Dermalogica has received the Princess Royal Training Award for its Upskill Programme. We caught up with Candice Gardner, Education Manager, to hear her thoughts on upskilling, regulation and more…
It’s no secret that Dermalogica is grounded in developing the skills of beauty employees. Having blossomed from Jane Wurwand’s International Dermal Institute back in 1983, the brand is dedicated to upskilling not only its own workforce but the entire industry.
Unsurprisingly, the professional services brand has been recognised for the third time by the Princess Royal Training Award, which is designed to ‘honour organisations showing exceptional commitment to learning and development’.
Dermalogica’s Upskill programme has so far enabled 44 educators and skin therapists to achieve regulated qualifications in Skin Peeling and Microneedling, all within working hours. It was one of the around 150 entrants to the Princess Royal Training Award and it was named one of the only 53 winners.
‘We feel like the Upskill programme is quite groundbreaking – no one in our industry has created something of this scale, backed by such big investment,’ starts Candice Gardner, Education Manager at Dermalogica and member of the British Beauty Council DEI Committee.
And – following rigorous data analysis, interviewing and recommendation from the Princess Royal herself – the brand clearly isn’t the only one who thinks so.
This year’s accolade follows in the footsteps of three other Dermalogica programmes that have been recognised: Clear Customer Experience, Product Brand Training and Clean Touch, for which the brand received a Covid commendation.
So, why the Upskill Programme? And, why now?
‘With the rise of microneedling services and the impending regulation, we want to make sure that if we are talking about treatments, training people in them, and delivering them, our staff and teams are absolutely credible to do so,’ explains Gardener.
She continues: ‘We are putting our money where our mouth is and training our staff in the most responsible way.
‘We recognise that advanced services are a massive trend in industry and it is a very commercially lucrative space to exist in. But, we all have to make sure that we are delivering these treatments ethically.’
Ahead of imminent non-invasive aesthetics regulation, Candice stresses the impact of training for the people performing possible regulated procedures. ‘It was a massive investment to bring the training in-house, however, the development of confidence and credibility has been transformative and those trained are already prepared for possible regulation.’
The Upskill Programme is now in its growth phase. From this month, everyone – not just those who work directly with Dermalogica – will be able to access the programme.
‘We are committed to raising the reputation of the whole industry,’ explains Candice, before saying: ‘We champion growing and support people in taking the next step in their career, wherever that might be. It’s always been our view that we would rather train you and you leave, than not train you and you stay.’
The brand hopes that by making this programme open source, it will support in closing the beauty industry skills shortage, and work to convert course-completers into career-leaders.
