High Employee Turnover

[Waxman]

Sounds like a good system.

I feel that my wages and perks are not too low, however adding a bonus system like the measured one you describe sounds good. The employee I recently let go did value the job and tried to get re-hired. He has left his other jobs under similar circumstances and it was my fault for not checking well enough into that, pre-hire.


I have been thinking about a system like yours as well as an employee handbook.

Time to get them implemented.

Thank you.

 

[robert roman]

Sequoia brings up some good points but the suggestions are tactics not strategies.

The strategic process is to evaluate the environment, determine appropriate strategies and then identify tactics that have the potential to achieve the goals and objectives.

So, if you want to solve your management issues, you should begin with the business model.

You can do this yourself or visit a “repair shop.”

Once you solve for the business model, it will become a lot easier to configure a management model that addresses your concerns and issues.

 

[Kevin James]

Let’s face it you’re not going to attract quality employees in the car wash/detail business. You as the business owner cannot pay the wages to attract quality individuals. It’s a demeaning, dead-end janitorial type work that most people will not consider for the low wages that it pays. How many employees do you have? We pay our employees union scale with benefits and don’t have an employee hand book.

 

[robert roman]

“You as the business owner cannot pay the wages to attract quality individuals.”

I know lots of carwash owners who would disagree with that statement.

You would be surprised to discover how much you can afford to pay employees when you have a great business model.

“It’s a demeaning, dead-end janitorial type work that most people will not consider for the low wages that it pays.”

Do people who clean up bathrooms at airports think about their jobs this way?

 

[Waxman]

There are many jobs in the US that need to be done; fast food, carwashing, grave digging, septic pumping, janitorial work, etc.

If an individual is of the right mindset, there is joy to be found in every job.

Car detailing is fun to me because I get immediate positive results from every action I take in the process; from the wash and removal of garbage to the final inspection.

I had an office job right out of college; management track. It was the most miserable, boring, piece of $hit job I ever had and I longed to be back cleaning cars while I was there.

My shop is neat as a pin, air conditioned, well lit and bright, well-equipped and stocked with the best products, tools and towels. We have a washer/dryer and a carwash. Ice cold pop in the machine outside.

I'm making MYSELF want to apply here!

 

[rph9168]

Waxman, I think there have been several good suggestions here that may help you retain more employees. The truth of the matter is that you are not the only one that has to go through a number of bad hires before one sticks. I also think part of the problem today is that with unemployment so high, people tend to stay at jobs they are unhappy with longer so they become lousy employees. In any case hang in there. You are proud of you business rightly so and can look for better times by maintaining your positive attitude and tweaking your operational procedures. Good luck.

 

[soapy]

I have never hired anyone on a strictly hourly basis. I always give them a hourly wage and a chance to make more if certain goals are met. For car wash or detail employees I figure out what my beakeven point is and let my employees know. Then depending on the position I give them a bonus of 5 or 10% of every dollar over the monthly BE point. This gives them some incentive to take the extra detail job or try to get more sales. I learned from my dad that long term employees are the secret to your success.

 

[ScottV]

Wax,

I'm not a labor attorney, but I would be hesitant to implement an "Employee Handbook" before first checking with a professional in your state. NY is a Right to Work State, meaning employment at will. You can hire and fire a person without providing any reason whatsoever. In some instances when an Employee Handbook is introduced in the employment relationship it can be construed as a "contract" between the two parties adding a layer of complexity to the otherwise simple employment at will relationship. I once worked for a multi national corporation with facilities in NY who refused to utilize an Employee Handbook for that very reason... The implied contract.

I'm not sure if Massachusetts labor laws provide for the same complexity when an Employee Handbook is utilized but I believe that it would certainly be worth checking into.

 

[bighead]

For this reason, I don't have employee handbooks either. If you have a handbook, both sides must abide by the letter of the handbook.

I choose to run by the "spirit" of the rules I set forth. That way I can break the rules when the situation arises where it shouldn't apply, and I can hold to a stricter standard when i think its important.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[tw1012]

I have had good employees that have been with me over a year, when I hire new employees I have them do a few cars there way and and count the tips then have them do a few cars my way (smile when they meet the customer, be friendly, work hard, and smile when they leave) They are amazed at how there tips increase with the right attitude and it stays with them.

 

[sudsurfer]

I just saw this post as I was searching for how to hire and train better employees. Most articles I have read are directed at nultilocation chains or mom and pops that have gotten big enough for a chaun of command. My husband and I have an EE that we opened 3 years ago. Besides us, we have one guy that works 30 to 40 hours a week and 9 high school/college age kids.

