Addressing employee issues and ensuring adherence to policies and procedures are critical aspects of managing an auto repair shop. But both must be done carefully to ensure that the intended messages are being delivered.
By addressing issues individually, having honest conversations and positively enforcing policies, employees can feel supported and motivated to adhere to the shop’s standards, observed Jim Saeli, an instructor and trainer with Drive.
He emphasized the importance of handling corrections individually rather than in a group setting.
“If you are ever handling a situation with an employee and it is a correction for something, do it individually. Do not do it in a group setting,” he advised during the Midwest Auto Care Alliance Hi-Tech Training & Expo in Kansas City recently.
Group settings should be reserved for acknowledging positive actions.
“We want more done right — let’s acknowledge the things that are done right. The things that are done wrong, and they’re going to happen, let’s just handle those one-on-one,” Saeli explained.
Ignoring issues can lead to bigger problems. Saeli likened it to a customer ignoring a noise in their car by turning up the radio, only for the wheel to eventually fall off.
“Sometimes it’s hard to say to somebody, ‘Dude, what’s going on? You messed up.’ You don’t want to do that, so you ignore it. And the worst thing to do is ignore it, because what happens, that problem gets worse. It just gets worse and worse and worse,” he said.
Saeli recommended having straightforward conversations with employees.
“You can just ask. Just sit down with them and ask a question. You don’t even have to point out the negative things they’re doing, because good employees know it,” he explained. “And all you have to do is do this: ‘Hey, what’s up?’ Just like that, ‘What’s up?’ And you will be amazed. All of a sudden, they’ll tell you all that stuff. But once they tell you, they’ll actually feel relief,” he explained.
And when it comes to enforcing policies and procedures, harsh measured aren’t needed. At least not early on. Saeli advised reminding employees of the policies they agreed to.
“Enforcing it doesn’t mean you have to have a whip. All you have to do is, when somebody’s not following it, you got to say, ‘Hey, here’s our policy on it. Don’t you remember signing this?’ And you got to be a bulldog about that. But you can do it in a positive way, and that’ll help eliminate that,” he said.
Getting the right people in the shop is also crucial.
“It’s also getting the right people in there, because there are certain people that do that [and] they’re just avoiding work,” Saeli noted.
Image credit: Depositphotos.com
Leave a Reply