Investors in People – a recruitment tool?
Can the Investors in People standard help you find the best staff?
Published: 09 July, 2021
After running a successful repair centre for 20 years, it was clear that finding quality staff to grow and improve our business was becoming more problematic. A respected friend who runs a communications company locally had posted on Facebook that he had recently joined the Investors in People Standard and had transformed his business through it. After a short conversation with him, I got in touch with IIP (Investors in People), and our journey began.
The Investors in People Standard is a business improvement tool designed to advance an organisation’s performance through its employees. It provides an expert overview of the organisation, offering valuable insight and pointing the way to improvements from an independent and objective perspective. One of the claims made by IIP is as a “benchmark for any well-run organisation, signalling to customers and employees your commitment to good business and people management excellence.”
Humbled and horrified
What difference has it made to us? Well, firstly, the biggest change has been me. As a very hands-on Managing Director and co-owner of our family-run business, I had always assumed that if the staff had a problem, they would tell me. However, when I conducted my first staff appraisal (on the recommendation of IIP) I was both humbled and horrified when I learned of issues in the workplace and in employees private lives. It became clear that there had to be opportunities for more one-on-one conversations and also Toolbox Talks, a short meeting in the workshop to keep staff up-to-date with any changes or issues cropping up in the workplace. This keeps staff more connected with the success and progress of the business and, hopefully, more involved with the day to day concerns as well as providing opportunities to share any issues.
Aims and retention
Through working with IIP we also now have a company profile which states the following:
Overarching Aim: To build a loyal clientele and a company that will experience longevity and fane a trustworthy reputation, with client recommendations at the heart of what the business stands for.
Mission: To deliver optimum customer service at a fair price, and the promise to customers is we will Cut Costs - Not Corners. We deliver on this promise by providing a professional service to every customer, ensuring work is completed right the first time and to budget.
Values: Loyalty to staff and customers; Good workmanship; Quality customer care; Investment in staff development (personal and professional).
Our employee contracts have been updated and we have company handbooks for each member of staff. As part of the ongoing IIP involvement each member of staff has an interview with an IIP representative who then gives anonymous feedback to me along with any recommendations for implementation.
We began this journey with IIP in 2015 along with Investors in Young People (IYP) for our staff under 28 and became the only organisation of our type in Britain to attain both awards at the same time.
Has this helped us recruit staff? Probably not. Has it helped us retain staff? Absolutely! Being in a situation where we’re about to appoint a new member of staff we find ourselves in a position of not having to advertise. The new employee about to start with us is coming because of a recommendation from another member of staff. Just as our business grows with customers recommending customers, maybe our staff will continue to grow with employees recommending other potential employees.
Graham Clark is the owner at Anderson Clark Motor Repairs, an award-winning independent garage based in Inverness.
- Bristol garage gears up for growth after “busiest year ever”
Westerleigh Car Centre in Bristol is set to increase staffing levels as it gears up to manage workload in what has been “its busiest year ever.”
- New President/COO at The Parts Alliance
The Parts Alliance has appointed Mark Eburne as its new President and COO.
Mark previously had senior roles at a range of organisations across a number of sectors, including Wolseley, National Grid, RAC and TRW. Most recently, he was Chief Executive at building parts manufacturer Sigmat.
- Don’t let me be misunderstood: The importance of marketing
Marketing is one of the most misunderstood functions found in business. This may have to do with the flashy image that is often associated with the marketing profession. Perhaps it is also seen as something that is only done by marketing people and does not concern the rest of the business.
Whatever the reasons for any negative image that marketing may have, it is essential to realise that marketing is vital to ensure the survival and growth of any business. It does not matter whether the business is large or small or what products or services the business supplies, the truth is that marketing cannot be ignored and needs to be a part of the culture of any successful organisation.
Marketing should concern everybody in a business as it sets the context in which sales can take place. Whatever your role, you play a part in setting that context. It’s no different in our automotive repair sector.
Difference
While studying for my degree at Loughborough University only a few years ago, I came across a couple of quotes. The first was from Theodore Levitt, a well know professor of business management and a former editor of the Harvard Business Review. He said: “The difference between marketing and sales is pretty simple – sales is a process of getting rid of stuff you don’t want, while marketing is the process of letting people know you have the stuff they both want and need.”
The second was from a Proctor & Gamble executive who said: “The purpose of marketing is to provide services and products that solve people’s problems at a profit.”
This stayed with me. When I thought about it carefully and constantly, I came to the conclusion that both concepts are common. They involve someone other than yourself the customer who responds to your innovative products and services, buys them, thereby making your business life possible.
I believed for years that customers have been taken for granted, ignored, or considered part of the territory in our industry. They were after all, curious, demanding and sometimes annoying. They called incessantly, came by unexpectedly, and questioned us endlessly. In general, they were considered a pain - a cost of doing business. Of course, that was until they started making other choices, taking their business elsewhere to individuals or businesses more responsive to their wishes, needs, wants and expectations.
