What Do Your Employees Think About Your Company?
Senior managers and dealership owners are periodically responsible to officially evaluate and categorize the job performance of their employees. Reviews are often looked at as a double-edged sword. If the employee is hard working and is liked and respected by fellow employees and customers, review time means additional compensation and bonus opportunities. If the employee has ongoing negative work issues and customer complaints, the review process can be stressful with negative feelings being expressed from both sides.
As an owner or manager, have you ever considered requesting the employees to share their thoughts and comments by reviewing the company’s effectiveness from the worker’s perspective? How would each employee candidly rate their employer?
Common Causes of Voluntary Resignations
As the economy improves and the unemployment rate continues in a downward trend, employers are going to have to face the reality that some of their employees, with the greatest skill sets and outstanding customer relations, may start exploring alternative employment opportunities.
Many companies have suspended cost of living and merit pay increases as well as bonuses during the past several years. At times of high unemployment and limited hiring, employers can retain their employees more easily. As the job market begins to expand, especially for workers with a proven work history, technical certifications and real time industry expertise, the seeking out of greener pastures may begin.
Larger companies in metropolitan areas may be the first to experience voluntary resignations of some of their best employees. If a key manager or IT person leaves, chances are they will start recruiting their star fellow workers to join them at their new employer.
The ripple effect can quickly begin a reshuffling of your current personnel situation. Historically, people do not quit companies, they quit managers. The same holds true when a great manager leaves—the people will follow their manager to a new company. During my career, I have had two separate 15-year employers where I was Director of Technical Service.
When I left the first company, within one year I had re-hired more than a dozen employees who had worked for me at my previous job. The same situation repeated itself when the independent dealer I had worked for sold to an OEM. I made the personal decision to resign. Within 12 months over half of the remaining technicians had turned in their voluntary resignation. Most wound up at the same dealership where their previous service manager was now in charge. It is the best kind of worker nepotism. Techs want to feel comfortable in an environment that makes them feel safe and secure. No surprises. No drama. A fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs was discussed in my February 2014 ENX article. Those seeking personal and job security, along with a sense of belonging, understand that a promised raise cannot make up for the day to day comfort of knowing what is expected of them. It is vital that each employee is reassured that they will continue to receive the ongoing education and personal interest and reassurance that they are making a positive difference in their work place.
Now may be an appropriate time to ask your employees to rate the job performance of their employer. Following is a list of questions dealership owners and senior managers may want to consider when scoring their own company’s job performance.
How would your employees answer these questions?
Do I know what is expected of me? This question can be linked directly to the basic question Ken Blanchard addressed in the One Minute Manager. One Minute Goal Setting requires each employee to write a short, under 250 words, explanation of what is expected of them. Does each one of your employees know what they are expected to accomplish on a regular basis?
Do I have the tools to do my job? Tools include both mental and physical needs, including a working environment with enough light, appropriate temperature, adequate working and personal space. When appropriate, does the employee have a computer operating system that they understand how to use and continue to receive ongoing training?
Do I have the opportunity to do what I do best? Never allow the Peter Principle (rising to the level of your own incompetence) to side-track an employee’s ability to advance.
Does my manager care about me as a person? What do you know about each employee? Do you know the name of their significant other, children, favorite sports team or hobby? Do you know their favorite drink of choice, their basic living conditions (own home, has roommates, lives with relatives) or where their children go to school? People don’t care what you know, until they know that you care remains a viable component of appealing to the employee who desires the security of belonging within a larger group.
Does someone encourage my development? There is a broad line between encouraging one’s development and threatening a tech with ‘get certified or get out’. Working with each employee to create a plan for their short and long-term development is vital to the overall growth of your company.
Is my opinion regularly requested and does it seem to matter? Asking for each employee’s input is an easy way to make someone feel they are an important part of the whole. When requesting employee input on significant issues, I always use a secret ballot for voting. This enables each person to express their personal beliefs without fear of peer disapproval.
In the past week, have I received praise or recognition for a job well done? A sincere ‘thank you’ never has a cost on your Profit and Loss spread sheet. Praising in public is an excellent way to express to others a specific example of what type of behavior is being encouraged and rewarded.
In the past 3 months, has someone talked to me about my personal development within the company? Sometimes the greatest reward you can offer an employee is the opportunity to expand their own work capabilities.
Do I regularly have the opportunity to increase my work load and job skills? Personal growth and ongoing training improves the entire company. Techs love to be trained (as long as they are not afraid of failing). It makes their job easier. It provides additional status among their peers. It breaks up the day to day work routine. Training allows them to meet new people in a classroom setting. Sending a tech away to training school allows them to see firsthand how their dealership stacks up to others. If you have a great service department, techs return from school grateful they are not working under the standards that other techs have complained about in their training class.
Do I understand the importance of my job in the overall scale of the company? Periodically being told that the way you do your job helps to ensure the overall success of the company boosts the ego and reassures each employee that they are being noticed and appreciated.
Employees and employers both have a set of responsibilities that must be attained on an ongoing basis. As an employer, it is important to consistently reassess your own performance, not just that of your employees. That way, you can ensure your company takes a proactive stance in retaining star employees and circumventing a high turnover rate. Understanding the joint and individual needs of every person within your company will increase the camaraderie, overall effectiveness and profitability of your company’s work force.
