What to look for when hiring a corporate massage therapist

Corporate massage has been demonstrated to be an effective motivational tool in offices. However, when wellness directors make the wise decision to bring chair massage therapy into their offices, what should they look for in a therapist?

First and foremost, most states now have certificates or licenses that massage therapists must (or should) obtain to demonstrate their completion of training and standards of professionalism. Be sure that any therapist you hire for corporate massage has one of these credentials. In states where these credentials do not yet exist, there are usually municipal credentials that can serve the same purpose. An acceptable substitute in areas without state or local licenses/certificates can be the massage therapist’s school transcripts (showing completion of 500 training hours or more) and a detailed resume.

After assuring that your therapist has appropriate credentials, get an idea of his or her experience in providing office chair massage. Have they worked as a corporate massage therapist before? What is the length of their average massage? What areas do they focus on during their massages? Do they have their own massage chair? Are they comfortable providing all the supplies necessary to do onsite corporate massage?

An effective massage therapist should be able to meet any reasonable demands you have for your corporate massage program. They should be able to provide massages in lengths of 10 minutes to 30 minutes. They should be able to provide all supplies you need them to and have an effective routine that involves massage of the back, shoulders and arms. Many massage therapists will also be able to provide extra services that can enhance an office chair massage, such as aromatherapy, music, and foot or hand massages.

Finding a massage therapist who matches all these qualifications can be difficult, especially if you have offices located in different parts of the country. Because of this, hiring a nationwide massage therapy provider can be helpful, as it can then handle all the scheduling and logistical issues that arise when managing staff in separate locations.

If managing your massage therapist(s) alone, it is important to find someone you are comfortable speaking with when hiring, and who can answer all the questions mentioned above, as well as provide you with copies of their credentials. It is also important that you find someone who is punctual and who can manage his or her time effectively as – especially in the world of business – employees need to know when they can receive their massages, for how long, and then not be kept waiting.

Often times, in the more laid back world of massage therapy, this can be a problem, but there are literally tens of thousands of professional massage therapists who would love to work at a well managed corporate massage job. Knowing what to look for can help ensure that your chair massage therapist does a good job.