Let's talk about employees:

[RenuAuto]

The move from solo detailed to employees. Tell me about your experience in making the transition.



How do you find good help.



How do you interview and DETERMINE this guy/gal is going to be successful at your shop.



How do you determine pay (hourly, per car, percentage, ect)



What did you do to keep up quality?



What kept your employees happy, motivated, ect.







I'm in the tough transition of moving from solo to employees right now. It's admittedly a large task to tackle. I'm looking forward to your input.



Thanks,

Grant

 

[WAS]

As the saying goes, good help is hard to find. More specifically, reliable help is hard to find. In most cases, you'll be hiring younger people, which means you will eventually come across those that don't show up on time, etc.



Interview is a simple 5 minute process. You arne't interviewing for VP of a large corporation. You're interviewing for a simple basic labourer. I'm not trying to belittle our chosen business ventures, but let's be honest, for an emplyee, detailing is a very simple labour job, similar to shoveling snow or moving furniture. What you're looking for in the interview is a sense of the potential employee's ethics and personality.



Hourly pay is basically the only way to go, unless you have something very specific in mind (and you have a very specific detailing business, like wholesale-only where you have an assembly line type of detail shop).



Keeping up quality is essential, as your employees could literally put you out of business if you aren't careful. The answer to this one, which is one of the most important, is surprisingly simple. Keep your eyes open. Many business owners work hard in the beginning, get the business running and profitable, hire a bunch of employees and then walk away, showing up for a few minutes a day just to collect the cash outs. You can't just do this. Either you hire a manager (which is going to be a much higher salary than your employees), or you have to be there, at least some of the time. Personally, I check EVERY vehicle before it leaves the shop. I also constantly check on the employees as they're working, and point out anything they're doing wrong / I'd like to to see done differently.



Again, we're not talking about employees that make $75,000 yearly. Your employees will be happy with their pay cheque, and if they aren't, they will quit. At this pay grade, the types of employees you're going to get aren't the life-long loyal bunch, and you can't expect that. If you find yourself in a revolving door, well, that's just how it can be sometimes.

 

[Envious Eric]

very good points WAS!



I am going over that part of my new business plan...my thought on it is to hire one to handle the load, then when he needs help, hire another and have him train (pay more) and when business picks up even more, hire another and keep flipping so forth...But I know that most people who will be willing to work for the 10/hr will not be lifers..

 

[WAS]

very good points WAS!



I am going over that part of my new business plan...my thought on it is to hire one to handle the load, then when he needs help, hire another and have him train (pay more) and when business picks up even more, hire another and keep flipping so forth...But I know that most people who will be willing to work for the 10/hr will not be lifers..

Thanks !



In your case, depending how busy the business gets, you might really benefit from hiring a general manager. When you get into the $15 to $20 an hour range, it's a different story when it comes to employees.

 

[safetyman2010]

Important thing to remember with employee pay is that their hourly wage is NOT where the costs end. Here we have 9 paid holidays, 4% vacation pay, 3.23% WSIB (both calculated on gross pay), we have to match our employees CPP contribution and pay 1.4X what our employees contribute to EI. Easiest way to get a general # for actual wage costs is to multiply hourly wages x 1.35 = approximate actual wage costs (not including benefits). Here the minimum wage is $10.25 per hour so that = about $13.87 an hour for the worst paid employee I can hire. Your wage costs should never be more than 30-35% of your total costs so you need to be getting 3.3x what your wage costs are back in sales to cover all your costs and make a reasonable profit. So that means I need to be getting arounf $42-$45 an hour of productivity to make it worth my time to have a minimum wage employee on staff every hour :hairpull Thank you liberal government!

 

[dmw2692004]

Important thing to remember with employee pay is that their hourly wage is NOT where the costs end. Here we have 9 paid holidays, 4% vacation pay, 3.23% WSIB (both calculated on gross pay), we have to match our employees CPP contribution and pay 1.4X what our employees contribute to EI. Easiest way to get a general # for actual wage costs is to multiply hourly wages x 1.35 = approximate actual wage costs (not including benefits). Here the minimum wage is $10.25 per hour so that = about $13.87 an hour for the worst paid employee I can hire. Your wage costs should never be more than 30-35% of your total costs so you need to be getting 3.3x what your wage costs are back in sales to cover all your costs and make a reasonable profit. So that means I need to be getting arounf $42-$45 an hour of productivity to make it worth my time to have a minimum wage employee on staff every hour :hairpull Thank you liberal government!

This was a great post +111, I think the first step in even considering hiring is figuring out if you can afford it!

As the saying goes, good help is hard to find. More specifically, reliable help is hard to find. In most cases, you'll be hiring younger people, which means you will eventually come across those that don't show up on time, etc.



