Recruit, retain, relax!

Owners of collision repair facilities run into many problems on a daily basis. Some are small and can be quickly dealt with—a dirty floor or a part that’s taking far too long to be delivered. Unfortunately, some challenges are not overcome so easily. One of these more hefty problems, which many shop owners consider the number one challenge they face, is staffing, and supplying staff with HR. So, how do we deal with such a challenge?

A simple yet clear standard of performance and strategy you can place in your business is tying your people to the performance of the business at large. In other words, hold your staff accountable to the success of your company. This creates a “culture of interdependence.” The owner’s success is dependent on the success of the employees, while the success of the employee is dependent on the success of the owner. With a set up such as this, employees will have the sense that the work they do is truly valuable.

One pro-active measure that is worth the investing in is training. Your employees are much more likely to contribute to your business in a meaningful way if they’re good at what they do. And investing in your high performers will help develop your human resource pipeline. Putting together systems such as these will, despite the initial extra effort, go a huge way in improving the quality of your life and business.

Often, issues with recruiting and retaining talented staff stems from the lack of strategic pipelines or recruitment plans in autobody repair centres. This issue expands with the millennial generation coming into the workforce. Millennials often don’t see the collision repair industry as something offering career potential. Young staff start working in collision repair facilities, and after months of doing nothing but detailing and sweeping floors, they want to leave. Consequently, finding the time and resources to frequently retrain new staff becomes a problem.

To solve this, give your employees the opportunity to move upwards in your company. You should strive to make sure that every one of your employees is aware that, yes, they can move upwards and grow if they stay with you. They need to know what exactly it is they are working towards, and how they can do it well. If you’re asking your people to change, adapt and improve, it’s difficult for them to be motivated if there’s no payoff—so, give them the recognition they probably deserve.

With the right talent, your business’ performance quality, efficiency and customer satisfaction will skyrocket. Along with that, with properly trained and motivated staff to run a self-sufficient business, you’ll find yourself able to vacation, or at least be able to put your feet up every once in a while.