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Tackling the Tough Conversations A guide to addressing uncomfortable topics with your employees BY PAUL HODOWANIC
comfortable and no matter how wellversed we are at it, we often fail to get our message right. As a shop owner, having uncomfortable conversations is required, whether you like it or not. Everyone has had an employee that’s shown up late one too many times, isn’t following the sales script, or likes to turn a 30-minute lunch break into an afternoon off. But for many owners, broaching that conversation is anxiety-inducing, says Maylan Newton, the founder of 3 4 / R + W / 0 5 . 21
Educational Seminars Institute, which provides management and personnel coaching to the automotive industry. They’re trying to avoid the situation getting worse or they’re worried if they fire the employee, they’ll hire someone worse. For Matt Overbeck, owner of Overbeck Auto Services in Cincinnati, Ohio, the process of letting go of a long-term employee was filled with indecision and fear. A relationship with one of his top employees turned sour after starting out as a major success. Overbeck grappled with the decision for a long time and it hurt his
business. It took a lot of coaxing before he finally let the employee go. So how can you avoid these long, drawnout, painful scenarios? Ratchet+Wrench has your guide to addressing uncomfortable topics with employees that will stop problems in their tracks. Start small, immediately. It took Overbeck a long time to finally confront his employee. For much of the employee’s six-year run, things were fine. Overbeck took over the day-to-day operations of the shop in 2013 after his father’s health took a turn for the worse. He
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Communication can be one of the hardest things we do. It’s often un-