Philosophy
If you want to survive in this ever-changing business world you have to embrace a new business philosophy, making a move away from mass marketing or transactional marketing to one to one marketing or relationship marketing.
Transactional marketing is all about numbers – nothing else matters. We’ve all seen the larger corporates like Sky TV, Vodaphone, and utility companies to name a few, offering far better terms for new customers than any existing customer can get. Lack of thought is given to how an existing customer may feel if he or she saw an offer that was never been offered to them who’ve been loyal customers over a number of years –it’s a real kick in the teeth. It’s all about pushing product or service these are not relationships at all. In a transactional business environment, making the sale is the only objective. Relationship marketing is the polar opposite. It’s about as far away as you can get from transactional marketing.
One of the biggest mistakes I see regularly within the garage repair sector is the constant advertising specifically in local press with ‘come and get me’ offers in order to attract new business. Most of these already established business whether large or small will rarely measure the effectiveness of such campaigns or analyse the type of customers they are attracting and indeed very few of these businesses actually understand the ‘diamonds’ that already exist within their database, a concept we looked into at length in the June issue of Aftermarket.
There is no point trying to attract vast numbers of new customers and provide them with a sub-standard service based on a cheap price which can cause severe damage to the reputation of the business. Another factor is that established customers tend to buy more and are less price sensitive and may be less likely to defect due to price alone.
Simply by reminding customers of their vehicles next MOT due date, or service for that matter is the minimum that any garage should be undertaking. Reminding them of specific campaigns such as winter checks or health checks if they are planning long journeys will reinforce that you care about them and keep them safe.
You can expand this two-way communication with news of any success stories within the business. Examples might include charitable fundraising by the business or any employee, training and development that’s undertaken or new services and products being introduced. This will reinforce to your customers that you want to build long term relationships with them.
Profitable
The customer’s wants, needs and expectations, as well as your need a for a long and profitable relationship with that customer should be at the core of every action and decision. Everything else comes second. Marketing affects everyone; we are all consumers. Most businesses depend on marketing to provide an understanding of the marketplace, to ensure their products and services satisfy the needs of customers and that they are competing effectively.
The basic rationale of marketing is that to succeed, a business requires satisfied and happy customers who return to the business to provide additional custom, in exchange for something of value, typically payment. The customers receive a product or service that satisfies their needs.
Such a service or product has an acceptable level of quality, reliability, customer service and support, is available at places convenient for the customer at the ‘right’ price and is promoted effectively by means of a clear message that is readily comprehended by the customers in question.
Great businesses must constantly assess their customers’ requirements and be prepared to modify their marketing activity accordingly. An assessment of marketing opportunities is an ever-evolving process requiring regular revision and updating.
- Come and look at my knives!
Our industry is full of enthusiastic technicians and entrepreneurial business owners; people who love what they do, and their chosen trade.
With all this talent why is it that similar questions prevail year-on-year? Customers constantly ask "how much, and can’t you just plug it in?" Business owners ask "why don’t customers want to pay for diagnosis?" Technicians ask "how can I diagnose this fault when I’ve not been given enough time?"
Individually these are all reasonable questions from the viewpoint of person asking, but really annoying if you’re the party being asked. Is it possible to crack this enigma? I would like to believe so.
In this article we will show you how to grow profit, give your technicians the time they need to succeed and always do the right thing by your customer.
Knives out
We should not be surprised that customers want to find out how much it's going to cost. After all, it's an obvious question. Just because a customer asks "how much?" does not mean they are only focused on the lowest possible price. If you walked into a Gordon Ramsey restaurant and there were no prices on the menu you'd still ask "how much?" You wouldn't expect the answer to be McDonalds prices. This is where as an industry we don't always help ourselves.
Customers will build an impression of your business quickly, and whether they’ll consider using your services during their very first experience, which more often than not starts online.
Back to Gordon Ramsey then. You Google (other search engines are available) ‘Gordon Ramsey restaurant’ and are presented with a list in the search results. Naturally you start from the top, you click, and the page loads. You’re met with a surprising image. Rather than a picture of the restaurant, and amazing dining experience, you're presented with a chef in his whites with the caption, “come and look at my knives; we’ve got the best knives in town.” The text beneath this states “we have the latest oven technology!” As a customer I’m not sure that’s what I expected to see. Peculiarly though, other restaurants are putting the same message out there and it’s colouring my view of what I need for a great steak.
With this in mind, we shouldn’t be surprised if a business proclaiming “we have the latest diagnostic equipment,” causes customers to think it is the kit that fixes the car. Maybe that’s why they then ask “can’t you just plug it in?” Could it be that our own websites are a contributing factor as to why diagnostics is a difficult sell?
