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Creating a Culture of Productivity – Scott Brown [RR 671]


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Scott Brown, Cardinal Plaza Shell, Springfield, VA. The second-generation owner of Cardinal Plaza Shell, a 2,700 square feet, 5 bay independent repair shop and LEVEL 5 Solutions, an automotive technology company. Celebrated 50 years in business during 2019. Scott is a Member & Past President of Virginia Automotive Association, Member of Car Care Professional Network through the ACA. and founding partner of the Blue Ocean Buying Group for independent repair shops. Listen to Scott's previous episodes HERE Key Talking Points

  • Culture of productivity- 5 bay shop produces 4.2 million per year. 
  • CEO must set culture and value system- must be rigid
  • Being grateful for everything, entitled to nothing - creates an attitude of resilience, instead of chasing productivity you’re striving for achieving performance. Look beyond the numbers. 
  • Falling into a trap- have to do everything, be strong for everyone, all “I” statements. Problem with pride- don’t want to show vulnerability/weakness. Turn “I” statements to “we.” Become more concerned for the needs of others instead of yourself. Giving up control allows your team to thrive. The only barrier is you (the owner)
  • How can you increase culture every single day? Staying late to help, recognizing hard work from someone else, going out of the way to give praise to each other. Everyone can be a leader and give back to each other. 
  • How do you know if the culture is working? Do you love going into work every day? 
  • Goodhart’s law- “when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”
  • Who does the shop belong to? Anyone but the owner, it belongs to the clients, the team etc.
  • Competition with yourself instead of others- everyone can still pull together 
  • Are you living inside of a broken culture? Need permission for more than one person to make a purchase or try something new, lack of communication, budgets that cripple creativity. 
  • Organizational debt- problem happens once but there is a creation of procedure that doesn’t serve the organization  
  • Apple TV Show: Ted Lasso

 

  • Thanks to Scott Brown for his contribution to the aftermarket’s premier podcast.
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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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