Interview is a simple 5 minute process. You arne't interviewing for VP of a large corporation. You're interviewing for a simple basic labourer. I'm not trying to belittle our chosen business ventures, but let's be honest, for an emplyee, detailing is a very simple labour job, similar to shoveling snow or moving furniture. What you're looking for in the interview is a sense of the potential employee's ethics and personality.



Hourly pay is basically the only way to go, unless you have something very specific in mind (and you have a very specific detailing business, like wholesale-only where you have an assembly line type of detail shop).



Keeping up quality is essential, as your employees could literally put you out of business if you aren't careful. The answer to this one, which is one of the most important, is surprisingly simple. Keep your eyes open. Many business owners work hard in the beginning, get the business running and profitable, hire a bunch of employees and then walk away, showing up for a few minutes a day just to collect the cash outs. You can't just do this. Either you hire a manager (which is going to be a much higher salary than your employees), or you have to be there, at least some of the time. Personally, I check EVERY vehicle before it leaves the shop. I also constantly check on the employees as they're working, and point out anything they're doing wrong / I'd like to to see done differently.



Again, we're not talking about employees that make $75,000 yearly. Your employees will be happy with their pay cheque, and if they aren't, they will quit. At this pay grade, the types of employees you're going to get aren't the life-long loyal bunch, and you can't expect that. If you find yourself in a revolving door, well, that's just how it can be sometimes.

You make some really interesting points, especially about the quality. Ensuring quality should be your #1 priority, because all its takes is one streak, or one tire that was not dressed to loose a customer...



I basically have little to no tolerance for laziness or slacking, and I make that VERY clear up front, as well as when they are working. I’m lenient on breaks, and lunch, but when it comes time to get cars in and out, I’m quite the stickler. I think you need to be VERY clear on what your expectations are for new hires, maybe put them through the ringer for a day and see if it works out. A lot of younger kids think that its a simple “wipe and walk away” type of deal, where they can exert the least amount of effort and still get compensated for it, in some larger shops that works for them, but when I only have 2-3 kids working for me and a flood of cars, its another story.

 

[WAS]

Important thing to remember with employee pay is that their hourly wage is NOT where the costs end. Here we have 9 paid holidays, 4% vacation pay, 3.23% WSIB (both calculated on gross pay), we have to match our employees CPP contribution and pay 1.4X what our employees contribute to EI. Easiest way to get a general # for actual wage costs is to multiply hourly wages x 1.35 = approximate actual wage costs (not including benefits). Here the minimum wage is $10.25 per hour so that = about $13.87 an hour for the worst paid employee I can hire. Your wage costs should never be more than 30-35% of your total costs so you need to be getting 3.3x what your wage costs are back in sales to cover all your costs and make a reasonable profit. So that means I need to be getting arounf $42-$45 an hour of productivity to make it worth my time to have a minimum wage employee on staff every hour :hairpull Thank you liberal government!

Wow, your Workers Compensation is really high ! Mine is less than half of what yours is this year. I might also throw in there that a part-time vs full-time employee is a much different story. Full-time employees definitely have more costs associated to them than part-time employees do.

You make some really interesting points, especially about the quality. Ensuring quality should be your #1 priority, because all its takes is one streak, or one tire that was not dressed to loose a customer...



I basically have little to no tolerance for laziness or slacking, and I make that VERY clear up front, as well as when they are working. I’m lenient on breaks, and lunch, but when it comes time to get cars in and out, I’m quite the stickler. I think you need to be VERY clear on what your expectations are for new hires, maybe put them through the ringer for a day and see if it works out. A lot of younger kids think that its a simple “wipe and walk away” type of deal, where they can exert the least amount of effort and still get compensated for it, in some larger shops that works for them, but when I only have 2-3 kids working for me and a flood of cars, its another story.

I agree very much. Being clear with your new hires is very important. You also need to watch them very closely in the first few weeks, and make sure you're consistent with them if they act lazy or their productivity goes down. Also, do not be afraid to fire employees. Remember that this type of job is low paying, and you're always going to have some kind of employee turnover.

 

[safetyman2010]

Wow, your Workers Compensation is really high ! Mine is less than half of what yours is this year. I might also throw in there that a part-time vs full-time employee is a much different story. Full-time employees definitely have more costs associated to them than part-time employees do.

Unfortunately we have ZERO say so into workers comp as it is set by industry and not based on our individual safety record - complete BS and a huge rip off. I prefer to hire more part time guys rather than full time for the simple fact that if you lose someone it doesn't impact your workflow as much if you can't replace them right away.

 

[WAS]

Unfortunately we have ZERO say so into workers comp as it is set by industry and not based on our individual safety record - complete BS and a huge rip off. I prefer to hire more part time guys rather than full time for the simple fact that if you lose someone it doesn't impact your workflow as much if you can't replace them right away.

