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Let’s look at sports for a minute. Take for example two premier quarterbacks. Both equally talented and both equally successful. While they play the position according to the rules of football, neither quarterback plays the position exactly the same. The inherent differences between them allows them to bring out their personal best. They draw upon their uniqueness, which translates into their individual strengths. In essence, this is what makes them great, but different.

 

It’s the same for your technicians, and in fact, for all your employees. Years back I tried to mold my employees to follow a strict set of rules and guidelines. I soon realized that although we need policies and procedures, being different is ok, and doing things differently is ok.

 

With regard to employee management: Set the parameters of your business, establish each job role and clearly describe each position, set the goals for each position, and then let the employee flourish by allowing the employee to bring their uniqueness to their role.

 

Oh, one more thing. Not doing things your way is not the end of the world either.

 

Thoughts?

I am glad you posted this, I am in the process of looking for a shop, and one of my biggest issues is that I feel all my employees would hate me and because I just feel as if I would have a problem getting them to do thing the way I do them. Reading your post actually makes a lot of sense . As long as they are well rounded let them show you their strengths and then build on that. I think still the biggest problem is finding the "well rounded" sound techs.

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I heard this the other day in a class and thought it was fitting.

You don't manage people, you manage inventory. People should be led. - Ross Perot

 

Successful coaches don't coach players the same way, just look at my beloved Spurs coach Greg Popiovch. I think this is were you have to understand the techs personality. I do DISC assessments on all employees and then share it with their direct report and other employees. They are quick 5-8 minutes and less than $30 or even free on some sites. I use peoplekeys.com. The assessments are a great tool for understanding your employees and how to motivate them. I have been using them for about 6 years.

 

As for doing things my way, I'm okay with them doing it their way as I don't have all the answers. Let's do what's best to achieve a happy customer, a quality repair and a profitable job.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

         5 comments
      I recently spoke with a friend of mine who owns a large general repair shop in the Midwest. His father founded the business in 1975. He was telling me that although he’s busy, he’s also very frustrated. When I probed him more about his frustrations, he said that it’s hard to find qualified technicians. My friend employs four technicians and is looking to hire two more. I then asked him, “How long does a technician last working for you.” He looked puzzled and replied, “I never really thought about that, but I can tell that except for one tech, most technicians don’t last working for me longer than a few years.”
      Judging from personal experience as a shop owner and from what I know about the auto repair industry, I can tell you that other than a few exceptions, the turnover rate for technicians in our industry is too high. This makes me think, do we have a technician shortage or a retention problem? Have we done the best we can over the decades to provide great pay plans, benefits packages, great work environments, and the right culture to ensure that the techs we have stay with us?
      Finding and hiring qualified automotive technicians is not a new phenomenon. This problem has been around for as long as I can remember. While we do need to attract people to our industry and provide the necessary training and mentorship, we also need to focus on retention. Having a revolving door and needing to hire techs every few years or so costs your company money. Big money! And that revolving door may be a sign of an even bigger issue: poor leadership, and poor employee management skills.
      Here’s one more thing to consider, for the most part, technicians don’t leave one job to start a new career, they leave one shop as a technician to become a technician at another shop. The reasons why they leave can be debated, but there is one fact that we cannot deny, people don’t quit the company they work for, they usually leave because of the boss or manager they work for.
      Put yourselves in the shoes of your employees. Do you have a workplace that communicates, “We appreciate you and want you to stay!”
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