Don’t just take the keys: Ask great questions
So you arrive for your meal at Ramsey's restaurant. The Maître d' confirms your reservation, takes your coat and sees you to your table. Unfortunately the menu is written in French (damn - should have concentrated more at school) and you're feeling uneasy about what to order. At this point, great front-of-house staff will put you at your ease, and ask the relevant questions to help identify the ideal menu choice for you. Garages are no different. Front-of-house staff have a pivotal role to play particularly where ‘diagnostic’ repairs are concerned. They have to put customers at ease, outline their options and ask great questions.
Enter Steve… The battleground on this occasion was a 2011 Skoda Yeti that would intermittently lack power and ultimately cut out. The client explained that it had been inspected previously, but he’d been told by the repairer “it hasn’t happened to us” and no fault was found. Intermittent faults: Our favourite type.
Sleuthing
Steve asked if the customer could spend five minutes to take him through how, what and when the issue occurred. Five minutes spent here often means a reduction in diagnostic time and a reduced cost to the customer. Naturally the client was only too happy to oblige.
The client explained his issue and Steve listened diligently, noting the salient points on the job card. He found the fault normally happened on longer journeys. Further questioning revealed that it was predominantly on the weekend. Steve asked “what’s different on the weekend”?
Now, this was the killer question. It transpired that the client was an avid football fan and would regularly travel to away games, collecting his pals on the way. Steve’s next question closed the door on his sleuthing. “Is it only when you have passengers in the back seat?”
“Yes,” came the reply.
Happy Techs
What a great job card for the tech to receive. In this instance the tech removed the rear squab to reveal a chafed fuel pump harness, which was duly repaired and routed to ensure the fault didn’t re-occur.
Post-fix processes confirmed that the car wouldn’t be back anytime soon and the keys and job card passed back to reception. A straightforward fix but one that could have remained elusive was it not for “diagnostics at the front desk”.
Easy? No. Achievable? Yes. It’s often possible to resist change even though we understand why it’s necessary and the benefits change will bring. If you have been doing it the same way all these years, a new approach could seem difficult. The task can often seem too big. However, small constant steps are all that is required:
Focus on crafting a consistent customer message that delivers on your unique benefits and the skill of the technician
Have a realistic evaluation fee that allows your tech the time required to succeed and a front-of-house team that can show the customer how this benefits them
Add great front-of-house questioning skills to unearth the hidden gems only known to your customer, which will help your techs and reduce the time taken for diagnosis
A winning combination: increased profit, happy techs and happy customers... What’s not to like?
If you’d like to find out more about Auto iQ then call 01604 328500 or go to: www.autoiq.co.uk. Join the conversation on Facebook @autoiq.
- Unfinished monkey business
It’s been a while since I’ve trawled the online job pages, but the other day I was sent a link to a job that had been advertised. A local main dealer who shall remain unnamed was in need of a NVQ Level 3 Technician, nothing too strange about that, but as I read on the salary surprised me. The role was being offered was just £16,000-£18,000 per annum. Underneath this advertised job was a vacancy for a Warehouse Operative with a starting salary of £18,500 and no experience needed.
This is a huge problem with the automotive industry and its inability to keep skilled and experienced mechanics especially in main dealers. The Level 3 qualification requires a significant amount of work and exams that can take years to achieve, knowledge needed to work on modern cars is becoming vast and learning is continuous to stay up to date with technology.
Shortage
Every year I hear the problem about a shortage of mechanics. Every year the industry struggles to fill gaps in its workforce due to the lack of skilled techs. And yet, as I constructed a Twitter post about the job I had seen I found how many disgruntled ex-technicians actually exist. The tweet proved to be a sore point with certain people who explained that they left main dealers to go to independents due to better pay, some even moved completely away from the automotive sector to again be paid more and be treated better.
As an industry we need to retain staff and pay them according to the skills and knowledge required to work on ever more complicated vehicles. A common problem I found was the time restrictions within which techs are expected to complete repairs. From every mechanic I have met they strive to fix issues, they want to solve customers problems and provide a roadworthy vehicle in return.
Primarily I entered the car repair trade because I am addicted to fixing problems and providing a great service to consumers, hourly rates are soaring and I feel customers simply aren’t getting value for money at some establishments.
Imperative
As a business owner it’s imperative that the mechanics are all highly skilled and customer friendly, the garage business is all about reputation and that starts with the quality of work. There are no time restrictions, for me the most important factor is returning a vehicle that is fully fixed and safe. I believe that providing a wage that reflects the mechanics skills and the continuous on the job learning they have to complete is vital, as well as this providing them with the tools required for the job.
I find the salary of £16,000 an insult, to pay that kind of money for a skilled individual is terrible. I hope mechanics in the area know their worth and won’t apply for it, but I also hope that soon the automotive industry can start attracting and retaining more individuals. I will leave you with the saying ‘if you pay peanuts you get monkeys.’
