Jennifer Webb, owner and director of HR Vitals, has been taking the aftermarket by storm with her tailored advice guiding garages through the personnel pitfalls inherent in running a business. In her new column for PMM, she will be sharing her experiences, her top tips, her thoughts and anything else that will encourage you to take the human resources aspect of your business as seriously as any successful business owner should. In her first column, she paints her impressions of the aftermarket so far.
Hi, I’m Jen. I have been working in the aftermarket since 2018 and from what I can see – that means I am still a newbie in comparison to most, and probably you.
What was my background before? Well, I have worked in quite a mix of places, including a zoo, a hospital, the bank, a rehab centre… I’ve worked in care, in a bar and, finally, in HR. Fast forward to 2024, I have worked with over 200 garage owners and even married one!
So, what are my first impressions? Here are just two that come to mind immediately.
Firstly, people value people. This is my biggest observation. Technicians leave main dealers because they don’t want to feel like a number. The boss is vitally important to how the team thinks about the day. People want to be good workers and to be seen as such. And the employers? Employers want to find good, reasonable, trustworthy and conscientious people. One bad apple can really upset the workplace.
Secondly, you don’t realise how much you value people. You may think my first point is obvious, but from an outsider perspective, you (generally speaking) value the first point more than you give credit to. The bad apple stays for longer than they should, you pray that the good people stay and you like to employ people who you already know. People want to feel involved, they like to know where they stand, they don’t want to feel pushed out or left behind. Humans, after all, are the ones who can make or break the aftermarket.
And these are my top two observations, what do you think? Am I stating the obvious? Does it ring true? Let me know what you think.
For more from this series, click here.
