Hiring the right people is only the beginning of building a successful med spa team. What happens after a candidate accepts the job and when an employee eventually leaves can have a major impact on team morale, patient experience, productivity, and business performance.
In a recent training, Diamond Accelerator recruitment consultants Kristin Polito and Angela Taylor discussed how med spa owners and practice managers can approach employee onboarding and offboarding with greater structure, consistency, and professionalism.
Their central message is simple: leadership does not stop when someone accepts a job or submits a resignation.
Hiring Is Only the Beginning
Many practice owners focus heavily on finding the perfect candidate. While hiring matters, Kristin explains that what happens after the hiring decision may be even more important.
“Honestly, most practices think the hardest or most important part of hiring is finding the perfect candidate. But it's not. The most important part is what happens after you and the candidate say yes.”
The data backs this up: 1 in 5 new hires quit within the first six weeks not because they weren’t qualified, but because the experience after the offer fell short of the promise. On the flip side, employees who go through a structured onboarding process are 70% more likely to stay with a practice for three or more years.
An interview only provides a snapshot of a candidate. Once someone joins the practice, both sides continue evaluating the relationship. For more tips on evaluating candidates, check out our guide to med spa interview questions.
New employees are assessing the practice just as much as the practice is assessing them. Disorganization, unclear expectations, missing systems access, or poor communication can quickly create doubt about whether they made the right decision.
As Angela points out:
“While you are assessing them and their compatibility with your practice, they are also evaluating you.”
That makes onboarding more than an administrative task. It is an opportunity to demonstrate the culture, organization, and leadership standards that were presented during the interview.
Start Onboarding Before Day One
Effective onboarding should begin before the employee walks through the door.
Before a new hire starts, med spa owners should make sure essential administrative and operational details are already handled. This can include:
- Signed contracts and compensation plans
- Clearly defined roles and responsibilities
- Payroll and benefits setup
- EMR and practice management system access
- Email and other necessary system credentials
- A prepared workspace
- A designated mentor or leader
- A clear first-week training plan
- Communication with the existing team about the new hire
These details may seem minor, but they can strongly influence a new employee’s first impression.
Angela shared an example of a practice manager who left within three weeks because payroll and EMR access had not been properly established. What initially appeared to be an administrative oversight became a larger signal of disorganization.
The lesson is important: small details can create big impressions.
Build a 30-, 60-, and 90-Day Onboarding Plan
A new employee should not be expected to figure everything out independently after the first day.
A structured onboarding plan should establish what the employee needs to learn, who is responsible for training them, and how progress will be evaluated.
A useful framework includes:
Day One: Introductions, systems access, workspace setup, expectations, and orientation.
First 30 Days: Core responsibilities, training, practice procedures, culture, and initial performance expectations.
60 Days: Progress evaluation, additional coaching, skill development, and identification of gaps.
90 Days: Formal review of performance, expectations, goals, and long-term fit.
Angela emphasizes that the plan should also be communicated to the employee. They should understand what their first weeks and months will look like rather than feeling as though they are “flying blind.”
Strong onboarding also requires preparing the existing team. One practice that went through Diamond Accelerator’s process shared a telling example: after implementing a structured onboarding plan for a new injector including a dedicated mentor, a clear 90-day roadmap, and regular check-ins that injector was still with the practice two years later and had become one of its highest producers. Without that structure, the owner admitted, she likely would have lost her within the first few months.
Research reflects this: employees who experience structured onboarding are 18 times more likely to feel highly committed to their organization. If a senior employee is expected to train a new hire, clearly communicate that responsibility in advance the payoff shows up in performance, and the long-term returns on injector loyalty and retention make the investment more than worthwhile.
Don’t Assume Training Will Happen Naturally
One common onboarding mistake is assuming an experienced employee will automatically know how to train someone.
Angela described a situation where a new employee was assigned to shadow a senior team member, but the senior employee had not been given a clear training plan or dedicated time. The result was frustrating for both employees.
