A visit to a hair salon always does good, both internally and externally – as anyone who has ever sat in a hairdresser’s chair knows. However, few can experience the kind of enlightenment that I had the opportunity to experience last year when I visited hair salons in my hometown Hämeenlinna in Finland.
This time, I didn’t go to the salon as a customer, but I had booked an appointment in the role of an interviewer. I wanted to hear how hairdressers are doing, what challenges they are facing in the industry, and what expectations entrepreneurs in the industry have for the future. Our other members of the executive team, as well as our marketing and sales team, did the same.
We interviewed over 40 hairdressers all over Finland as part of our company’s strategic work to better understand how we can support our customers even better in the future. One challenge stood out among the others: the labor shortage in the hairdressing industry. Some hair salon owners have so many customers that they can no longer take in new ones – especially since it seems that skilled workers cannot be found anywhere. This observation was supported by discussions with vocational schoolteachers, who reported a decline in interest in the industry among students and a dwindling number of students graduating in the field.
It became clear to us that it is time to restore the well-deserved value of this creative, interactive, and craftsmanship-oriented profession of hairdressers.
Happiest customers and most inspiring workplace
As our strategic work progressed, our vision for the year 2025 became short and concise: “The happiest hair salons.” We see it as our responsibility to be at the forefront of building an attractive hairdressing industry for both new and existing entrepreneurs and employees. We want to be a trendsetter in the beauty industry by building the most inspiring workplace in the beauty industry and creating the best conditions for hairdressing entrepreneurs to succeed with the goal of having the most well-being customers in the industry.
Our sustainability work is divided into three themes that we have chosen from the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The most important theme for us is health and well-being – the responsibility towards the people in our community. Only people who feel healthy in their work can achieve great results, and only healthy customers will return to use the products and services they have used repeatedly. In the past year, we have made strides in achieving our well-being goals based on the metrics we have set. However, we are aware that the work is continuous, and we are never done. In 2023, we will implement our new strategy by developing our customer experience concept, which will take us towards our vision. We are creating a vibrant hairdressing
industry and fulfilling our promise every day to be the best partner for hairdressing entrepreneurs.
Finnish design and manufacturing
Two other themes in our sustainability work are related to our responsibility towards the environment: we promote responsible consumption and production through decisions related to our products, and we take climate action to strive for carbon neutrality in our operations. In our sustainability efforts, we consider the entire lifecycle of our products from raw materials to packaging materials, manufacturing, product selection, and packaging recycling.
The past year brought new challenges to our production chains, such as global shortages of raw materials and components, as well as increased production costs. Despite these challenges, we managed to increase the use of environmentally friendly materials in our packaging: by the end of the year, 41% of our plastic packaging was made from recycled or bio-based plastic. I am particularly proud that our washing and care products manufactured at our factory in Finland go through the entire production process using 100% renewable wind power.
We approach 2023 with optimism, ambitious goals, and investments in the future. In this report, you will find more information about the measures and achievements we have taken, as well as our upcoming projects for the coming year. I hope you support us on this journey: the best way to do so is to use local hairdressing services and buy Finnish products.
Together towards even better hair days,
Jyrki Hakala
CEO
Four Reasons
