how can i stop the whining?

[gravlguts]

i have a shop with an older than average demographic. the techs have worked together & fought with each other for many years. the SM 2 tours before me fostered and even ecouraged the bickering. the guy before me gave up & left. i did ok with a cohesive team for the first 2 years, but this last year has been hell & is getting worse. i have tried positive team building ploys & even a couple of key firings to no avail. they still bicker & fight & pay way too much attention to what everyone else is doing and earning.

any suggestions?

[johnny o]

A good quality pair of ear plugs can work wonders. Once installed, everyones complaining seems to go away.

[robc]

There's a demotivational poster that comes to mind - "Sometimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all the unhappy people" http://www.despair.com/demotivation.html

And I am sure that is most are thinking - but you've already had a round of that and things didn't seem to improve.

First and foremost, are the techs able to make a wage nearly every week of the year? I am not talking about their flat rate, but the amount of work available. If the shop is struggling to get work in the door and slows down, techs naturally and understandably get worried about providing for their family and it shows up at work. Plus when everyone is really busy there is enough work to spread around and not enough time to worry about the next guy. For some younger techs this might not be an issue because that's why those tool boxes have wheels and they'll just move on. A more senior work-force is at least somewhat committed to the shop they have put 10, 15 20 years into and don't want to start over somewhere else.

It is tough when it becomes obvious that a tech no longer really wants to work for a shop, but out of habit and being in a comfort zone won't leave.

Next, I don't want to get all like new-agey and feng shui on you here, but the first thing I always look at is the working environment. Is the shop a dark cave full of dim fluorescent that just seems to suck the life out of you? Does the enviroment make it at least semi-fun to be there? (well let's tolerable at least.)

Third, people become more ambivelent when they feel they are at the mercy of the service lords for their working conditions. They have to have some measure of control over what goes on. I always start slow - allow the techs to pick the easy junk like preferred shop supplies, uniforms, etc. And if possible work them up from there.

For instance, I find the biggest thing that causes fights is apparent favoritism in dispatching work and what is preceived incompetent co-workers (as is, "oh Rob ordered that part, then there is no way I am putting it on." "Or Rob is so bad he could muck-up a junkyard.") If the opportunity presents itself, let the tech see what goes into deciding the jobs for the day and why things are dispatched the way they are. For some shops, I've seen a rotating lead tech who does the dispatching work well.

At least those are a start.

------------------
** Rob, Editor Dealersedge/WD&S **
Help is only a message post away!
robc@dealersedge.com

[gravlguts]

very cool poster!

you bring up some good points Rob.

on the wage front, our guys are making $23 FRT which is above other local nissan stores and is on par with the other local asian imports. during slow times, the shop average is around 95-115 hrs for a 2 week period. in busy season, it jumps to 110-130 for the average tech. actual income earned should not be an issue as they have a much more consistent income than guys at many neighboring shops.

you bring up a very good point regarding building environment. this is an older shop with an almost dickens like feeling to it. it is very old, dark & industrial. we have painted the walls several times & installed modern lighting, but until the ceiling is degreased & painted it is a losing battle.

as for control in the shop, if there is anything they want (within reason) they get it. both my GM and i like to spend on tools etc so we always have the neat new stuff that they want.

the current problem is a recurring one. the perception of favouritism. at the moment, the biggest whiner is the guy who is the last tech in every day & is one of the first to go home. he feels that the top producer is fed & stirs up the rest of the shop. the big producer is the first one in every day & usually one of the last to leave. he DOES perform more large services than anyone else, however it is in proportion to everyone else when you consider that he works on as much as 50% more vehicles. he chooses to work longer hours & works harder/smarter during those hours. he does more services, but he also does more recalls & more zero dollar ro's than anyone else.

i really am beginning to believe that separating all of these guys permanently would be a godsend.

[roytunno]

You know I have had the same problems over the years. I went to a seminar that had a guy that told me the best thing I have ever heard. He broke down the techs into 3 catagories.
1. Camels
2. Sponges
3. Spectators

The Camels are the techs we seem to forget about. They come to work everyday on time, get the job done right, always go along with our ideas to make things better (even the funky fung shui type), help the other techs we they need to, and are alway availiable to take care of things when you are in a pinch. The only bad things about the Camels, is that they never let you know what is going on in their heads until it's too late. They will come into your office and resign and you will not be able to convince them that you really need them to stay.

The Sponges are the newly educated, hungry for information, no bad attitudes, and paid at the lower end of the scale. These techs are looking for some direction and they will latch on to any techs that will give them the time of day. They will do anything to fit in with the crowd. They are just like freshmen in high school. These tech are our future.

Now to the Spectators...We all have them in our shops. These are the guys that have worked everywhere, done everything, know everyone, and have been screwed by every dealer the have worked for. They are always late and never will do anything that is above or beyond the normal scope of a techs job description. They are the first one that will be in your office complaining that one tech is getting all of the gravy work and all they get is the crap. They will make their rounds in the morning from stall to stall talking about what they did last night or over the weekend. They never meet their promise times and the always complain about how much the parts department sucks. These guys are the most work and the least profitable guys. These guys will infect the Sponges!!You will end up someday firing these guys or something other. This is your problem.

After I was explained about these guys, I started putting the techs I had in to the 3 catagories. I put a blind ad in the local paper looking for techs. I found the replacement for all of the Spectators in the shop and I fired all of them on the sameday. The camels were happy, the sponges knew we were not messing around, and the spectators are now somewhere else sucking up the moral!!
I know how painful it is to think about replacing techs, but think of it this way, if your wife or girlfriend treated you the same way as a Spectator, wouldn't you replace her? Just my $0.02....

[This message has been edited by roytunno (edited 02-20-2004).]

[gravlguts]

great analagies roy! thanks!

[rick in dc]

We have gone to a computerized central dispatch at many of our shops in order to combat the problem of favoritism (or at least the perception of favoritism).

We are a UCS user, but most DMS providers should have some sort of computerized dispatch system. It was a little work to set up, and we had to fight through some of the grumbling, but now we have a completely unbiased dispatcher the computer system.

Now the attitude in our shops is a lot better and we are even starting to bring in techs from outside who have heard about the way our shops are loaded and want a "fair shot" at earning just as much as the next guy.

[partsgrandad]

make a list of all the tech numbers on the wall and put the biggest whiner in charge of the up's in the shop

this has worked well for the last month and i think that the service manager will keep it going untill the next guy starts bitching and complaining and then he will be put in charge of the list.... to be continued