Schmidt: Hiring Made Easy: Creating a Professional Process for Auto Shop Growth

HIRING DOESN’T HAVE TO BE HATEFUL. 
By Lauralee Schmidt 
Hiring is a topic that never stops being discussed in the auto industry. It is often encompassed in the banter of “there aren’t enough techs or qualified professionals.”  While I do fully believe there is a shallow pool of talent, I also believe there is a shallow pool of shops that are interviewing, onboarding, and retaining their team in an engaging and fulfilling way. Before you comment that there is no talent coming through your door, ask yourself if you have a business worth showing up to each day. Why should someone work for you? Why should they give their time and their talents to you? People are choosier about where they are spending their time, so when it comes to work, the business must be worth it.  

I recently read a shop owner’s comment that stated he interviewed a tech, hired him on the spot, and asked him if he could start tomorrow. Then he was confused as to why that tech didn’t show up the next day, despite the tech telling him he would. I inquired deeper with the shop owner. As I suspected, the shop owner hadn’t given a specific time to show up, hadn’t given any instructions or aid in moving a toolbox, didn’t have any paperwork prepared with hiring documents presented, and had no onboarding plan. The shop owner had no preparation for a new employee outside of, “show up here tomorrow.”   That’s messy business. I wouldn’t want to work for that either. He lost that technician. And I understand why.

If one shop owner is approaching hiring this way, I imagine others are as well. I get that sometimes our backs are against the wall and we need help in our shops. I get that it is hard to find people who will show up to interviews, let alone show up to work. I get that it feels awful to have more work than bodies to move it out the door. I’ve been in all those positions at some point, so I can fully relate. But I also know the reward of having a clear interview, hiring, and onboarding process. Let me tell you, it is FAR easier to have great staffing by using a great process. And it is far better to wait and hire patiently and professionally, than haphazardly under pressure.

Develop a Formal Process

To begin the interview process, we require a resume and an interview appointment. This step alone weeds out those who are unprofessional. When a candidate arrives, I have a few interview documents ready to go that we can lean on to gain information and spark conversation. Candidates are invited back more than once, and we have one to three rounds of questions for service, basic administration, technicians and leadership that range from phone to in-person interviews. As we move through the process, the questions become more personalized and detailed to the role. We rarely (to never) hire in the first interview. We want to see prospective employees more than once to see what changes occurred from the first to the third visit. We look for consistent and inconsistent behaviors. I like to keep people talking and moving before I hire them. I want them to show me who they are. Interviewing is like the first few dates before committing to a relationship; the meetings should be meaningful and conversational. You don’t want to just jump in and marry a stranger.

Celebrate Your New Hire

Once you decide to hire someone, make it a big deal. You want them to join your team. They are the chosen one! This is special. I like to ask people to coffee or lunch when offering them their role. For those I’ve hired out of state, I send a gift once they accept a Zoom offer. These are the first moments of being their new employer and you can make or break the tone of your company here. When I offer them their role, I have their wages and benefits that I walk through with them that outline all pay and pay-related items. I go through their welcome letter with them and cover all first-day needs. I show them a quick overview of their employee handbook that I send immediately digitally. I also let them know I will have a hard copy ready on the first day. I let them know every single detail of what will occur that first day, and together we make a plan to move their box. Before they leave that coffee or call with me, there is zero question of what is going to occur from that moment to the first day of onboarding. This sets the tone for the professional situation they are about to join. Leaving intricate details about the first day creates potential confusion, and an opportunity for a great new hire to slip away. Be thorough.

Set the Tone With Clear Directives

Now that you’ve committed to working together, it is time to roll out your onboarding process. This is when final hiring paperwork, basic HR, role expectations, KPI standards, and basic training come to life. A syllabus walks my new hire through weeks one and two of their onboarding. They are partnered with shop specialists to ensure the strongest person is training them in each area. Every one of every skill level goes through much of the same items. I find this shows and grows the culture, it embeds the new hire, it reduces the new hire’s questions, and it creates confidence in their role. These are all positive momentums needed for launching someone into a new role. When you release someone blindly into their position, it sets a tone of dissatisfaction almost immediately. They don’t know what’s expected of them, and that’s a terrible spot to be in as a new employee.

A little process preparation is all you need to be on your way to being great at hiring and onboarding. While there are other facets to attracting talent, such as a nice facility and strong culture, there is such stability inside of starting a new employee with prepared paperwork and a plan for success. Once you’ve taken time to create or acquire these hiring assets, you are going to find the hiring and onboarding piece of business so much easier and enjoyable. While there may be a shortage of auto industry people for a while, there won’t be forever. Take the time now to start building a great process, so you can build a great team.