Joined: 19 May 2007 Posts: 206 Location: Camp Verde, AZ
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 10:56 pm Post subject: Procedures
Jeff S replied to a post, A Shop’s Service Radius. in it he talked about some of his experiences while working at McDonalds. It raises some questions for me.
Is it better to give our employees latitude when preforming their jobs or is it better to have a regimented procedure? Jeff talked about how the corporate office studied each job and found the best way to perform it. These procedures were then documented so anybody could consistently produce the same results. They also kept looking for ways to improve. If found, these were implemented.
Is it better to hire young, inexperienced people or hire older more experienced people. With the younger people it is easier to train them to do the job a certain way. They do not have ingrained bad habits that need to be changed. The more experienced worker should know how to do the job, but may not do it the way you want it done. You are also hiring their past experiences, both good and bad.
Is it better to have all the shop procedures written down so they can be followed. Or, is it better to just have general guidelines that can be followed?
Is it better to follow the franchise route, with every procedure documented, so that someone else could take our procedures and produce an exact duplicate of our shop. Or, are we so unique that another shop, just like us, would fail in a different location?
_________________ David Wittmayer
Owner / Manager
Hansen Enterprises Fleet Repair, LLC
Camp Verde, AZ
www.hefrshop.com
Joined: 04 Sep 2007 Posts: 47 Location: Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:57 am Post subject: Re: Procedures
Dave wrote:
Jeff S replied to a post, A Shop’s Service Radius. in it he talked about some of his experiences while working at McDonalds. It raises some questions for me.
Is it better to give our employees latitude when preforming their jobs or is it better to have a regimented procedure? Jeff talked about how the corporate office studied each job and found the best way to perform it. These procedures were then documented so anybody could consistently produce the same results. They also kept looking for ways to improve. If found, these were implemented.
Yes to both. Give them all of the ammuntion that you can including regimented procedures, but do not insist that they follow them exactly...instead insist on quality results. Some staff will need the detailed systems for quality while others will not.
Is it better to hire young, inexperienced people or hire older more experienced people. With the younger people it is easier to train them to do the job a certain way. They do not have ingrained bad habits that need to be changed. The more experienced worker should know how to do the job, but may not do it the way you want it done. You are also hiring their past experiences, both good and bad.
Again, yes to both, depending on the individual. But, in general the younger ones tend to turn out better in the long run when you have solid systems in place that you need followed at your shop.
Is it better to have all the shop procedures written down so they can be followed. Or, is it better to just have general guidelines that can be followed?
Again, both are best. The general guidelines are the philosophy of the shop. Written procedures are absolutely mandatory to run any kind of a professional business.
Is it better to follow the franchise route, with every procedure documented, so that someone else could take our procedures and produce an exact duplicate of our shop. Or, are we so unique that another shop, just like us, would fail in a different location?
The answer here is likely somewhere in between. A shop with specific written guidelines for key operations is certainly of more value and is easier to manage.
_________________ Tom Ham
AutomotiveManagementNetwork.com - Hams Management Systems
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 7:07 pm Post subject: Re: Procedures
Hi Dave,
Dave wrote:
Jeff S replied to a post, A Shop’s Service Radius. in it he talked about some of his experiences while working at McDonalds. It raises some questions for me.
Is it better to give our employees latitude when preforming their jobs or is it better to have a regimented procedure? Jeff talked about how the corporate office studied each job and found the best way to perform it. These procedures were then documented so anybody could consistently produce the same results. They also kept looking for ways to improve. If found, these were implemented.
The practice of taking ideas from other businesses is often referred to as bench marking. In some cases it can be helpful and it can also be quite problematic. McDonald’s systems work for them because they are an integrated part of the business. Their procedures address issues in their business. For instance, not many folks working at McDonald’s consider it a career. Rather it is a short term (Summer) job and then they will move on. Procedures must be rigid because of turnover. They are also producing nearly identical products, over and again. Not so in the “job shop” world of auto repair. Very few repairs are the same and those that are can have earth shattering differences.
With extreme caution and a complete understanding of our own business, we may be able to take good points from a company like McDonald’s. We could then integrate them into our system, as long as we have an overall philosophy [constancy of purpose] and doing does not conflict.
Dave wrote:
Is it better to hire young, inexperienced people or hire older more experienced people. With the younger people it is easier to train them to do the job a certain way. They do not have ingrained bad habits that need to be changed. The more experienced worker should know how to do the job, but may not do it the way you want it done. You are also hiring their past experiences, both good and bad.
This is a never ending quandary, one I spent many years with myself. The advantages and disadvantages you mention are real. In an ideal world, a young person could be sought and tested for the necessary aptitudes. After this they might be trained, starting with the most basis things, SAE verses USS verses metric threads, hydraulic theory, electrical/electronic theory, and on and on. In about ten years you would likely have a first class tech. I know of no shop that has resources nor expertise for the job.
The final solution, for me, came in the realization that the tech was only a part of the job. Most folks with the aptitude and desire [experienced tech?] can fill the position well, if the obstacles to their doing it are removed. The more I worked at removing problems that existed in my system, the better my techs became. The finest technician may appear incompetent in a chaotic system?
