Would you work for an employer like you?

It is very well known that there is an extreme shortage of competent people throughout our industry. As an employer you are put into a position of doing “battle” to attract the right skill level required for your shop.

As technology expands across the shop from the shop floor to the front counter and back into the office, you need more than to just fill the positions with bodies. You require the right attitude with the right competency.

The big question rises to the surface; “Are you an employer of choice? Are you a shop where people want to work?”

To attract and retain the best people you don’t have to know what makes people happy, but what makes them want to work in your shop, what makes them want to do their line of work, their desire to be the best at what they do and what makes them want to stay with the shop they join. We are talking about what makes an employee loyal.

Many shop owners will state that employee loyalty is rare these days, yet in some of the best shops in the country they have employees that have been with the shop for 10, 15 even 20 years and the employees are very competent people indeed.

In the weakest shops, the biggest complaint among employees is the dissatisfaction by the “ad-hoc” compensation bonus plans that Management dreams up coupled with vague shop policies.

What is the difference in the personnel “managing” methods of the best shops over weak shops?

If you were to do a detailed analysis you would find some very common features that put the best employers on solid footing with their employees. The words include:

1. Fairness

2. Care and Concern

3. Trust in the employees

4. Reputation of the shop

5. Resources to help the employees

6. Satisfaction with the job’s challenges.

7. Compensation package for a job well done.

While an employee’s career path and appropriate compensation for what they do is important, shop Management should not neglect what is the obvious in our industry today. When you ask an employee to spend half, if not more, of their waking hours at your shop, day in and day out, no matter how you compensate them and at what level, it will not overcome misery for very long. If the employee does not like the “working environment” they are forced to be in, they will move on.

Now it must be recognized that not every employee is motivated by the same thing because factors such as age, position, gender and size of the business all have a role to play in the final result. It must be recognized however, as we head into the future, that the shop will become more diversified in the future as employers will look to immigrants, older workers and as-yet-untrained people to fill certain positions. This means the shop will need to accommodate a wide range of people needs and varying work environments. This applies to a three bay shop to a twenty-six bay shop. Due to these variances, the shop Manager will need to supply a compensation and benefit plan that accommodates different needs and motivates the employees towards, not only their own job objectives, but also wider shop goal objectives of achieving a higher level of excellence.

This means that Management will be faced with developing shop policies that will treat people fairly while giving them the flexibility to handle their responsibilities and challenges. Scary as this kind of talk may seem in it complexity, in reality it can be very simple by understanding the statement “how would you like to be treated in all aspects if you were working in your shop?”

This is a Management skill level that must be learned, addressed and embraced if the shop is going to attract the best within the industry and retain their services for the balance of their career.

Managing a shop today has drastically changed from as little as five years ago. The term “Management/Owner” must now be looked upon as a “position” in the shop and not just a “person” in the shop. The position must be treated the same way as a competent technicians position is treated in terms of what “tools” does this position require to be able to allow it to execute to the best of its ability? Specific training should be considered. One of the attributes of this position is the ability to attract and retain the best personnel available for the shop.

Consider the seven common denominators listed above and how they apply to your shop. Be critical with yourself because it is so important to ensure each one gets in place as these are major shop personnel issues today.

To be a great employer, you must first start with hiring great employees because it is the staff that can so often make the shop a pleasant (or not) place to work in. When you hire the wrong employee it not only kills morale of the shop but it can also become very expensive in terms of lost productivity from everyone and management’s “time” that has to be spent with the re-hiring and re-training process.

Finally, consider that few competent employees will spend the kind of time that is required at a shop today in a place, or with people they dislike … or fear. Money and financial stability, although important, must be interwoven with a workplace that is welcoming, accommodating, safe and stimulating. Remember we are the independent sector of the automotive aftermarket industry. We are in the “people” business and we are good at it. Let’s make sure the people in the shop are informed and treated just as well as the shop’s best clientele.