After nearly 40 years in the automotive repair business, there’s one thing about recruiting that has never changed: Great people don’t fall from the sky. You have to find them. You have to pursue them. You have to give them a reason to talk to you. And once you get them through the door, you’d better have a business worth joining.

Today, technology has made recruiting easier than at any other point in my career. We can search thousands of résumés, advertise across multiple platforms, communicate instantly, conduct Zoom interviews, and identify candidates without ever leaving the shop. But technology doesn’t replace recruiting. It simply gives great recruiters better tools.

Recruiting is a Process, Not an Event

For decades, I have followed a disciplined recruiting and selection process:

• Review staffing levels.
• Review job descriptions.
• Establish hiring criteria.
• Launch the advertising campaign.
• Review résumés.
• Conduct a pre-interview screening.
• Hold a one-on-one interview (today, often by Zoom).
• Conduct a working interview.
• Make the selection decision.
• Establish a 90-day performance plan.
• Conduct a formal performance review.

There is a reason every step exists. Too many shop owners wait until somebody quits and suddenly scream, “We need a technician!” That’s not recruiting. That’s reacting. World-class organizations are always looking for talent.

Stop Waiting for Candidates 

One of the most powerful pieces of our recruiting strategy is something I call hands-on recruiting. We don’t just place an advertisement and pray. We go hunting.

Mystery shopping can be an incredibly effective recruiting tool. Call other businesses. Experience their customer service. Listen carefully. When somebody answers the telephone and absolutely knocks your socks off, you’ve potentially discovered talent. Maybe it’s a service advisor. Maybe it’s a manager. Maybe it’s someone outside automotive altogether who possesses the attitude, communication skills, and hospitality mindset you’re looking for. Find great people. Engage them. Build a relationship. And when appropriate, invite them to have a conversation. Don’t hope great people find you; pursue them instead. 

Zoom Changed the Game 

Zoom and other video technology have dramatically improved our ability to recruit.

I love Zoom interviews because you can learn considerably more about someone than you can from a résumé or telephone conversation:

• How do they communicate?
• How do they present themselves?
• Are they engaged?
• Are they prepared?
• Do they make eye contact?
• Do they have energy?
• Would you put this person in front of your customers?

And you can accomplish that initial face-to-face interaction without either party spending half a day traveling.

And although you can use technology to make the recruiting process faster, never allow technology to make it less personal. People still hire people.

Here’s the Part Shop Owners Don’t Want to Hear 

You can have the greatest recruiting system in America, but if your shop is a mess, nobody great is coming. And if somehow they do come, they won’t stay. Before complaining about the technician shortage, advisor shortage, or manager shortage, take a hard look at what you’re asking talented people to join. Walk through your facility as though you’re seeing it for the first time.

• Is it spotless?
• Are the bathrooms immaculate?
• Are the bays organized?
• Does the equipment work?
• Do employees have the tools and technology necessary to succeed?
• Do people treat one another with respect?
• Does your shop deliver genuine auto hospitality to employees as well as customers?

Most importantly: Would you want to work for you? That’s the real question.

Great People Have Options 

The best technician in your market probably already has a job. The best service advisor probably isn’t scrolling employment advertisements tonight. The best manager probably isn’t desperate. Great people have options. That means you’re not really interviewing them; they’re interviewing you, and here’s what they’re looking at:  

• Your reputation.
• Your building.
• Your equipment.
• Your compensation.
• Your benefits.
• Your culture.
• Your leadership.
• Your image.

Everything communicates something. If you expect an A-player to walk away from a good job and join your organization, you’d better be able to demonstrate why joining your team improves their life and career.

Sometimes the Problem Isn’t Recruiting

This may make some people uncomfortable, but sometimes an automotive business doesn’t have an employee problem; it has an ownership problem. There are shop owners trying desperately to recruit world-class employees into businesses they haven’t developed into world-class organizations. That’s incredibly difficult. Leadership has to come first.

Hiring is Only the Beginning 

Once you’ve found the right person, the work isn’t finished. Next, you have to develop them. Our process involves a 90-day performance plan that aims to: 

• Define expectations.
• Set measurable goals.
• Provide training.
• Coach constantly.
• Recognize improvement.
• Correct problems quickly.

And then conduct a real performance review. Never hire someone and throw them the keys. 

Recruiting gets people through your door, but leadership determines whether they become champions. The industry may be changing, but my playbook is still the same: 

• Use technology to find them.
• Use process to qualify them.
• Use leadership to close them.
• Use culture to keep them.

Build a shop where great people want to work. Become the leader great people want to follow. Then stop waiting for talent to magically appear and go find it. Because great people don’t fall from the sky. We build the systems that find them, develop them, and keep them.