For small business owners, developing managers and employees that can self-manage without the owner being present can be a huge challenge. Owners feel that they have to micro-manage their entire business, employees wind up feeling like they aren't trusted, and the owner's personal life suffers because he or she can't get away from work long enough to have a life.
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A lot of body shop owners have made their personal attention and management so critical to their businesses that, on the off chance they try to take a week off every now and then, the whole shop falls apart. According to Bryan Dodge, principal at Dodge Development in Duncanville, Texas, that's as much the owner's fault as the employees'. Shop owners have to develop leadership and management skills in their employees so that the business can thrive (and grow) even if the owner isn't there.
In his Friday NACE session, "Building a Team that Works Without You," Dodge outlined strategies for getting employees to "work hard for you when you aren't there."
"You have to show up for them when you are there," Dodge said. "Money doesn't buy you loyalty. Loyalty comes from impacting their life. If they can become better people because they are part of your environment, then everybody around you will support what you are doing."
