In Service Departments there is a fine line between being under or over staffed with Technicians. All too often this situation is explained away. The most threatening thing to your business is to assume that you are doing all that you can to insulate your department, while keeping your Technicians' best interests in mind.

We're squeezing every thing we can out of each Tech!

The biggest symptom of an understaffed shop is that a training day or a sick day for one technician cripples your department. You may explain this away as trying to run a lean department, and that this is the small downside; however, in reality you are rolling the dice every day that a Technician shows up to work on time in good health and ready to give 100%. One person's attendance or absence should not cause such a negative impact on your business. As a matter of fact, think of the impact to your customers and to the peers of the Technicians. None of your customers are interested in the excuse of "So-and-so called in sick and we're short handed." This excuse only makes you look like a bad business person to your customers.

If the Techs aren't flagging, they don't cost me anything

In an over staffed department, it is common to see flagged hour averages per tech well under 8 hours per day. Plus, you can see and feel the negative morale that often accompanies it. In this scenario, the Technicians often feel that you lack interest in them as valued team members.  You should consider the ramifications of running your shop in this manner. While it's a semi-true statement that commission paid employees don't cost you if they aren't actively billing their time, you must consider the effect of a sour attitude in your department and how it will affect the work. In this scenario, it's highly unlikely that your Techs feel that they are working 'with' you.

There is, however, a balance between the two scenarios and we can help you and your team get there. Sign up now for In Dealer consultation and training.