Our workers comp is also industry based, but with obviously less amount of industry in the Yukon vs Ontario, I can see how the rates might be lower. Yukon worker's comp has also been really going after fraudulent claims, which has resulted in a lowering of our premiums. I can't tell you how mad I get over fraudulent claims, it just makes everyone else who plays by the book pay more. 5 or so years ago it got really bad here, rates skyrocketing 150% from years past, but over the last 2 years it's been settling down a lot.



I totally agree though, an employee's wage isn't simply what they get paid hourly. Make sure you factor that in when hiring out staff.

 

[safetyman2010]

Our workers comp is also industry based, but with obviously less amount of industry in the Yukon vs Ontario, I can see how the rates might be lower. Yukon worker's comp has also been really going after fraudulent claims, which has resulted in a lowering of our premiums. I can't tell you how mad I get over fraudulent claims, it just makes everyone else who plays by the book pay more. 5 or so years ago it got really bad here, rates skyrocketing 150% from years past, but over the last 2 years it's been settling down a lot.



I totally agree though, an employee's wage isn't simply what they get paid hourly. Make sure you factor that in when hiring out staff.

We had 2 claims back in the 90's - both bogus. They approved the faker of the 2 right away and I still get stuff in the mail about the other one almost 12 years later - he's still fighting with them about it. Same goes for BS umemployment claims - we had a kid quit a couple years ago because "he didn't want to work for the summer" and after the summer was over they approved him for full unemployment benefits. ***. He told them we laid him off for lack of work - I proved we were swamped and were hiring guys all summer. He then said he couldn't deal with the work environment and the lady from EI said in any case of dispute they side with the employee. Kid sat on his *** for the entire allowable EI period doing nothing - still unemployed AFAIK. Pathetic

 

[WAS]

We had 2 claims back in the 90's - both bogus. They approved the faker of the 2 right away and I still get stuff in the mail about the other one almost 12 years later - he's still fighting with them about it. Same goes for BS umemployment claims - we had a kid quit a couple years ago because "he didn't want to work for the summer" and after the summer was over they approved him for full unemployment benefits. ***. He told them we laid him off for lack of work - I proved we were swamped and were hiring guys all summer. He then said he couldn't deal with the work environment and the lady from EI said in any case of dispute they side with the employee. Kid sat on his *** for the entire allowable EI period doing nothing - still unemployed AFAIK. Pathetic

Man, that just destroys the EI premiums we all have to pay. Isn't that what an ROE is for, so you can enter the appropriate letter into the "Reasoning for leaving" box ???? And in my opinion, as soon as someone changes their story when it comes to something like EI or WCB claims, that should be the end of it. If you can't get your facts straight the first time around, too bad.

 

[safetyman2010]

Man, that just destroys the EI premiums we all have to pay. Isn't that what an ROE is for, so you can enter the appropriate letter into the "Reasoning for leaving" box ???? And in my opinion, as soon as someone changes their story when it comes to something like EI or WCB claims, that should be the end of it. If you can't get your facts straight the first time around, too bad.

In theory he shouldn't have gotten approved because he quit which was indicated on his ROE. He admitted he quit but claimed it was because he couldn't get along with me or that it was a poisoned work environment. No way to prove it either way and they just rubber stamp approve these claims because it's easier than fighting them. Complete BS but I'm not wasting my valuable time to dispute it. In the end the one that loses is the kid. Already been on EI by 20 and you have a really sad future ahead of you.

 

[WAS]

In theory he shouldn't have gotten approved because he quit which was indicated on his ROE. He admitted he quit but claimed it was because he couldn't get along with me or that it was a poisoned work environment. No way to prove it either way and they just rubber stamp approve these claims because it's easier than fighting them. Complete BS but I'm not wasting my valuable time to dispute it. In the end the one that loses is the kid. Already been on EI by 20 and you have a really sad future ahead of you.

Yeah so his ROE should speak for itself, he quit. If the work environment was so poor and he couldn't get along with you, then you'd think that you'd just fire him, I mean why would you want to keep him on staff. The EI program is good for when folks really need it, but it gets abused so much, it's rediculous. I agree though, it would take wayyy too much time to fight it.

 

[safetyman2010]

Yeah so his ROE should speak for itself, he quit. If the work environment was so poor and he couldn't get along with you, then you'd think that you'd just fire him, I mean why would you want to keep him on staff. The EI program is good for when folks really need it, but it gets abused so much, it's rediculous. I agree though, it would take wayyy too much time to fight it.

