One main challenge which many shop owners wrestle with is finding and keeping the right talent. It’s a big question. So, how do we deal with such a challenge?

A simple yet effective strategy is to establish clear standards of performance, which ties your people’s performance directly to that of the business at large. In other words, hold your staff accountable to the success of your company. This creates a culture of interdependence. The owner’s success is dependent on the success of the employees, while the success of the employee is dependent on the success of the owner. With a set up such as this, employees will have the sense that the work they do is truly valuable and valued. One pro-active measure worth investing in is training.

Your employees are much more likely to contribute to your business in a meaningful way if they’re good at what they do. Investing in your high performers will help develop your human resource pipeline. Putting together systems such as these will, despite the initial extra effort, go a long way in improving the quality of your personal and business life. Often, issues with recruiting and retaining talented staff in autobody repair centres stems from the lack of strategic pipelines or recruitment plans. This issue often becomes more apparent with the millennial generation coming into the workforce.

Millennial’s often don’t see the collision repair industry as something offering career potential. Young staff begin working in collision repair facilities with keen energy. However, after months of doing nothing but detailing and sweeping floors, they want more. So, they start thinking of leaving for greener pastures. If they do leave then they have to be replaced which means finding the time and resources to frequently retrain new staff. Time is money and the cost of replacement can become a problem.

To solve this, give your employees the opportunity to move upwards in your business. Strive to make sure that every one of your employees is aware that, yes, they can move upwards and grow if they stay with you. They need to know what exactly it is they are working towards, and how they can do it well. If you’re asking your people to change, adapt and improve, it’s difficult for them to be motivated if there’s no payoff—so, give them the recognition they deserve.

With the right talent development plan in place, your staff will be motivated to succeed and add value to the organization. This has a considerable payoff in terms of customer satisfaction and the ability to entrust your people with managing the business.

Happier employees lead to happier customers which make for happier business owners.

To learn how Simplicity Car Care can help with training and developing your technicians, click here.