Leading spa consultancy Raison D’Etre has updated its online spa management training programme with extended modules, new material and new lectures.

Launched in 2012, the spa management programme runs for 16 weeks and comprises seven modules geared towards teaching students and existing spa managers how to achieve the best tools, ideas and strategies for their spa business.

With modules in spa market trends, marketing, leadership and human capital management, finance, human resources, operational service excellence plus a complete business plan, the new programme includes an updated trends lecture by Anna Bjurstam, vice president for Six Senses Spas and founding board member for Global Spa and Wellness Summit (GSWS).

The marketing module has been extended to include a session on how to encourage dynamic cooperation between a hotel’s guest service and the sales and marketing department. This was added due to the high number of spa management students whose backgrounds are in hotel spas.

An expanded focus on human capital management has also been added to support the business plan module. Students will create a strategy for how to develop people as the most valuable investment and maintain, reward and grow talent within the team.

While the course can be taken by students hoping to take their next step after graduation, approximately 65 per cent of those who sign up to the online course are already in a management position when they participate in the management programme.

The web-based training is flexible so students can study wherever they are and at whatever pace suits their schedule. While one course just began yesterday (17 November), another is planned for 2 February 2015.