In today’s ever-changing business world, one thing remains constant: the importance of culture in the workplace. It is not just about trendy phrases or corporate talk—it is about the values, behaviors, and atmosphere that shape how people work together. While we often focus on tangible assets and financial goals, there is an equally important factor of culture that influences everything we do.
1. Be Intentional When Creating Shop Culture
Creating a positive shop culture does not happen by accident. To build a positive shop culture, you need to decide on the direction you want to go in and promote that direction. Use the positive culture to encourage collaboration and initiative, while also reducing turnover.
Remember: Your technicians are vital to your business! When you promote a positive culture, they will want to work to improve the fleet organization as well.
2. Hire Strong Talent
There is more to a good fleet technician than technical skills. While a technical skill set is important to your overall operations, it only makes up one part of a positive shop culture. A positive attitude, the confidence to take initiative, and knowledge of the fleet’s long-term vision are all qualities to look for when hiring a new staff member.
Remember: Fleet maintenance technology always changes, from GPS to additional mobile platforms, so an eagerness for the future is also important.
3. Promote Transparency
With the explosion of social media over the past decade, people expect more transparency than ever before—including at work! Share your vision for the fleet management organization and the changes you expect to make over the next couple of years. Employees do not like surprises. Instead, they thrive on consistent communication.
Just because social media helped increase transparency in today’s world, does not mean you have to start tweeting everything! But you should try to share your ideas with your employees regularly, whether weekly, monthly, or quarterly.
4. Recognize and Reward
Are you implementing new labor standards or pushing for higher billability? Get your employees on board with the metrics you are trying to achieve by recognizing those that have met those standards. Healthy competition can energize a stale working environment.
Remember: Employees crave recognition for a job well done. Showing your appreciation for employees’ hard work pays off, and it is free to do! Do not hold back.
5. Encourage Flexibility
Resistance to change creates unnecessary stress in a workplace environment. Fleets remain competitive by working to improve their services, turnaround time on vehicles, downtime on assets and reporting to stakeholders. In the coming years, we will be exposed to modern technology, like electric vehicles, that we will need to learn, so it is good to ensure that your team is ready to embrace new technology and evolve!
Being flexible and embracing new ideas are important from the shop floor to the back office. Encouraging employees to be flexible is critical because you never know where your next big idea is going to come from!
