Are you just throwing people into their positions within your business?
Too many of our company’s employees tell me that at their last job, they were shown which desk or stalls in the shop were theirs… and told to go to work.
We do things a little bit differently. Since 1997, I personally give every new hire an orientation that has grown over the years to a three-hour process. There isn’t a single employee at any of our 11 shops who hasn’t had this orientation.
I think it automatically inspires a positive culture in a number of ways. First, it gives them a chance to get to know me, and some of the other leaders of our business. I talk briefly about the history of the company, about our philosophy, our path and where we’re going. That’s not something they are likely to know coming into our organization.
Second, it helps them understand what sets us apart from others in the collision repair industry. I talk about some of our involvement in the community, for example — our annual charity golf outing, the family we adopt at the holidays, the cooking we do for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House, etc. I talk about the value we place on being engaged in the community.
I talk about the career paths we can offer them, including sharing some of the success stories in our company. For example, the manager of one of our locations started with us 12 years ago as a part-time janitor. We have several career path stories like that. I tell them our goal is to hire them for life, that we want them to spend the rest of their career with us. All of that helps generate a feeling of stability and comfort.
We talk about safety in the shops and our quality checks (we use VeriFacts) because they can’t arrive knowing what our expectations are.
The personal touch
I believe that video orientations are less effective. Having the president of the company conduct orientations ensures that we’re all on the same page. It sends a message that we all work as a team. After all, that’s the basis for creating a consistent, positive culture.
Here are a few more details about our new employee orientation process:
- Since we opened a corporate office about four years ago, all of the orientations are done there, no matter at which location they will end up working.
- We do orientations two, three or four times a month, depending on when we have new hires. We try to schedule them on or before a new employee’s first day, although occasionally they will have started a day or two prior.
- All new hires in a given period go through the orientation together, whether they are a technician, an estimator, a detailer or a customer service rep. The message is that we all have the same job: fix cars and satisfy customers. No matter what our job title, we’re all part of that process.
- We cover some of the mandated items, like right-to-know training and the respirator test fit, in the orientation.
- There are some negatives discussed, because they have to understand the rules and what happens if they violate a policy. I explain what they need to understand about fraud and diminished value. But we also get to talk about some of the benefits they enjoy, including our bonus and incentive plans and the five personal days a year they receive. Our comptroller comes in during the orientation to walk them through what they need to know about our health insurance plan.
In addition to building a good foundation and a positive culture from the start, our goal with the employee orientation is to make sure we never hear, “I didn’t know…” You’re more likely to hear that — and to have to deal with the negative consequences of that — if you’re just throwing people into their position.
