
Burning questions about staff:
- How do you know when it’s time to dismiss and employee?
- What would you do if you caught a key player stealing?
Shop owners share pay plans for the front of the house as well as back of the house. How are associates being incentivized to produce?
Gary Gunn polls our YNR group on Repair Shop Staff Roles. What should we expect from our people? How do we make that clear, and what must we do to help them meet our expectations?
This clip from our Leadership Process opens up with Gary requesting class members to define “people”. Broad? Maybe. Simple? Definitely not.
Pam believes all people are created by God for specific purposes. She also believes it is impossible to actually “manage people”. Fred adds that people are just “impossible” altogether! A good manager’s role is to identify each staff member’s strengths and weaknesses and help them fit in, if possible. Managers manage the systems, and the systems manage the people. Are you an owner or manager who hates dealing with customers? Then you don’t need to take on the repair shop staff roles of Service Writer or Service Advisor! A good manager can also recognize what their own best role is. Maybe it’s in the back helping train technicians.
Joe made the point that two people can observe the same object or concept and see completely different things. Mike points out that this is because those two people have different worldviews and agendas. Every repair shop hire may bring their own baggage in. Likewise, an astute leader can recognize said baggage.
Gary reminds us that we as auto repair shop owners and managers are all people ourselves! Like it or not, we are all in the people business. Whether you work with customers at the front counter or technicians in the back of the house, it’s up to you to recognize your systems and how to help staff run them.
Does your auto repair shop lack direction? Perhaps your business plan has stalled out, so you need an experienced automotive industry coach to help you. Then why not schedule a FREE business strategy session with Brian? You’ve got nothing to lose, so sign up today!
You’ve heard about it. You’ve wondered about it. You’ve wanted to Learn It. You’ve wanted to Use It. You’ve wanted to Teach It.
Now is your opportunity to get started.
SOP #0219 Comprehensive Shop Assessment Tool
Are you Managing People or Processes? Stop managing People – start managing Processes!
Five Steps (chapter 11 page 209)
SOP #0605 and SOP #0609
PAHR (we call it the Boston pronunciation of “PAR”) is a simple 4-step process that we developed to help organizations improve their hiring processes and increase their hiring and retention success. In 2013, we decided to create a process that captures much of what our company offers and give our clients some choices they can make to fit their differing needs. Throughout the process, you will find options for you to use in your organization.It is not meant to be all inclusive, but rather a starting point for you to create an effective plan.
SOP #605 – PAHR (Prepare – Attract – Hire – Retain)
SOP #609 – PAHR Process Word Doc
The Extreme Importance of:
If you are looking to expand your team and grow your business, you must put your systems and processes in place, so new hires can learn them. Otherwise, you’re in for a surprise with people winning stupid prizes by playing stupid people games.
What?! Yes, that’s right. Let me explain.
How many times have you hired someone who you thought was a promising candidate? Someone who interviewed well, passed your criteria, and looked like a winner on paper. Then, you hired that individual and found later that they were poor performers. Or worse, you thought they were just plain stupid.
Do you really think they were stupid? Seriously, after all that vetting, do you think you hired someone dumb? I would argue that you didn’t hire a foolish person. Instead, you had non-existent or poorly defined systems and procedures in place — if there was any documentation at all — and that “stupid” person was thrown into the fire with no procedural support system.
After all, we don’t hire dumb folks. Instead, we have lacking systems and processes that make them look stupid and force them to underperform.
In short, it’s not their fault. It’s ours. We failed them because no one is inherently stupid. But too many business owners don’t recognize this, and they continue pretending. They’re winning stupid prizes by playing stupid people games. Here’s what I’m talking about:
I was talking with a shop owner recently. During the course of our conversation, he told me everyone he hired was stupid, and they never did what he told them to do. I asked him who hired them? There was silence on the phone. Was it the owner or the people? What prize do you think he won?
Quite frankly, it’s a stupid way to run a business.
Let’s rid ourselves of this “stupid” label and take a different approach.
If you were to build a house and laid the foundation before meeting with the architect, you have on your hands a failed and expensive home-building process. Your systems and processes dictate your success, and we have seen too many small business owners jump into action without having a solid plan called systems and processes in place. That is why Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs are critical to the success of any business.
McDonald’s and other major fast-food chains have learned how to streamline SOPs in such a way that the average 16-year-old high school student can train in one or two days and become highly productive within their first week of employment.
So here’s the question: What is preventing you from hiring intelligent and talented people who prove to you over time that they are worthy? What’s stopping your new hires from reaching success is your lack of Standard Operating Procedures guiding them steadily toward that success.
If you are genuinely searching for a streamlined system that will help your employees win, your business grow, and will lower your stress level, and you need to adapt well-thought-out systems and processes. When you work with You Net Results, we will take you through proven systems and techniques that will help your business grow. Our strategies help shop owners reach their next million dollars in revenue and help their company culture thrive as well.
Who do you know that could benefit from well-documented, seamless systems and processes? If you know anyone who could benefit, including yourself, please schedule a consultation with You Net Results. After all, great intentions don’t pay the bills. If you are willing to invest in yourself and your team, you are on the right track in avoiding stupid people games that waste your time and money.
At You Net Results, we dedicate many training hours to business systems. Our classes and coaching sessions address how to reduce mistakes and prevent lost details. To find out more, contact us for a complimentary consultation. Brian Gillis will discuss your business strategies and find ways to improve your annual revenue and company culture.