Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/870284
16 Cover Story Advantages Weldon Parts President Dave Settles says there are several reasons he promotes from within "every chance I can," but in his eyes, the biggest is culture. Bringing in someone new doesn't always rock the boat, but it's rare that new hires immediately and innately understand how a business operates. Moving an employee within an opera- tion is considerably easier than onboard- ing someone new who must be trained on every aspect of their new job. Settles says Weldon Parts has a unique culture built over decades to maximize operational effectiveness and customer experiences. New employees, even those with prior aftermarket experience, can take some time picking up on all of it. "We're a little dif- ferent than everyone else and when you bring in someone new, you have to teach them that," he says. "Some pick it up faster than others." The experience is the same at Blaine Brothers, where President Dean Dally also relies heavily on internal promotions to fi ll as many openings as possible. "We've found it's very diffi cult to fi nd people from the outside who can quickly pick up and maintain our culture," he says. In both cases, the culture refers not only to how employees interact with each other and customers, but also how they approach and complete tasks. Training employees on a new position is much easier if they're already aware of a com- pany's performance standards. "You don't want to have to keep re- teaching your culture," Settles says. Another huge advantage of promot- ing from within is the message it sends employees. Show up every day and do your job and career advancement can be a reality, says Allan Parrott, president at Tidewater Fleet Supply. "I think there's a trust factor there," he says. "If an employee has done really well for us over the years we want to give them the opportunity to advance. We want to reward our employees who work hard and want to do more." Bill Nolan also stresses advancement as part of the culture at PBS Truck Parts. He says not every employee is destined to rise through the PBS ranks, but the com- pany's management team still does its best to showcase opportunities and moti- vate employees to consider advancement. "Sometimes employees may not understand what they have," says Nolan, PBS president. "They might not T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 Promoting from within may greatly reduce onboarding time and expenses, but it doesn't eliminate them. Employees slotted into a new position still require and deserve training to do the job well. Midwest Wheel has a substantial training program for this very reason. One of its most popular and most valuable training classes is its counter training course. Built by a team of counter veterans, the course "covers everything that a new counter person needs to know," says Michael Callison Jr., vice president of purchasing, safety and training. "The goal has been if we fi nd someone with the skill set we are looking for we are able to bring that person up to speed relatively quickly even if all the product knowledge required isn't there yet." The company also produces training manuals and instruction cards for other positions that employees can follow to learn a new job. "We try to mentor all employees in our company whatever that position may be," Callison says. Building a culture of advancement We've found it's very diffi cult to fi nd people from the outside who can quickly pick up and maintain our culture. – Dean Dally, president at Blaine Brothers A company-wide focus on training and education strengthens the workforce and talent pool at Midwest Wheel.