Moving up in your company

“He always showed care for and commitment to the organization, and as a technician has always been committed to excellence,” Beavers said. “This made our decision about who to turn this key position to an easy one, and also allowed us to reward a long-term, loyal team member.”

Beavers’ decision to fill the position in-house is an increasingly common one for management within many MSOs who are looking to build culture and career paths within their often rapidly-growing organizations.

So what should technicians and others working within MSOs do to both signal their interest in moving into other positions within the company and to build and demonstrate their skills for taking on new responsibilities? Here’s some advice from those who have worked themselves up to higher positions within their company, or who are in a position of looking for talent within their own company.

Take training and initative
Roger Fowler last summer promoted an estimator at his company, J&W CARSTAR in McMinnville, Ore., to general manager as part of Fowler’s effort to scale back his own role in day-to-day operations. For Fowler, education and training are the best indicators of someone who wants to expand their role within a shop.

“It’s classes, classes, classes,” Fowler said. “Taking an effort to improve themselves through I-CAR training or college classes. They have to show a desire to change.”

Voicing an interest in a particular I-CAR class – maybe because it’s something they are struggling with – is the sort of initiative that catches Fowler’s attention.

In Vancouver, Wash., it’s problem solving that Brady Lander looks for among employees looking to move up within his company, Brady’s Auto Body. "I tell the guys: 'You can make any position in the shop'," Lander said. "As an owner, I'm always open to the idea that I don't have all the best systems figured out. So show me how you can make a system here better. Show me how you can come up with a new position in the company that is going to help increase productivity and efficiency. Create your own new position." 

As an example of employee initiative, Lander points to a parts employee who suggested that getting an inventory of commonly needed supplies closer to each of the technicians' stalls would save them time every day. That employee developed a system to monitor and manage those supplies.

Brady cites other examples of people moving up in his organization, such as a detailer who is now a paint prepper.

“The advice I’d give people is show your passion for it,” Brady said. “Always ask questions and always be open to learning. You have to share the desire that you want to move up and change.”

He said it’s important for company management to remember that moving long-term technicians who like to learn into other positions can be good not just for them but for the company as well.

“You have to put in systems in place to do that, “Brady said. “As an owner, you have to realize that the older people get, the less production they are going to produce and the more money they are going to make for themselves and your company in another position.”

Work on your shortcomings, find a mentor
Jane Hylen’s rise within Enterprise Rent-a-Car during her more than two decades with the company made her an apt choice for a speaker at last year’s Women’s Industry Network (WIN) conference, an event is designed to educate, motivate and celebrate women in the collision repair industry. But her advice to those looking to advance their careers was clearly as applicable to men as women.

Some of her suggestions:

• Hone your craft. Seeking our training and attending conferences are good investments in yourself, Hylen said. Know the qualifications needed for the next position or step you want, then figure out how to develop your skills to get there. Find those who do what you need to do well, she suggested, then watch and learn from them.

• Move out of your comfort zone. Hylen said those who want to advance their careers don’t try to avoid the things at which they struggle. Focusing on those things can help eliminate your weaknesses, she said.

She refers to “Popeye Syndrome,” suffered by those who just say they aren’t good at something (“I am what I am”), and don’t work to improve.

“The only way you’re going to get down the road further is if you embrace those things and say, ‘Okay, no Popeye for me. I’m going to figure this out,’” Hylen said. “I’m going to find a style with which I can do this. I might have to fake it a bit, but I’m going to continue to work on the craft. I’m going to continue to get better at my game.”

            • Ask for critical feedback. The only thing harder that getting negative feedback is giving it, she said, so make sure to give your supervisor “permission” to give you plenty of feedback, good or bad. Thank them for it when you get it, she suggested.

            • Seek out a mentor. Hylen recommends that aside from your boss or supervisor, seek advice from someone who is doing what you want to be doing or who is on the track your want to be on. They can encourage you along and also help you get back on track when needed.

“It has to be someone who is close enough to you, who knows you well enough to know what your true strengths and weaknesses are, who can help you along through those,” she said.

• Be a mentor. If you want mentors, Hylen said, you should be willing to be one as well. Someone may not specifically ask you to mentor him or her, Hylen said, but that’s what they are asking when they ask for your opinion or advice.

“It’s one of the most rewarding things you will do in your life as you see those people become more successful,” she said.

Question the status quo, look for solutions
At CollisionMax, Beavers said when looking to fill a position with in-house talent, he looks for someone who is organized in his or her current role, and who shows commitment to the organization and its goals. But he isn’t looking for “yes men.”

“They shouldn’t be afraid to appropriately question policies, procedures or decisions that are outdated or just don’t make sense,” Beavers said. “Critics often seem more interested in displaying their intelligence rather than a will to help the company and others. Offering solutions rather than complaints or criticism shows a sincere interest in improving a process or the work environment.”

But can’t it be challenging for an employee to communicate an interest in a new role – particularly if that new role happens to the position held by his or her direct supervisor? Beavers said it comes down to building the right culture of advancement within your company.

“Our belief is we should always be training our replacement at every level, “ he said. “The person you are training today will allow us to promote you to the next level. I always recommend that employees let their immediate supervisor or district manager know their desired career goals. This will help us schedule relevant industry training and certifications for them while they are still working in their current position.”

Beavers cited several examples of the types of initiative and drive he’s seen within company employees that make them ideal candidates to grow within the company. One such employee joined CollisionMax from the automotive parts industry and “from his first day exhibited incredible drive and interest to learn and improve our business, while always maintaining a positive attitude.”

“He genuinely appears grateful every day to be in our industry,” Beavers said. “Shortly after he was hired he purchased building materials and fabricated a new storage area for his department. What is remarkable about this is he did this after-hours on his own time, using his own money. He just saw an opportunity to improve the process and made it happen.”

Despite the employee’s lack of prior collision industry experience, within a year he had learned what he needed to manage the parts supply chain and write estimates.

“He’s now running a very successful fast lane at one of our largest facilities,” Beavers said. “How is that for a career fast-track.”

Another relatively new employee Beavers said has made an impression on management was a detailer who stopped after-hours at the CollisionMax location where he works.

“He was driving by on a Saturday and noticed the manager still assisting a large number of customers by himself,” Beavers said. “He decided to go back to the shop and assist however he could, and he did so with confidence. We were very impressed that someone with no front office experience in our organization would put himself out there to make sure the customers’ impression of the company was a positive one. That’s putting our company first, and when everyone on the team does that, the company can offer even more career opportunities and growth for everyone.”

Beavers said he more recently saw that detailer attending one of the company’s in-house I-CAR courses on damage analysis as part of the employee’s goal of landing a role in production or administration.

“An investment of time and training in someone like him will help him meet his career goals but also strengthen our organization for future growth,” Beavers said.

Building talent within
 

Rick Stoker is no stranger to in-house advancement of employees. Prior to his 10 years as director of two Dick Hannah’s Collision Centers in Southwest Washington state, Stoker spent more than a decade working there as production manager and initially as a body technician.

Even during those early years, he said, the company began a shift toward two-technician teams, a system that improves cycle time and helps the shop “grow” its own entry-level employees into full-fledged technicians.

 “We really try to promote from within,” Stoker said. “So we often team an apprentice from local schools or WyoTech or UTI (Universal Technical Institute) with a journeyman. They work on the same cars, and the apprentices can use the journeymen’s tools as they build their own set, gain some knowledge and work their way up. Two of our painters and some of our body techs started out as apprentices here, so the team concept is used throughout the shop.”

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