by Murray Voth

As we discussed in building block number one, the primary, most important purpose of a business, the reason it exists, is to meet or exceed the needs of its customers. The result is that the customer receives value for the money they spend in the business.

READ BUILDING BLOCK #1: THE CLIENTS

Once the cycle has begun, the most important focus of a business is to take care of its employees. The result is that the employees are able to do work that is important, meaningful and be well compensated.

There are so many directions I can take with this. A lot has already been written about employee engagement and motivation, the difference between all of the different generations, pay plans, shop culture, and the apparent lack of work ethic in the younger generations.  Few years back, I wrote a two-part series for Indie Garage on the shortage of good employees that is a good starting point. However, I am going to follow the three points in my opening statement.

Human beings fundamentally want to do work that is important. Regardless of our role, position, or experience, we want to contribute to a positive outcome for the group or community we are part of. As an employee, I want to feel like what I did in my eight hours today was important to the company I work for.

There is an old story of a noble riding through the countryside and seeing a group of young people mixing clay in a pit, stomping it with their bare feet. Most of them looked miserable, with the mud and water over their knees. When the noble asked them what they were doing this for, most of them just shrugged their shoulders. But he noticed one girl who seemed to be happier than the rest. He asked her what she was doing, and she said, “I am helping build the new cathedral in our town. This clay will be made into bricks that will be used to build the walls. If I mix the clay really well, when the bricks are baked in the kiln, they will be much stronger and hold up the walls better.”

Each employee needs to understand how their job impacts the bigger picture. They need regular feedback from their team members and their supervisors. They need to be given a set of metrics or outcomes that their positions create, so they can tell if they are contributing or not. And then, they need to be coached on how to improve their contribution or overcome obstacles that are hampering them. At this point, some of you might be thinking of current or past coworkers who did not seem to care or were lazy. Some of you talk about how to hold these people accountable, or how to fire them. There is generally a good reason for why they are the way they are. They probably started out wanting to contribute, but lost that desire working for bad managers and leaders. I know I sound idealistic at times, but I am convinced that when people are shown why their role is important, what their job entails, how to do the job, and the impact it has on the people around them, they tend to work better and enjoy it.

As I said, human beings want to do work that is meaningful. They want to feel that the work they do is part of a larger purpose; human beings deeply need to be part of something bigger than themselves. But how can working at an automotive shop be meaningful? I mean, don’t we just fix broken cars?

Simon Sinek, in his book, The Infinite Game, writes that all organizations need to have a “just cause” – a larger vision than just making a profit, creating jobs, or giving good service. The cost of owning a vehicle has grown exponentially over the decades. The average Canadian has $20,000 in automotive debt, while the average new car payment is now over $1000 a month. But if we in the aftermarket could help our clients save thousands of dollars by keeping them in their existing vehicle for another five years or more, would that not be a good cause? Even though my primary job as an automotive service technician is to service and repair cars, and I know that our customers pay us well for what we do, how would it feel every day to know that I prevented someone from going $60,000 into debt for a new car, by keeping their existing car reliable?

What does it mean for an employee to be well compensated? For too long, modern business has thought of labour as purely a cost – in fact it’s usually the company’s largest cost. Too many owners feel they need to manage that cost; they need to pay as little as possible, while at the same time trying to get the most out of their employees. If your employees do the bulk of the work in your company, would you not see them as the biggest investment you can make? Would you not want to pay well, so you attracted the best and the brightest? And wouldn’t employees want to give their best to someone who is generous with them?

If you as a business owner see your employees as a cost, you will begin to resent them, and they will pick up on that. But if you are looking for a return on the investment you need for this cost, they will feel valuable, and you will find the money. There needs to be a shift in our philosophy. Rather than pay people just enough so they can get by, pay them well so they can thrive.

Let’s start with the more junior positions: valet, service advisor assistant, or brand-new apprentice. The average living wage for Canada is about $25 an hour, though it will vary by region. Regardless of the minimum wage, there are many fast-food chains that pay close to $20 an hour. So why would we start these positions for anything lower than that? The valet who drives the shuttle and washes your client’s vehicles is one of the most important roles in the company. Research shows that customers’ memory of a service experience is highly influenced by the last thing that happened. Driving away in a poorly washed car will erase all the hard work of a highly skilled and experience service advisor or technician.

When it comes to your more experienced people, you need to work towards being the place that pays the highest in your market for that position. It could be hourly, a salary, or a combination of a healthy base with some kind of incentive. Most of my clients now have group health plans for their teams, and some are bringing in group RRSPs. Everyone can make more money in this industry, if you operate the business profitably, and far from being a cost, employees are one of your greatest resources for making that happen.

This column also appeared in the 7th Annual Aftermarket Intelligence Issue produced as a combo issue in conjunction with our sister publication, Jobber Nation.