Properly acclimate new employees to your business to ensure their success

Sept. 4, 2018
Introduce your new person to all the staff in the shop pointing out who the employee should go to when they have questions and/or assigning them a shop “buddy.”

Recently writing articles on raising and hiring your “home grown” techs ("How to grow your own technicians" and "How to onboard new hires in your repair shop"), I discovered that many shops have no process for bringing a new employee onboard. Many individuals that I did reach out to see what their process was, didn’t even understand my question. Mind you, I only have a small sample of shops I approached with these questions, but the lack of having a process in place leaves you and your shop open to liabilities and possibly the loss of a new employee, making this a topic one we should all know.

The disclaimer: I don’t have all the answers or even offer a complete onboarding process, because every shop is different and the labor laws in your local area may have their own requirements. I suggest that you investigate your local laws and requirements first, then put together your process based on what I offer here and what you determine is important for your business.

The process
When you get a phone call about your help wanted posting, get some basic information about the individual such as name, phone number and where they live. Then search online using their name and location of where they live. With the internet “tracks” that most people have today, you can do a quick evaluation of the caller while they are on the phone. If their online behavior is questionable, you can end the process here.  Candidates that look great online, invite them in for the interview.

On arrival give the applicant a job application to fill out even if they have a resume. Matter of fact, you can send them a copy of the application via email, ask them to fill it out and bring it in when they agree to come in for an interview. (An application that suits your needs can be found online, downloaded and used.)

Read over the submission for a few minutes to see what the candidate has shared so that you can use this for some of your interview questions with them. Don’t be afraid to mark up the application as you interview the individual for later consideration. 

The New Way to Affect Change In Your Shop

If the interview goes well, I suggest gathering some of the information that you will need to bring them on board. Give a copy of your state’s Department of Transportation driver’s license report to the individual and have them fill it out and sign it while you make a copy of their license. It would be good to also have the applicant fill out any tax and federal paperwork that is required at this time. But give the drug test before sending these items in to save money if they fail. Taking care of this paperwork now will help make the first day at your shop easier. 

When the applicant has passed the drug tests and license checks you can either have them come in or talk on a phone call about the following:

  • Finalize the compensation plan:  Agree on the rate that they start at.  Explain to the new employee, the process of bringing them into your shop and that they are going to be in a 90-day period of observation.  At the end of this time they will be evaluated and possibly given a raise and benefits.
  • Arrange for their tool box delivery if needed. 
  • Confirm with the employee start date and time, dress code and any other information if need be.

Have a plan for your new employee’s first day. Don’t just wing it. When you make the plan, make sure that you set aside some time with your new employee. Here are some things to consider for the first day of employment:

Introduce your new person to all the staff in the shop pointing out who the employee should go to when they have questions and/or assigning them a shop “buddy.” This is done to start building the social connection that they will need to work as part of your team. They have enough to learn. Get them to the people who will teach them right.

Give the new employee a copy of your Employee Manual to read and sign. Don’t have an Employee Manual or at least document? Today you need one to provide the new hire with all the details of how your shop runs including sick days, medical coverage, information on harassment in the work place, how to handle a medical emergency and so on. Your shop’s philosophy and beliefs in its mission should also be part of this manual.

There are many resources online that you can use to find or build an Employee Manual or document to use in your shop. Laying out all the basics of how your shop is run, and what is expected of every employee each day, in addition to clearly explaining the employee’s compensation that they will get in pay, vacation and other benefits puts everyone on an even playing field. Having your new employee read the employee handbook and sign it leaves no doubt about what goes on in your shop, so they can focus on doing the job you hired them for. Additionally, this signed document can also help you if any issues or misunderstandings come up in the future.

Shop safety should be part of the Employee Manual but is important enough to speak about separately.  Implementing a safety orientation using video, an online source or other method is best and done as soon as possible.  To find one that works for you, check with your insurance company first to see if they recommend one and possibly give you a discount on your rates.  You will also find other sources online to help you in this situation.  Whatever method you choose, be sure that it has a test or some other indicator that proves the employee has viewed and completed the training for your records.

Orientating the new employee 
The first day of a new job can be overwhelming for even a seasoned technician. I suggest that more of the day should be spent just watching how your shop operates rather than diving into repairing vehicles.  Let the new employee get an overview of your systems.

You can use this to your advantage, too. Have the individual walk around your shop and note what they see. Fresh eyes will see what you don’t see anymore because you’ve grown accustomed to it. They may notice that the building needs some work, the shop is dirty and so on. They will see your shop as a customer would. Tell them to be honest and have them write down what they find on a tablet. Take a good look at the results and make the necessary changes.

Shadowing
I suggest that a newer, less experience tech shadow one of your better techs for a day or so. The new tech should be informed that they just watch and ask questions but not do any work at all. As the newbie becomes more acclimated to how your shop works, then the guiding tech can start them on some smaller jobs or assist in what they are already working on.

The advantages of shadowing are many. You can prevent bad habits from starting, limit the damage that inexperience can cause and monitor their progress closely while better seeing what you need to focus on for this individual to grow into a top tier tech.

Checking in
At the end of the day, check in with your new tech and their guide and see how the day went. Have a discussion between the three of you and offer any observations and answers that are needed. 

In the beginning check in more often and over time, less often, unless there are behaviors or concerns that you have with the new tech that need to be addressed. You will find this is the most effective way to keep them on the right path. 

90-day review
After 90 days, I recommend having a good one on one sit down session with your new hires. Go over everything from what concerns you may have, if any, and how well they have done in learning how your shop works and the quality of the work they have done. Reinforce your shop’s beliefs and rules. Give them a chance to ask questions and tell you how they think they are doing. If you have a keeper, I recommend a raise and giving the person any benefits your shop might give to your employees at this time. 

Another advantage of the last three steps of this process is you will be able to weed out any individual who shouldn’t be working for you rather quickly and before they have a chance to do any real damage.

At this point you might be thinking that this is too much to do, that you don’t have the time. Of course, you can pick and choose what will work for your shop and use it to your benefit. But with today’s issues of finding good help, anytime you get a good individual, you want to do your best to keep them and train them to work like you want them to. You also want to protect yourself from any person that may not fit with your shop eliminating them before they cause damage or cost money. Quality time spent up front with new employees will pay off in the long run, so put an onboarding process in place today for lots of better tomorrows.

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