They actually called me from EI because it said he quit on his ROE. I explained exactly what happened and why he quit and the girl said they were going to decline him then 2 weeks later I got a letter stating they approved him and if I wanted to dispute it that I had to file a dispute and attend a hearing. I called them about it and the lady said he admitted he quit but gave some excuse about not being able to get along with people and she reversed the decision because it is standard policy to side with the employee in any dispute. Why would I waste my time disputing it? Another kid that works for me told me he sat and played video games until the pogey ran out and hasn't been able to find another job since. Pathetic. I know my parents wouldn't have allowed that crap and I would have been out of their house let alone what my grandfather would have done.

 

[WAS]

They actually called me from EI because it said he quit on his ROE. I explained exactly what happened and why he quit and the girl said they were going to decline him then 2 weeks later I got a letter stating they approved him and if I wanted to dispute it that I had to file a dispute and attend a hearing. I called them about it and the lady said he admitted he quit but gave some excuse about not being able to get along with people and she reversed the decision because it is standard policy to side with the employee in any dispute. Why would I waste my time disputing it? Another kid that works for me told me he sat and played video games until the pogey ran out and hasn't been able to find another job since. Pathetic. I know my parents wouldn't have allowed that crap and I would have been out of their house let alone what my grandfather would have done.

It should just be the rule that if you're caught lying or making a false statement on your claim, you're not eligible anymore, plain and simple. Those that really qualify for the EI program don't have to lie or make things up, they write down the situation as it happened and that's that. That's so irritating. And yes, you're absolutely right on the fact that this entire situation stems from parenting and how much the kid gets away with at home, then takes that same attitude to work.



Curious, what are your WCB per $100 rates ? I'll grab my letter from earlier this year when I'm in the office and see what we got assessed this year.

 

[safetyman2010]

It should just be the rule that if you're caught lying or making a false statement on your claim, you're not eligible anymore, plain and simple. Those that really qualify for the EI program don't have to lie or make things up, they write down the situation as it happened and that's that. That's so irritating. And yes, you're absolutely right on the fact that this entire situation stems from parenting and how much the kid gets away with at home, then takes that same attitude to work.



Curious, what are your WCB per $100 rates ? I'll grab my letter from earlier this year when I'm in the office and see what we got assessed this year.

Our WSIB rate is usually 3.23%. The problem with the EI and WSIB system is the case law that governs it leaves the system open to major abuse. We fired a girl back in 2004 and had a bear of a time. She had already given her 2 weeks notice so she basically stopped doing her job, started causing problems with other staff and redirecting other people to do the work she was supposed to be doing. When we terminated her with cause she had one week left of her 2 weeks notice and she filed a complaint with the labour board wanting termination pay. *** you got fired because you were causing all kinds of problems. The lady from the labour board even agreed with me that I was definitely in the right for firing her but because of the way the case law worked I still had to pay her a week's severace. I told her I wasn't paying it and they could come after me if they wanted. :jaw: So she ended up telling the girl I was going to fight it and to make a deal or I could drag it out for a year. I offered half that day - no negotiation and she took it. BS that I had to pay anything after her nonsense. Everything here is tilted towards the employee and screws the employer

 

[WAS]

Our WSIB rate is usually 3.23%. The problem with the EI and WSIB system is the case law that governs it leaves the system open to major abuse. We fired a girl back in 2004 and had a bear of a time. She had already given her 2 weeks notice so she basically stopped doing her job, started causing problems with other staff and redirecting other people to do the work she was supposed to be doing. When we terminated her with cause she had one week left of her 2 weeks notice and she filed a complaint with the labour board wanting termination pay. *** you got fired because you were causing all kinds of problems. The lady from the labour board even agreed with me that I was definitely in the right for firing her but because of the way the case law worked I still had to pay her a week's severace. I told her I wasn't paying it and they could come after me if they wanted. :jaw: So she ended up telling the girl I was going to fight it and to make a deal or I could drag it out for a year. I offered half that day - no negotiation and she took it. BS that I had to pay anything after her nonsense. Everything here is tilted towards the employee and screws the employer

Your WCB is a percentage rate, not a per-$100-of-employee-income ?



Man that's crazy. I can understand case precedence (to an extent) when dealing with sentencing and monetary awards. I can even understand case precedence (again, to an extent) in things like intellectual property cases (like RIM enjoyed over the last 10 years in US district court). But in your case ? Come on, what case precedence has any relevancy there ? You fired someone for not doing their job, in other words, you fired someone who broke their contractual agreement with you (because employment is nothing but an agreement, you agree to do certain general and specified tasks for so much money an hour in return). I'm glad you didn't have to go all out and fight it and could come to an arrangement with her, but still, a half day's pay for nothing is still theft in my opinion, and she shouldn't have been able to get away with it. Seems like the labour board's filled with NDP'ers, makes sense I guess since they sure as hell aren't filling the House (good thing too).