Take a look at your company’s financial statement, and you’ll get a good reminder that this business is all about people. Fifty percent of your company’s revenue is labor sales, and it’s people who generate 100 percent of labor sales.
That’s why we work hard to be an employee-oriented company. Cars will continue to become more complex. Equipment and tools will change. Technology will evolve. But you’re never going to replace the human element of what we do.
So you have to make sure you take care of the people you have. It’s essential to develop the proper culture so you can attract and retain good people.
A philosophy I’ve learned and used is to treat people as if they’re about to give their 2-week notice before quitting. Think about it: The last time someone gave you their 2-week notice, you probably did one of two things. You might have told them, “Okay, thanks for giving notice, but you don’t have to work out the two weeks; go ahead and leave now and I wish you well.” That’s a sign you should already fired them even before they gave notice.
Alternatively, your other response to someone giving their 2-week notice might be to say, “Look, what’s it going to take to keep you here?” In some cases, that might mean you end up giving them more money. But if you develop the philosophy of treating people as if they’re about to give you their 2-week notice, you would have already given that deserving employee the raise.
That’s a message I preach to all of our managers.
But being a people-oriented business involves more than just pay. Employees look for and appreciate signs of continuous improvement, evidence that you are reinvesting in the company and in providing a clean, safe and productive work environment. Whether it’s training or new equipment or just upgrades to our shops’ appearance, we’re constantly doing something to help ensure we’re always improving.
Being a people-oriented business involves a good benefits package for employees. We offer a 401(k) program with company contributions, supplemental insurance opportunities and, at least through this year, single health care for every employee. That requires really digging into it and making sure you are getting the best possible care with the least amount of expense out of their pocket. Like many of you, we are hearing about significant jumps in health insurance premiums this year; more than a 25 percent increase in your second biggest cost after payroll is a challenge. So we’re doing the best we can to battle for good affordable healthcare for our employees.
Another way to be an employee-oriented company is to hire within. This fall as we prepared to another shop, we already had three good candidates within our company who we could chose from to manage that new shop. We received applications from outside our company, but we never entertained them, knowing we would be hiring from within.
That career path within the company is something employees see and appreciate. I always tell employees to be working to work themselves out of a job. If, as a manager, for example, you work to get someone else trained to do what you do, you’re going to move up in the company because that person can take your spot.
I truly believe it’s the employee-oriented companies that, no matter what their size, will succeed in our industry.
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