Are You Running a Reverse Car Wash?

Are You Running a Reverse Car Wash?

By 

Eric Twiggs

“Many business problems are personal problems in disguise."  Michael Port

“Eric, you don't understand, it's hard to find good people in my area."  Said Ray, a former client.   He just lost his best technician to a competitor and didn't know what to do next.  During the eighteen months that I had been coaching him, his shop had been a revolving door for techs and he was on his third writer. 

”What is the morale like at the shop?" I asked.  "Eric, the morale isn't the issue, my area is less populated than your other ATI shops, and my competition is able to pay more than I can.  My shop is different"    

I decided to conduct an exit interview with the technician named Jack who was leaving.   Jack went on for twenty minutes about how Ray belittles him and the staff, never recognizes anything positive that he does, and refuses to get any of the equipment fixed.  He then told me that the rest of the staff is looking for other work as well.  As it turns out RAY was the problem, NOT his area. 

If I were to interview one of your employees, what would they say about working for you?  If you don't know or don't want to know, chances are you have a culture problem.   Think about it, if you were the best technician in the market with several offers on the table, would you work for Ray?

 Bad culture corrupts good people.  It's like a reverse car wash, they come in clean and leave dirty!   So how do you establish the right culture and avoid the reverse car wash syndrome?  Keep reading and you will learn the three types of meetings that will drastically improve your shop culture. 

Daily Morning Huddle Meetings

The morning huddle meeting should last between five and fifteen minutes and is conducted before the shop opens.  It gives you a chance to celebrate your wins, and address what went wrong from the previous day.    It also provides a platform to communicate individual goals along with the game plan to accomplish them.

 A recent University of California study concluded that a person who communicates their goal to a coach or mentor is 33% more likely to achieve it in comparison to someone who doesn’t.  People support what they help to create.  Having your employees tell you their goals will improve their morale and increase your bottom line. 

Weekly One on Ones

This style of meeting is typically done with the owner and the second in command.  The one on one should last between fifteen and thirty minutes.  Quite often, the owner and second in command are like two ships passing in the night and are not on the same page. 

As a result, problems go unresolved which negatively impacts the morale.  The weekly one on one opens up the lines of communication and keeps both parties accountable.

Monthly Team meetings

 Having scheduled monthly meetings gives your employees the opportunity to voice their concerns about how the business is running, and be a part of the solution for improvement.  Bad news doesn’t get better with age.  Having a regular day and time set aside where issues can be addressed, keeps the small fires from becoming big ones.  

When I ran shops, I always had the monthly meeting on a day that I was scheduled to be off.  When my people saw me coming in on my off day, it sent a message that it was important and took away any excuses for them not being able to attend. 

So there you have it.  If you commit to implementing the three meeting types, you will attract good people that can develop into great ones and pull the plug on your reverse car wash. 

Sincerely,

Eric Twiggs

www.autotraining.net 

301 575 9120  

PS.   I have a list of morale improvement best practices that you can use at your meetings.  Email me at etwiggs@autotraining.net if you would like a copy.