We try to hire a clean cut employee that understand attendance and customer service or at least that we think we can train. We review the job expectatons with them and even have them sign an understanding page that outlines safety, end job duties for slow days when we aren't washing cars at our normal pace.

The problem as I see it is we can't be there all the time and we have no manager or assistant manager. Our full time guy is great with customers but has no expectations for the staff that helps him. He also lacks and mechanical skills. So we wear all the hats. We knew that going in but three years later and countless interviews we just don't see great trainable applicants.

The kids we hire are from families where all their needs are met so they don't care if they lose their job. The other kids we have hired more on the bubble did not regularly show up for work because their personal living situations were unstable.

Give me three great qualifying characteristics of successful employees?

Do most mom and pops bite the bullit nd hire.train a manager?

I am just trying to figure out what we are missing in the employee hiring department.

 

[MEP001]

Why only turnovers for high employees? They may also crave nachos, candy, tater tots...

 

[buda]

Sudsurfer:

First lesson you have to learn is that "an employee will NEVER think or act like an OWNER. It too me a couple of years realizing that. Went through a great many people.

Second, if you are not at the facility to "drive the business" it will not move forward with employees. You have to be there driving what you want done, everyday.

Third, you have to have a manager-level person to be there when you are not there and the only way you get a person like that is:

PAY - You are not going to get the kind of person you want paying minimum wage or even $10 an hour.

A car wash business will not run itself and be what you want it to be without you on top of every aspect of the business driving it forward, forward.

Every successful car wash operator I know after 40+ years in the industry who have chains of washes, are on top of the daily operations 24/7. One operator I know uses his security cameras to review what is happening at each wash on a daily basis. And, he visits all of the washes at least once in a week, some locations more often.

Hope that helps.

Regards
Bud Abraham

 

[robert roman]

It is suggested when a swimmer is caught in a rip-tide current he/she should not attempt to swim back to shore directly against the rip because of the risks of exhaustion and drowning.

Instead, the swimmer should float along until the rip loses strength and then swim at a diagonal direction away from the current to escape.

If you and husband want to disengage to pursue other interests, you may want to consider the same strategy.

For example, being in business 3 years suggests the site may produce sufficient gross sales to support absentee ownership.

If so, then the principal business risk becomes providing adequate staff and “management” to ensure an effective and customer-centric operation.

In other words, in your absence, someone is needed to assume the leadership role and be accountable.

Therefore, you would want to carefully select a “manager” with a proven track record in retail sales or service business.

Carwash experience or not this person should receive professional training in carwash management and technical support.

In addition, the manager would be given hands-on, OJT by owners.

In kind, the manager, as condition of employment, would be responsible for negative cash.

So, the key qualifications are entrepreneurial intent and capability. Persons so qualified will expect an attractive offer.

Moreover, someone, you or husband, will need to provide oversight and corrective actions as needed.

Hopefully this points you in the right direction.

 

[Waxman]

One strategy suggested to me by a friend is 'growth sharing' (opposed to profit sharing).

A mutually-beneficial growth-based bonus system may be enough to encourage a manager to 'drive' the business and 'push it forward' as Bud A said. Well-put, Bud and RR!

I personally don't think that after 3 years operating an EE carwash you've earned your walking papers. In other words, you should instead re-commit to your carwash business. Stay in there and drive it forward for another 7 years. Add profit centers. Hire management material in the rough and nurture them along, providing OJT in carwash mechanicals, soaps and waxes, and customer service. School them in proper safety, MSDS, and maintaining a positive workplace. Teach them about community involvement ( chamber of commerce membership, holding charity washes, etc). School them in the business side; searching new better products, tools and methods, saving money on materials, water, and operating costs.

The hard truth alot of times is that the success of the business is directly related to the properly applied knowledge gained from years operating the business and the lessons (often hard) learned.

Once it's built up and profitable in 10 years you can sell and do your next thing.

 

[sudsurfer]

It is suggested when a swimmer is caught in a rip-tide current he/she should not attempt to swim back to shore directly against the rip because of the risks of exhaustion and drowning.

Instead, the swimmer should float along until the rip loses strength and then swim at a diagonal direction away from the current to escape.

If you and husband want to disengage to pursue other interests, you may want to consider the same strategy.

For example, being in business 3 years suggests the site may produce sufficient gross sales to support absentee ownership.

