The three-day SPATEC Europe 2014 has begun at the 401-bedroom Sheraton Rhodes Resort in Greece.

Talks will be led by John Frieda Salons’ general manager Berni Hawkins and panelists such as Andrew Gibson of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI); Brian Hunter, operations director at Lifehouse Spa and Stephanie Ridge, director of The Glorious Spa Company.

During an educational seminar, Hawkins – a former army officer – explained the difficulties of being a leader, both in the company and in the marketplace: “Leadership makes you temporarily unpopular.”

Hunter agreed with Hawkins, noting that if a business has to cut staff numbers, it's hard to keep the remaining staff motivated.

Hawkins also highlighted the importance of employee engagement in spas worldwide, using research conducted in 2012 by researchers at Gallup in the survey Engagement at Work of 1.4m employees following the 2007 to 2009. Staff from 49,928 businesses were asked 12 questions to find out if the effect of employee engagement on business outcomes differs in tough economic times. Gallup identified that businesses scoring highly for employee engagement had nearly double the odds of success – based on a composite of financial, customer, retention, safety, quality, shrinkage and absenteeism metrics.

FRHI's Gibson opined that recruitment of the right people is crucial for a spa’s success. “It’s about that can-do attitude and presentation. No matter what culture someone comes from, it always starts with a smile,” he said.

“We want to work with people we like, so I base my recruitment on attitude. Once you have ascertained that the staff have the right attitude, you can then train and motivate them,” Gibson continued.

“Staff need to know their expectations in the job. You have to break it down for them, for example, by saying ‘You only need to sell two products a day.

“That’s how to create great service. If I look after my staff, they will look after my guests,” Gibson concluded.

Held from 7 to 10 May, this is the eighth SPATEC networking conference for 150 spa-related businesses – 60 of which are buyers and 90 suppliers. Twenty-minute meetings are scheduled to take place across two days, in addition to social events such as a boat cruise and gala dinner.

SPATEC event director, David Zarb Jenkins said: “The meetings are essential in bringing together international suppliers and operators' projects forecast for the next couple of years. SPATEC provides a platform to network during the social functions and activities which sometimes generate more business than the official meetings.”