DealersEdge Professional Forums

I have been in parts for 11 years, 5 of which I was a parts manager. I hired a good crew and got good results from them. I had a oppritunity to become a service manager and took it. It seems like I have become a high priced babysitter. I'm a laid back person and the first 4 months of being laid back got me walked on. When I act like jerk its the only way I can get their attention. Is this normal?

It shouldn't be-but sadly all too often this is normal. You can try a couple of things. Have a come to Jesus(Budha, whoever) meaning and tell them. "I can be a nice guy or I can be a jerk-it's up to you."

Or you can try laying it on the line what you expect and start firing those who don't keep up. You may only have to fire one.

I agree with Texas LP.Outline what you want,have an after hours meeting with maybe a dinner because the dinner meeting kind of makes it more important than one in the shop.You may want the dealer himself present(depending on the dealer,they sometimes let them get away with murder rather than discipline or fear of finding new ones which lately is'nt that hard.I would not open it up to debate but if anyone has any questions they can talk to you one at a time in private.

s79599b

All service managers are babysitters .. you need to establish guidelines and set consequences for not meeting those guidelines and follow through.

decide what you want done and then go over it with the employees and make sure they understand what is going to happen if these guidelines are not met or followed

if you do not follow through then you will be in trouble ..

paul

Wow, this thread struck a chord with me. Because after running a pretty smooth parts dept for 7 years with my 12 employees...I too, took the job as Service Mgr with 45 employees.

Babysitting does seem to be the word that comes to mind most often. Being a nice guy isn't cutting either...and I'm about to start rolling heads myself. I tend to agree with texaslp...that it may only have to be one.

This is truly a sensitive subject. Yes, you can get results without having to "be a jerk". The one thing that I see all too often...no one properly communicated the expectations to the employees. You can't expect rules, processes, policies, etc. to be followed if they've not been made clear to everyone. Don't assume that everyone knows what you want.
One great thing, you didn't just take over and start to make changes. It's always best to observe, see what works and what doesn't work, then make changes.
Make sure you have made it clear what your expectations are, put them in writing, get employees to sign off that they understand what you expect and realize there will be consequences if things don't improve, set realistic time goals for turning things around. If after coaching and counseling, things don't get better...then maybe you don't have the right people.
Best of luck!

Linda

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Linda Graham Hansen
Auto Dealer Focus
www.autodealerfocus.com

There is a reason that I dubbed my Service Manager position as "Adult Day Care."

I requires a great deal of effort to keep everyone productive and happy. I tried to balance being fair, flexible but very firm about reinforcing rules and procedures.

I could sit on a barstool and tell stories with the best of 'em after 17 years at it.

Lhansen hit the nail on the head IMHO.

[This message has been edited by ScottM (edited 06-20-2007).]

Brian:

You have gotten some great advice. I would add that you will be judged more on your actions than your words. Yelling and screaming do nothing but make you look bad and provide entertainment for your employees.

I always liked Teddy Roosevelts expression Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far. There is nothing wrong with helping out an employee and I think this is part of a managers job. You will find that some employees require more maintenance than others. Your people have to understand that as long as they perform at an acceptable level you are willing to listen. If they are not producing, then there will be consequences.

Good luck!!


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Frank Burrows
fburrows@absdata.com