If so, then the principal business risk becomes providing adequate staff and “management” to ensure an effective and customer-centric operation.

In other words, in your absence, someone is needed to assume the leadership role and be accountable.

Therefore, you would want to carefully select a “manager” with a proven track record in retail sales or service business.

Carwash experience or not this person should receive professional training in carwash management and technical support.

In addition, the manager would be given hands-on, OJT by owners.

In kind, the manager, as condition of employment, would be responsible for negative cash.

So, the key qualifications are entrepreneurial intent and capability. Persons so qualified will expect an attractive offer.

Moreover, someone, you or husband, will need to provide oversight and corrective actions as needed.

Hopefully this points you in the right direction.

Thanks Robert - We do not want to disengage. We have seen what absentee ownership can do for the car wash business and that is not where we want to land. Better to get out of the business than be an absentee owner in my opinion.

 

[robert roman]

Well then, if you don’t want to disengage meaning that you want to continue on as full-time owner/operator, I’m at a loss.

If you are managing with one FTE plus yourselves and 8 PT (why 8), why add a manager? For example, I have several clients with express operating at 15 cars per man-hour, averaging $10 a car or more. Benchmarks are 11 cars per man-hour and average of $8.00 a car.

If you want to achieve flexibility in operations, I would solve the labor model problem first, then hiring and training.

 

[Earl Weiss]

If you are managing with one FTE plus yourselves and 8 PT (why 8), why add a manager? For example, I have several clients with express operating at 15 cars per man-hour, averaging $10 a car or more. Benchmarks are 11 cars per man-hour and average of $8.00 a car.

If you want to achieve flexibility in operations, I would solve the labor model problem first, then hiring and training.

Color me confused. An express typicaly operates with one employee at a time. Perhaps 1.5 using someone for troubleshooting, cleanup etc.

Are you factoring some sort of flex service?
Are you considering an average?

A full size tunnel EE with one loader / greeter can easily do 100CPH (Note: I said "Can Do' not "will do")

So, please enlighten as to how "bench mark" is arrived at.

 

[robert roman]

I guess you would be surprised by how some owners operate because I have seen express washes with as many as five employees on site at one time.

In most of the “ready to build” investment opportunity proposals I’ve read, it is suggested the express exterior labor model consists of two employees per shift with two seven hour shifts, seven days a week.

The benchmark data is arrived at by the folks who conduct the benchmarking surveys. The information I mentioned comes from analyzing the benchmark data.

Another thing to consider Earl is the owner segment membership.

During the express construction boom, now over, most developers invested in multiple locations and some multiple profit centers. The vast majority of these developers are absentee owners.

Like a good franchisee, they bought into the business model proffered by the OEM’s.

Coincidently, there is no “wrong-way” in this model.

Of course, we are not selling equipment here.

So, I would agree with you on how efficiently an express wash “could be” operated in terms of labor expense as compared to how some do operate.

 

[Earl Weiss]

I guess you would be surprised by how some owners operate because I have seen express washes with as many as five employees on site at one time.

In most of the “ready to build” investment opportunity proposals I’ve read, it is suggested the express exterior labor model consists of two employees per shift with two seven hour shifts, seven days a week.

So, I would agree with you on how efficiently an express wash “could be” operated in terms of labor expense as compared to how some do operate.

Still confused.
1. Agreed concerning my "Surprise" about how lots of stuff is done. 5 employees at one time for 75 CPH? What the heck are 3 of them doing? Around 2003 or so I was surprised who was getting 100% mortgages, but many clients were selling houses and I was closing 75 deals a year. Didn't understand it but figured those mtge companies were lots smarter than me because they had lots more $ than me.
2. Per your comment >>“ready to build” investment opportunity proposals I’ve read, it is suggested the express exterior labor model consists of two employees per shift <<<>>>Benchmarks are 11 cars per man-hour <<<>>>several clients with express operating at 15 cars per man-hour<<< With 2 employees thats 22CPH total. Is that supposed to be average? Capacity? Max suggested volume or what.

Even at 15 cars per man hour that would be 30 CPH for 2 employees or 75CPH for 5. IMNSHO at 30-75 CPH at a full Tunnel EE you need one employee to operate and a part time floater for fix up / clean up. I guess at that volume you could have 2 Salespeople / greeters. Is that what it is?

Of course I guess if you get average $10.00 per car then you can be more generous with the $ you throw around but that is not really the point is it?