Dave wrote:
Is it better to have all the shop procedures written down so they can be followed. Or, is it better to just have general guidelines that can be followed?
Is it better to follow the franchise route, with every procedure documented, so that someone else could take our procedures and produce an exact duplicate of our shop. Or, are we so unique that another shop, just like us, would fail in a different location?
Franchises exist now and largely use rigid written procedures. They also largely limit their services to a few things, such as a quick lube center or an automatic transmission shop. With rigidity comes efficiency but at the expense of flexibility. Even in such an environment the shops will still vary considerably, as all franchises do.
Franchises are not inherently bad nor are general service shops inherently good. I don’t think they are opposite ends of a spectrum. Rather I believe they exist as different continuum all together.
Making a general repair shop into a franchise would not likely destroy the repair shop, but would likely change it into something different. It may still have the original problems it had, plus a wealth of new problems peculiar to franchise. If this were the original aim, it may be worth the effort, but I don’t think it is a solution unto itself.
With the same [or less] effort the general repair shop might also be moved far further along within its own continuum, to be the best it might be [perhaps far better than its competition.] If the aim were continuing ethical profit, this may be a more direct route. Once accomplished such a shop might also be duplicated by following the same methods, thought the new shop(s) would not be an exact copy. Rather a unique business that produced much the same results.
Joined: 09 Dec 2007 Posts: 21 Location: Lathrop MO
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:56 pm Post subject: Re: Procedures
Dave wrote:
Jeff S replied to a post, A Shop’s Service Radius. in it he talked about some of his experiences while working at McDonald's. It raises some questions for me.
Hi Dave, I believe there is a lot to be learned by observing other businesses. I picked that example because I had first hand experience with it and I could bring up A LOT of interesting and beneficial things from it. There's other places also that really intrigue me. I don't have first hand experience in a doctor's office but a well run doctor's office would probably be a very good place for some of your questions. Obviously we have no need to learn how to prepare or serve food quickly and efficiently but what about other points of interest? I also brought them up because I might be able to use the example to help explain my point of view on a 'holistic' business. I haven't gotten back around to that thread yet but hopefully eventually I will. A part of it would be, I don't believe you could duplicate any one significant aspect of the McD's franchise and achieve the same results as them (evidence of this would be many have tried, many have achieved very good results but to the level of McD's????, I don't think so). I don't believe a company could do one or several of the things well, or even better then them and expect the same results. For example a business might be able to pick a location as good as them and be able to prepare the food faster or make the price lower or ........... But, what about all the little things that make them what they are? That big tall "golden arches" sign is no accident, the way they treat their people, the efficiency` they would perform a certain task, the quality of the products they use, etc etc....it all goes hand in hand with each other.
I believe the people in auto repair telling you how unique your business is and that what works for you may not work for them is a bit of a misconception. Yes, there are and should be unique qualities about your business but that in no way means there are a great deal methods or practices that have been found to work and would work again for someone else someplace else.
The doctor's office is such an interesting place to learn because they do something, like us, that would be considered pretty dynamic and complex, yet a good one will have it fine tuned.
Joined: 19 May 2007 Posts: 206 Location: Camp Verde, AZ
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:53 pm Post subject: Re: Procedures
Jeff,
I think that most service businesses have a lot in common. There is much that we can learn from other businesses. Several of the processes and procedures may be the same even if the product is not.
You mentioned Doctors offices. I must have never been in a good one, because the only things I learned from them is how not to do business. They may be very efficient from the Dr’s stand point but not the customers.
What do you mean when you say 'holistic' business?
_________________ David Wittmayer
Owner / Manager
Hansen Enterprises Fleet Repair, LLC
Camp Verde, AZ
www.hefrshop.com
Joined: 09 Dec 2007 Posts: 21 Location: Lathrop MO
Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:10 am Post subject: Re: Procedures
Dave wrote:
You mentioned Doctors offices. I must have never been in a good one, because the only things I learned from them is how not to do business. They may be very efficient from the Dr’s stand point but not the customers.
I must admit I don't go to the doctor's very often, but I do like my doctor and the way the practice is operated
Dave wrote:
What do you mean when you say 'holistic' business?
hmmm, I mean to give more emphasis to the whole then to the individual parts. I've attempted to explain more in another thread Louis posted about "Tim's car".
If a person was to create a holographic image of an item (example: an apple). They could create a piece of "film" with a 3-d image of the apple on it. When a laser is passed through the film the 3-d image would be re-created. The really interesting part is if you were to cut the film in half and try again, you wouldn't have an image of half the apple. You would still create the whole apple. You could repeat this again and again and still the image of the whole apple would apear. Yes, each time you cut the film in half information about the apple would be lost, (not as clear, or more grainy) but the whole would remain. There are lots of "whole" businesses, but what they are or have become, is it the entire potential of the business? Are there pieces missing that on the surface may not look like much yet help to complete the whole?
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
