, the heritage of Harlem Ballroom and the vivacious volume of authentic vogue. Guests then ventured to Nineteen at the Star for the afterparty to end all afterparties.

Combining opportunities for individuals of all levels as well as categories for salons, specialist businesses, educators and professional products, the awards provide an exciting snapshot of the impressive quality of the industry. The awards were launched due to industry demand for a platform to highlight business achievement and are judged by an independent panel of judges, media, PR and business specialists.

The AHIA’s – Business were proudly sponsored by Timely, Redken, Kitomba, Sustainable Salons, Excellent Edges, Matrix, Schwarzkopf Professional, Goldwell, L’Oreal Professionnel, Revlon Professional, HairBiz, Shortcuts, DNA, The Zing Project, KMS, EVY Professional, Comfortel and Wella Professionals.

“These awards truly showcase the best that the hair industry in Australia has to offer and I can assure everyone – it is in excellent hands,” Woodhead said. “The quality of the entries exceeded all of our expectations and we are so proud of how the industry has gone from strength-to-strength post-COVID. We are excited for our local communities to celebrate their local hair experts and to recognise the amazing impact these individuals and businesses have on us all.”

2022 AHIA CARE TREAT AND STYLE PRODUCT AWARDS

BEST IN CARE

Semi di Lino Smooth Shampoo and Mask By Alfaparf Milano

BEST IN TREAT

Hydrating Mask By Arvo Haircare

BEST IN STYLE

Colorful Glow Beyond Anti Fade Serum By Joico

Salon Team Member of the Year

Evie Golding – Rokstar

Salon Manager/Co-Ordinator of the Year

Kim Hazelton – Jack Horton Hair

Business Director/Owner of the Year

Brodie Tsiknaris – Rokstar

Sole Operator of the Year

Amberley Macpherson

Best Eco Salon

Little Birdie Hair Co

Best Business Newcomer of the Year

Mamawest

Best Salon Design

RocaVerde

Best Marketing

SJ Establishment

Best Customer Care

Elysium Hair Brisbane

Salon Team of the Year

Jack Horton Hair

Best In Salon Training

Co and Pace Salons

Educator of the Year – Individual

Dario Cotroneo

Educator of the Year – Organisation

Total Coaching Academy

Educator of the Year – Product or Equipment Company

L’Oréal Professionnel Education Team

Best Business Performance of the Year

EVY Professional

AUSTRALIAN WHOLESALER OF THE YEAR

Salon Cosmetics

State Salon Business of the Year NSW/ACT

DiMattia & Co.

State Salon Business of the Year QLD

Elysium Hair Brisbane

State Salon Business of the Year SA/TAS

SJ Establishment

State Salon Business of the Year VIC

AMD Hairdressing

State Salon Business of the Year WA/NT

George & Ivy Hairdressing

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD

Anthony Gray – MIG Training

VIDAL SASSOON HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR

Brendon Mann – Epic Hair Design

AUSTRALIAN SALON BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

Elysium Hair Brisbane

For further information, please contact Kristy at Lily Blue Communications: KRISTY@LILYBLUE.COM.AU

By Tiarne Blackwell

Check out this month’s HairBiz Magazine. Great article by our very own Anthony Gray “A Plan For Education and Training Success” on page 50.

Happy reading! 📖🐛

CLICK HERE

HAIR BIZ is the only magazine of its kind which offers a comprehensive look at both the business and image side of the hair industry. It provides salon owners with tools and information to be more successful and knowledgeable when it comes to business skills as well as keeping them informed with trend forecasts, interviews, profiles, news, reviews and product info.

New issue of HairBiz Magazine is out now. Another great read about our industry by MIG Director Anthony Gray on Industry Day 2022 on page 49.

Be creative. Have fun. Dare to be different.

CLICK HERE

HAIR BIZ is the only magazine of its kind which offers a comprehensive look at both the business and image side of the hair industry. It provides salon owners with tools and information to be more successful and knowledgeable when it comes to business skills as well as keeping them informed with trend forecasts, interviews, profiles, news, reviews and product info.

So much is currently happening in education and training and how trade skills training is managed in Australia.  Changes that in the coming years will have a significant impact on how hairdressers and barbers are formally trained and subsequently how the skills needs of industry are shaped well into the future.

The back story to this change is a little grim.  Our industry needs close to 5000 Hairdressers a year to meet ongoing demand.   Year-on-year apprenticeship commencements fallen well short of these numbers and subsequently the industry is now experiencing an acute skills shortage.

Change 1:  Boosting Apprenticeship Commencement incentive

After more than a decade of decline in terms of the number of people in training and the subsequent impact on the numbers of qualified hairdressers and barbers in industry we are finally seeing the number of apprenticeship commencements growing substantially.  This is primarily the result of the generous Boosting Apprenticeship Commencement (BAC) incentive which sees up to 50% of a first-year apprentices wage subsidised.  In a further hit of positive news the BAC incentive which was due to complete at the end of March 2022 has been extended to the end of June 2022 providing many more salons and barbershops the opportunity to add much needed people to their teams.   While the future of employer incentives beyond June is unclear with a federal election campaign underway the message is clear, strong support for employers through incentives have lit a fire under the demand for new people into our trade.

