Tackling the employee engagement crisis

We are losing too many employees — and some fixes won’t cost you any money

To quote Jack Nicholson from the movie A Few Good Men: “You can’t handle the truth!” 

The truth is — we are in a crisis.  

I know we have talked about this before, but I felt strongly that I had to bring it up again. 

We have been finding an interesting trend in the last few months brought up by many owners and general managers across the country and in fact around the world. 

Business is good, we have beat targets and are profitable in all departments but our staff seem unhappy and  disengaged. We have heard comments like: “Our people just don’t seem happy.”  Or we have heard: “No one seems to socialize, have any work friends or just plain have fun at their jobs.”

One of the most important jobs as a manager is to take care of our most important asset …our employees. I spoke to a general manager recently and he told me about a meeting he had with his owner near the end of the year. The owner told him how happy he was because they were going to finish the year 120 per cent of the forecast.  

The general manager acknowledged that this was true but the staff were not feeling engaged and he felt disappointed the team wasn’t happy. 

Employees are seemingly leaving dealerships at a staggering rate for what they tell us is for better pay opportunities at other shops. I believe employees leave our dealerships because of the culture, not necessarily because of money. The pay increase is forgotten after the new employee receives their first pay cheque from their new employer.  

Are your employees engaged? Look around. Are they arriving to work late and leaving early? Do they participate in meetings? Are they just doing the bare minimum? I can tell in a few minutes of walking into a dealership what the vibe is and if the employees are happy. So how do we get employees more engaged? In my opinion the principles of engagement are as follows: Communication, Feedback, Recognition, Employee Development and Appreciation. 

Employees are seemingly leaving dealerships at a staggering rate for what they tell us is for better pay opportunities at other shops.

Communication, how well are you communicating with your staff? How often do you have technician meetings? Are they held daily, weekly, monthly or never? 

It is concerning when I  hear about managers that have a meeting every quarter or even worse once a year. These meetings are usually very negative. The technicians get one of their own to act as the spokesperson for the shop and bring up a list of issues. 

The manager gets defensive and the whole meeting turns into a dumpster fire. I used to have meetings twice a week. The meetings were held Mondays and Fridays. The meetings would start about ten minutes before the techs were supposed to start work. 

On Mondays we talked about the week ahead, and on Fridays we talked about the week that passed.  

In your technician meetings ensure that someone from parts and service is included. Most folks will ask me what we talk about twice a week.  

There are many things in a meeting to talk about. State of the union, how is business doing, actuals vs targets. How about reviewing CSI scores and reading positive customer comments? 

We talk about processes. Can we improve on the customer journey or how work is dispatched? 

Sometimes as a manager I would ask a tech about a difficult repair they had and if they would share with the group about how they solved the problem. The tech feels good that the boss recognized that they had a difficult repair and that transfer of knowledge will allow the others to learn something.  

Anything that was brought up in the meeting that I didn’t have an answer for I would write down and when I got the answer I would bring it up at the next meeting. Nothing was left to linger and issues were dealt with in a timely manner. 

One great idea that came from my business partner was to write things down on a flip chart. As you got an answer or solved the problem you would ask the group if it was ok to cross it off. You kept the paper on the flip chart with all these crossed off concerns  and if anyone ever said “Nothing ever changes around here” you could refer them to the flip chart with all the crossed off items. It is such a great and powerful visual tool. 

Feedback: do you ask your employees for feedback during your meetings? I would collaborate with my employees for just about everything  from buying a new piece of equipment to hiring the next apprentice.  

For example, when we needed a new piece of equipment like a tire changer my thought was what right do I have buying this piece of equipment? I can’t remember the last time I used a tire changer so why was I making the decision for the workshop on which one to buy. 

I would get the equipment manufacturers to come in and demo the machines and then I would ask the technicians and apprentices which one they liked. 

They usually picked the cheaper one than the one I had in mind.  The same scenario would take place when I was hiring a new employee. I would narrow down the search to my top three candidates and then I would assemble a group of three employees or so to interview them. 

I would then get them to make me a recommendation. Feedback allows employees to feel involved and valued. Your employees have some great ideas and you would be surprised what great feedback they can give you. Remember if they are part of the battle plan they won’t battle the plan.

Recognition is recognizing someone’s contribution, skills or talent to the dealership’s values, mission or goals. 

Some managers are really good at finding the stuff that employees are doing wrong. How about catching them doing something right? We need to be able to celebrate our successes. Find reasons to celebrate something. 

The obvious ones are celebrating a great month where we hit a target. What about celebrating a great CSI score? Maybe you are in the top five in the country — sounds like a great reason to celebrate to me. 

What if one of your apprentices just got licensed? Celebrate this with the team. It will make them feel special  that their boss recognized their achievements. Have you ever got the team together and celebrated a technician’s completion of a difficult repair or the team’s top score in Fixed Right First Visit?

It won’t be easy, nothing worthwhile ever is. Building a culture is a never ending journey but the rewards are worth it.

Employee Development: Some managers find it hard to share things or develop their team. I assume it is some sort of self protectionism thing, if they are the smartest they can’t be replaced. 

The way I figured it is training breeds confidence and confidence breeds better customer service. I once had an employee that said that they wanted my job. From that day forward I simply spent more time working with them. Maybe there was a chance for me to move up in the company but who was going to replace me in my role. 

If you have a succession plan for employees in your department, moving people around and promoting them becomes easier. Do you have employee reviews? Employee reviews are a great way to get to know what your employee’s career goals are. Your manufacturer no doubt has a training department. Use them to make a training plan for your team. 

Employee appreciation: Employees want to feel appreciated. A thank you, a pat on the back or a handshake goes a long way. Thank them for their hard work. Tell them how much you appreciate that they stayed late to knock off a couple of PDI’s. 

Thank your techs for working under the hood of a hot car in July. Reward them for hitting their target hours or a milestone shop hours. I have heard service managers walk out in the shop on a hot July day and holler…. “There is ice cream in the fridge! Help yourselves!”

What would happen if you walked out as the manager into the shop and walked up to each tech and said: “Here is an ice cream and thanks for working in the heat!” There is a difference.  

My favourite is when someone says they have a BBQ to thank their team every Friday in the summer time. “Who BBQ’s?” I ask. Not much of a thank you if you get an apprentice to do the shopping, set up the BBQ and then clean up the mess is it? 

The manager should be the one flipping the burgers and handing it to them and thanking them for their hard work. Take your staff bowling or a night out for dinner and let them see you more relaxed and having fun. 

One more thing, GM’s and dealers, don’t forget your managers. It’s one thing to thank the staff, but your management team makes it happen.

I believe we are in a crisis…it is time to work at getting our staff engaged and have some fun. It won’t be easy, nothing worthwhile ever is. Building a culture is a never ending journey but the rewards are worth it.