Auto Shop Owners: Does Giving Raises Make You Sweat?

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Raises by Rick White, President 180BIZ (Estimated Read Time 3 minutes 42 seconds)

Today I’ll talk about raises. You are in a situation where you're reacting. I don't think you're consciously aware of the turmoil going on in the industry. And one of the things we need to talk about is the reaction. It's coming from a place of fear. It's coming from wondering if you can afford it. You may ask yourself, “should I give them a raise? How much should I give them?” It creates worry and doubt and a lack of faith in yourself and what you're doing. 

When was the last time you gave a raise? When was the last time you gave yourself an increase? That covers what you are going through as well. You have rising expenses, your food costs are going up, and your fuel costs are going up. When was the last time you gave yourself a raise? Please understand what I'm talking about is increasing payroll. It doesn't always mean raises.

There are two things you must be aware of that ease some of that fear, doubt, and frustration. You need a plan moving forward so that you know incrementally when raises should be given.

1. You need to PLAN for it. I can probably guess that you don’t. And because you don't, you end up reacting. Most of the time you end up with a tech coming to you and either talking about leaving or you have this fear that they will leave. All of this is a big deal. So, you need a proactive plan that is spelled out so you know exactly what will happen for your team to get a pay increase.
2. The second thing is you must KNOW what's going on around you. And what I mean by that is, most times when I'm talking to shop owners, they're so wrapped up in what's going on in their building that they are not aware of what's going on around them. What are other shops paying for advisors? What are other shops paying for tax? What benefits do they offer You must be aware of these things. That is super, super important. You must understand what they're paying, what kind of performance, if anything, are they getting. Do they give performance bonuses? This is critical so that you can calm down a little bit and start to put that plan together.

You can continue doing what you've been doing. My question to you is, “How's that working for you so far?” And I can almost feel the frustration on your end. You may say, “Rick, I don't have time.” I'm telling you now, the nicest thing that you can do for yourself as a business owner is to give yourself a half hour per day, 30 minutes to work on owner stuff. Come in early. Just do it at lunch. Stay a little late. Whatever it takes, give yourself a half hour so that you can be a business owner and be proactive instead of reacting to your whole day.

 This is a big deal. And too few owners are taking a half hour per day in the beginning and start to create the business they want instead of reacting to the situations, events, circumstances, and other people within their circle. I want you to be aware of what's going on around you. I want you to be aware of what other shops are doing. You may find they're paying more but you have a better vacation policy.  And that's great if someone cares about that. If vacation is important to them. Ultimately you must know where you stand as far as the other shops in your area. And that includes independent dealerships and chains.

How do you do it? Get someone to apply for a job at their place. Pay someone to apply for a job. Not necessarily one of your tech or advisors, because I don't think you want them to go away. But do this recon on your own. You can search websites. You can look at Indeed and Zip Recruiter. See what they have listed in their ads and see what they're offering. How many people are offering sign-on bonuses? I have an intrinsic issue with sign-on bonuses because you've got three loyal people over here that have been there forever. You will throw a new guy a bone so that they can come to work for you. What about these loyal three?

God bless. Stay safe, have some fun, and go create some abundance.

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