There is more in the air this month than the beautiful autumn-colored leaves cascading from the trees. The virtual AAPEX/SEMA/TIA events hit the aftermarket airwaves in full force the first week of November, serving up an overflowing bundle of technical and business management programs to suit anyone’s training needs.
Many of the business-operations sessions focused on it being a good time to reflect on your business and perform an audit, especially in the areas of company culture and employee retention—two important barometers that impact productivity and profitability.
Are you in the market to fill a position at your company? Rick White, president of 180BIZ, advised that the old ways of attracting top-performing talent won’t work; “You have to stop chasing top talent and start attracting them,” he said in his AAPEX presentation on how to find top talent.
Employees who fall into the top-talent category feed “off of” each other (rather than “on” each other like toxic talent who are extremely disengaged at work), build momentum and magnify the energy of your overall team, he explained.
To be on their game, top talent seeks bosses who are caring and engaged, said White, who offered several key attributes that exemplary bosses should possess. One of them was to actively listen to employees who come into your office to ask you something. Look up from your work and give them your undivided attention, he said.
Another important trait that bosses should possess is to encourage employees and tell them you appreciate them every day, through your words and actions, which must be immediate and specific. “Don’t take the people around you for granted. Make sure your team knows they matter,” White advised.
The AAPEX presentation, “Creating a Business Culture that Employees Embrace” by Haas Performance Consulting’s President Bill Haas and Creative Director Sara Fraser emphasized the way to influence employees’ attitude toward their work is to provide an environment that includes effective management, empowerment, recognition and a balance of challenges and opportunity.
They stressed that managers set the tone for their business and its culture helps attract the right people, but it can also be the reason why people leave. Prospective employees will determine if your company’s values, ethics and culture align with what they had in mind. So, when you are interviewing someone, they are, in essence, interviewing you, explained Haas.
Every proactive effort you make to create a cohesive, gratifying company culture will pay dividends in satisfied and motivated employees who are fully engaged in your mission, take ownership of their role and work as a team to deliver highest-quality repairs and elevated customer service that will outshine the competition.
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Check out the rest of the November digital edition of Tire Review here.