Change 2: Structural change to how skills training is managed nationally

An eye watering amount of investment has been made by the federal government to reshape how workforce and skills development is managed.  Currently we are in the middle of a process that will see us transition from the current skills service organisations who currently support hairdressing and Barbering to an industry cluster model which will take effect in early 2024. There are 9 clusters proposed and at this stage hairdressing and barbering are grouped into the Arts and Personal services cluster.  The initial tender process concluded in March. The next step will be the announcement of short-listed organisation which will then lead to the successful cluster organisation managing a transition through the later part of 2023 before taking the reins in 2024.  While this is bureaucracy at work and not particularly exciting for us as small business owners, the exciting part is how the cluster organisations will potentially be structured.  The mandate from the government is one that will allow us as an industry to contribute strongly.  It will allow hairdressers, barbers, employers, training organisations and industry associations to contribute to how we attract, train, develop and retain hairdressers and barbers in our industry moving forward.  This can only be a good thing in a landscape where competition to attract people to our industry is at an all time high.  The critical next step for us as an industry is to develop a national training framework that is flexible for salons and apprentices, allowing salons to train in the skills needed for their businesses while at the same time balancing the need that each apprentice has to develop the breath of skills to build diverse and rewarding careers in hair.

Hair Festival 2022 and the AHIA Creative awards seemed like a coming out party for the industry after 2 long years of disruption and virtual events. 

The chilly long weekend was a showcase of education and collaboration.  Taking advantage of the hair community coming together, the Australian Hairdressing Council (AHC) ran two oversubscribed education events on the Friday and Saturday before Hair Festival.  The Industry Day on the Friday saw 95 educators from all over Australia come together at the Park Royal in Sydney.  A further 220 then attended the Leadership Summit on Saturday at the Hilton.

Industry day is absolutely unique on the Australian hair calendar.  It is the only industry event that brings educators together from across the entire industry and across the country.  Facilitated by the AHC’s national training committee the room was full of the who’s who of industry educators including: 

• salon owners and in-salon educators,
• company and supplier educators,
• independent industry educators as well as
• RTO management and teachers from both TAFE and private providers.  

The theme of the day focussed on “What does the best training Experience look like for our apprentice Hairdressers and Barbers”.  The hair industry is crying out for great people.  Like never before we need to attract, develop and retain new Hairdresser and Barbers.  To do this we need to offer the Best Training Experience possible. 

A full day of collaboration was interspersed with three incredible speakers.    AHC CEO Sandy Chong provided a snapshot of where we are headed as an industry before keynote speaker Mark Mackenzie helped the attendees to understand the changes on the horizon for skills training and how our hair and barber qualifications are managed from 2023 onwards.   Finally, Paul Frasca shared his sustainability story and in particular how he has been able to share his message through education, collaboration and connection. 

Spread throughout the day was a series of short and sharp workshops to firstly map out what the best training experience looks like before focussing in on how to build relationships between Salons, Registered Training Organisations (RTO’s), Independent and Company Educators to make the apprentice experience gold standard.  The room was abuzz as they worked through all aspects of the apprentice journey from how we best attract and engage new entrants before turning its attention to retention and development of apprentices as they progress through their training toward qualification and beyond.  The learnings from the day were incredible with the best thinking from the 95 attendees refined into a roadmap for the training system moving forward. 

The top priorities identified for attracting new entrants to our industry and apprenticeship system were:

• To market what success looks like for school leavers through Social Media
• To promote Hairdressing & Barbering apprenticeships to every secondary school by developing an information kit while Including opportunities to experience Hairdressing firsthand.
• To develop inspiring content to showcase career diversity

In terms of engaging apprentices once they have made the decision to choose hair, the key outcomes included:

• Developing individualised training designed to match the expectations and capabilities of the individual.
• Developing induction programs with practical training that covers all salon skills.
• Provide training for the owner on how to develop career plans and training programs, as well as positively mentoring apprentices on their journey.

When the delegates turned their attention to the next part of the student journey the best training experience the question posed to the collective was.  What is critical to developing skills and creating an incredible training experience from the 6 months to 2-year time frame?  The top responses were to:

• Develop career plan to set goals and dedicate time to identify the training activities.
• Define the training and development responsibilities for everyone in the salon.
• Build confidence and esteem through consistent feedback including recognition and reward.

Rounding out the student journey workshops saw the delegates turn their attention to the final stages of training and development culminating in qualification as a Hairdresser or Barber.  The key messages from this workshop were to:

• Identify skill areas of strength and develop specialised training programs.
• Ramp up client skills including benchmarks, goal setting and growing their income.
• Help build their profile within the salon and with their potential client’s.

The clear message across each of the accent points examined as part of the student journey was heard loud and clear.   Relationships are what matter.  An approach to training that includes all parties working together to make the apprentice experience the best possible.  This includes salon owners working hand in glove with their RTO, supplier /product companies and independent educators.  To this end the delegates were challenged to dig deep into the training relationships to unpack what are the key components of the training relationship.

The first step was to identify the critical components that make up an inclusive industry training plan that enriches the apprentice experience.  The components identified were:

• Milestone check-ins between salon owner, aprentice and RTO to discuss the progress of the in-salon training.
• Develop mutual respect by creating clear role responsibilities for each stakeholder.
• Simplify the ‘training’ language to reflect company, supplier, industry and salon training.

Drilling in deeper into how the critical components identified should then be managed the delegates came together to identify the most important training plan management aspects to focus on:

• Creating a central database for all stakeholders to access.
• Provision of more ongoing support and active engagement from Apprentice Network providers.
• To keep it flexible 

Not only did the delegates who attended walk away with a host of new connections to share their education journey with, but they also took away real ideas and solutions to implement in their own education and training businesses to improve the training experience of their students and clients.  Finally, everyone who attended left with a feeling that they had a strong input into the direction of hair education in this county.  The responses and outcomes captured by the AHC over the course of the Industry day will inform how the AHC engages with regulators to shape the training landscape now and in the future.