Over the last several years, I have been in many carwashes and detail shops, and most are small businesses. Like so many small operations, they often lack formal training programs. In fact, this is usually the reason I am in these shops to begin with. They want someone to provide training on new equipment or systems, or need help refining their current processes in order to improve the quality or quantity of work their shop is producing. Formal training programs can help with both of these issues, in addition to providing other benefits.
Many business owners believe they are just a small shop and because they have a close-knit group of employees, they will be able to take new staff “under their wing” and “show them the ropes.” For some this may be enough, believing that no formal training program is necessary.
However, while you may find that your employees do “get the hang of it” as they go along, implementing a formal training program can ensure proper use of equipment, tools and chemicals; create a standard of work product output; help prevent injuries; and provide a basis for evaluating job performance and determining raises, promotions and terminations. A good program also will help retain valuable employees.
Equipment, tools and chemicals represent a significant portion of your business assets and require due diligence in preserving their integrity. Simply put, they are expensive, and improper use can damage, ruin or waste them. A more expensive consequence of improper use is damage to a client’s vehicle or an employee injury.
While there is insurance that can cover damage to a customer’s car and employee injuries, I think you will agree that you don’t ever want to use them — particularly when proper instruction could easily have prevented the problem in the first place. Most small business owners can ill afford to regularly replace equipment or wasted product. In many cases, a business may have only one extractor or ozone machine. Being without a vital piece of equipment can cripple your ability to perform work and cost you revenue.
Providing initial training for new employees shows them how to properly perform their job, and clearly outlines what is expected from them. By doing this you can ensure they will understand what your expectations are for a properly detailed car and what they need to do to achieve your standards.
With a structured training program, you can create a baseline by which employees will understand how you intend to evaluate their work. You also will be able to use training activities to assess employee skills and witness their strengths and weaknesses. This information will help you decide what skills employees will need to improve on to become proficient and gives you an idea of what to look for when evaluating their work.
When you perform periodic employee evaluations, the training sessions will provide employees with specific examples of what was expected and remove the potential for them to argue that “no one ever told me” or “I don’t know how to do that.” This can protect you should you ever have to let staff go based on poor performance.
Getting Started
Once you have decided to implement a formal training program, the first thing you should do is determine what you are trying to accomplish. Is the goal to ensure everyone knows how to use the equipment? Is it to orient new staff to business operations? What are the tasks that you want to accomplish and how do you want to get there?
The best way to put together a training program is to break down your business piece by piece and create procedures for each aspect of your day-to-day operations.
Look first at the basics. Examine how your detail business handles human resources, production, sales and customer care. By separating out each area, the task of creating procedures and policies for each will seem less daunting. This also will help you determine who is responsible for which areas of training.
For example, human resources covers things like policies and procedures for basic business operations, such as reporting to work. Define what time you want staff to arrive, and how you want them to check in and out. Lay out how you want them to sign in when they arrive and sign out at the end of the work day. How are breaks scheduled and where are they taken? How long do employees have for lunch? Other areas to define include things like dress code expectations and company standards for personal hygiene. In addition, you should cover standards for how employees should interact with each other at the workplace, and discuss guidelines for what kinds of behavior are acceptable or not.
When evaluating production procedures, you will have to look at more than just how to operate the tools and equipment. You need to educate staff members about each chemical, how it is used and what to do in case they get it in their eyes. As you examine production tasks, this is a perfect time to create procedures for each process you perform on a car. Create a written, step-by-step set of instructions for washing the car, interior cleaning, shampooing, paint finish restoration and protection packages that can be given to employees at the outset of their training. This will ensure that they have a thorough set of instructions for how to perform their jobs and reduces the risk that important points will be overlooked.
Implementation
Once you establish the criteria you will use to train your staff, you must implement the program. Initially, training will have to be conducted by you or your manager. Don’t just use it for new employees. Run through everything with your existing personnel. For many long-tenured staff members, this will simply be a review. It is important