The new hire spent much of the day simply watching the senior employee perform their normal duties without meaningful instruction.
This highlights an important leadership principle: training needs ownership. This is also why hiring before your practice has the right operational structure can create problems. Learn more about why med spa hires fail and how to fix the underlying systems before bringing new talent into your practice.
Someone should be accountable for making sure training happens, progress is documented, and expectations are understood.
Know When a New Hire Isn’t the Right Fit
Even with a strong hiring process, some employees will not work out. The goal should not be to ignore problems simply because the person is new.
Kristin offers a straightforward perspective:
“It's never too soon to address a clear mismatch. Dragging it out is what costs you money, and morale, and credibility.”
At the same time, a practice should distinguish between a true mismatch and a problem that can be corrected through training or clearer expectations.
Before making a termination decision, consider:
- Were expectations clearly communicated?
- Was the employee properly trained?
- Has the concern been discussed directly?
- Was a specific improvement plan provided?
- Was the employee given a reasonable opportunity to improve?
- Are the performance issues consistent?
For employees who are competent, committed, and coachable, additional structure and training may be worthwhile.
Offboarding Requires Just as Much Structure
Onboarding receives much of the attention, but offboarding is equally important.
Whether an employee resigns or is terminated, the practice should have a consistent process for handling the transition professionally.
Important offboarding steps can include:
- Removing system access promptly
- Recovering company property
- Protecting patient and team information
- Completing required administrative steps
- Conducting an exit interview when appropriate
- Documenting knowledge transfer
- Communicating the departure professionally
- Clarifying responsibilities during the transition
Offboarding also affects the employees who remain.
Angela warns against allowing personal feelings to influence how a departure is discussed with the team. Speaking negatively about a former employee can damage leadership credibility and make remaining employees wonder whether they would be treated the same way if they eventually left.
Her advice is clear:
“So, keep it professional, stick to the facts.”
Control the Narrative Without Creating Drama
When an employee leaves, remaining team members naturally have questions. If leadership provides no communication, employees may create their own explanations. Employee departures can sometimes bring underlying team or communication issues to the surface. For more on this, read what’s behind med spa team drama.
Kristin recommends maintaining a calm, professional message:
“You control the narrative. You set the tone. Period.”
That does not mean sharing confidential details. Instead, communicate what the team needs to know, reinforce stability, and explain how responsibilities will move forward.
The objective is to reduce uncertainty without turning the employee’s departure into workplace gossip.
Create a Repeatable Employee Life Cycle
Ultimately, effective recruitment is about more than finding and hiring talented people. Med spas need a repeatable process that supports employees throughout the entire employment life cycle.
That means having systems for:
- Hiring
- Preboarding
- Day-one onboarding
- 30-, 60-, and 90-day development
- Performance management
- Coaching and accountability
- Resignation or termination
- Knowledge transfer
- System and access removal
- Team communication
A documented process makes it easier for owners and managers to stay consistent, even when they’re busy running the practice.
Is Your Med Spa Prepared?
Ask yourself a few simple questions:
- If someone started tomorrow, would their workspace and systems be ready?
- Does every new hire have a clear first-week plan?
- Does someone own the training process?
- Are 30-, 60-, and 90-day check-ins scheduled?
- Do employees understand what success looks like?
- If someone resigned tomorrow, would you know exactly what to do?
- If you had to terminate someone, would your process be consistent and professional?
If you answered no to several of these questions, your practice may have an opportunity to strengthen its employee life-cycle processes.
A well-structured onboarding and offboarding system does more than keep paperwork organized. It helps create clarity, protect your culture, support your team, and provide a more consistent experience for everyone involved.
Build a Stronger Team With the Right Systems
Hiring great people is only one part of building a high-performing med spa. If you want help strengthening your recruitment, hiring, onboarding, and overall team-building processes, Diamond Accelerator can help.
