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2023 BEST WORKPLACES
by EndeavorBusinessMedia-VehicleRepairGroup
WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES A GREAT WORKPLACE?
It is a simple question with no easy answer. And everyone has their own definition. We here at FenderBender heard many of them as we pored over the extensive and impressive list of this year’s nominees. Selecting winners for these awards is never easy—there are so many shops out there doing great work for their employees and those cases were made, persuasively and passionately. We wish we had the space to bring you every story, as there is something noteworthy about what every shop is doing to care for its employees and their careers. It’s not easy out there right now. Shops are struggling to find the employees they need and fighting to keep the great ones they have. The fact that the three shops you’ll read about in the following pages are being honored as 2023
FenderBender Best Workplaces is a testament to their success they’ve had in leadership, recruiting and retention.
If there is a single common thread in Best Workplaces nominees it’s that the shop treats its employees like family, and this year’s honorees certainly do that as well. From after-hours socializing to team lunches to weekends spent bonding at the lake, shops offer all sorts of things to make for a family environment.
But Best Workplaces offer a lot more than just some feel-good perks like that. Best Workplaces aim to take care of the entire employee, not just their personal life but their professional life as well. They offer the best training opportunities so that collision repair becomes a lifelong career and not just a stop along the way among many jobs.
Employees help make a Best Workplace but leadership sets the standard. The shop owners of this year’s honored shops have taken steps to do what they can so that employees don’t have a reason to look for other opportunities. They boast employees who have been with their shop in some cases for decades, with many more on track to join them.
So, what makes a great workplace? It’s everything rolled into one. Take these examples not as a prescription, as not all shops have the same model for success, but as inspiration to what can be achieved when employees are at the center of everything a shop does.
