ANNEMARIE WILKINSON
(Rodney Wayne Hairdressing : Westfield Shopping Centre Chatwell, Hamilton; Centreplace, Hamilton; Hair Express, Westfield))

Annemarie started with Rodney Wayne 14 years ago and now owns three Rodney Wayne salons in the Waikato region. She currently employs nine apprentices.

“Apprentices are a big part of my business. I have always had apprentices on board.”

“I make it compulsory to train. A national qualification is a prerequisite for my staff.”

“All my staff know that they are here for the long haul and that they are here to get qualified. I make this clear right from their initial interview.”

“Once they come on board they become committed to getting their qualification and they see it through. They know that we’re all in this to make them better hairdressers.”

“Because my apprentices are on board with my expectations, my apprentices have great completion rates. My apprentices like the training and the structures and supports in place.”

“I have two girls who were trained overseas and I have made it clear that I expected them to do QbyE. One has just completed this process and her work has benefited greatly from it. The other is about to start her QbyE.”

“People throughout the Waikato know that my salons are a great place for training. Apprentices from other salons sometimes ask if they can come and train in our salon. If apprentices aren’t challenged, supported and rewarded then it’s not surprising that they’ll want to move on.”

“People are beginning to respect the industry as a real profession. You need to be really good at what you do and that requires training.”

“Those salons that aren’t training are watering the quality of the industry down. If we don’t have good people in training then there are going to be problems later on.”

“HITO is important in ensuring we are viewed as a professional industry. People have higher expectations now, they want a champagne service. If we don’t train staff well clients will think it’s an industry with no backbone.”