You’d probably agree that your most valuable assets walk out of the door every evening. You’d likely also agree that every one of your employees is unique, bringing a varying level of skills to your shop, but also each displaying different personality traits that can affect the harmony within your business.
As you encourage your employees to work as a team to achieve shop goals and deliver the utmost in customer service, your management style can have a huge impact on employee motivation and engagement.
That’s where being able to adapt your leadership style comes into play.
Since you can’t mold employees into behavior models that predict how they will react in every situation, or take direction from management, they need great leadership, says David Rogers, chief operating officer of Keller Bros. Inc. (www.kellerbros.com).
Great leadership, Rogers continues, means that shops need a leader who will set down clear policies, follow those policies themselves and hold employees accountable for also following them 100% of the time. “Great leadership means providing an example of care, consideration and higher principles. Great leadership also means being consistent and requiring follow-through to create great results,” he adds.
A great leader must strike a “balance,” essentially being able to play two roles: the compassionate, understanding leader; and the strong leader who holds his or her team accountable for following policies and procedures.
The caring side of leadership, Rogers explains, is when you make it absolutely clear that you’re happy with your employees’ performance.
On the other hand, the drill instructor side of leadership comes out when things are broken. When employees aren’t following policies or procedures, your job is to make it absolutely clear that you’re unhappy with how they’re performing, and how they can fix it.
So, beyond thinking about cash flow, daily repair orders, parts that need to be ordered and cars that need to be fixed, also focus on your shop environment and the harmony, or lack thereof, among your team. If you build a team that has a vested interest in working together to achieve common goals, then, and only then, will you truly be successful.
