HOLDING YOUR EMPLOYEES ACCOUNTABLE: THE RETURN AND REPORT CONCEPT

The Return and Report concept is a powerful process of setting forth expectation, commitment, accountability and reporting criteria.  Clear, straightforward communication facilitates this process. Here’s how:

When a supervisor teaches an employee the “What,” “Why” and “How” of a task, the employee can commit to that process and becomes fully accountable for the job.  The employee must also commit to returning and reporting to the supervisor when the task is finished. Then the Return and Report process is complete!

The employee is empowered and committed to following procedures set in place, then reporting allows them to fully internalize this responsibility while allowing the supervisor to hold them externally accountable.

Follow-up is the key to sustaining this system.  Unfortunately, many shop owners are weak in this aspect. Implementing systems for improvement in your shop is easy – the hard part is making them stick. But with the Return and Report concept, you’ll be able to consistently hold your employees accountable in your systems.

Empowerment AND Accountability

Most team members in a repair shop continually repeat task after task after task, day after day. We know what it’s like to run a repair shop because we’ve done it, and still do! We designed the RPM ToolKit to be easy to use in the real, everyday environment of your auto shop. Within the RPM ToolKit, your employees are able to produce daily reports right in the program.

For example, a service advisor reviews his/her performance in the numbers daily and then reports any variances to the superior during the Ten Minute Meeting (which we introduced last month). He/she then commits to improving sub-par performance right in that meeting, and Returns and Reports improvements the next day.

Using the Ten Minute Meeting and Return and Report concept as a daily structure, you’ll be able to see steady improvement in the numbers and empowerment of you team!

This same concept can be used to work on and improve every area of the business including high performance in customer service and satisfaction.  Consistent application of these principles is the most important undertaking of any Owner or Manager who wants to grow and improve his business.

Return and Report Commitment Process

Front line staff members and their leaders must:

  • Become aware of the problems or low performance (missed targets) through measurement
  • Identify specific solutions
  • Get buy-in and commitment of front line people to change
  • Train in new solutions
  • Measure performance going forward
  • Return and Report performance of front line people to supervisor (or supervisor to owner)

This cycle repeats as necessary for improvement when needed, and for maintenance if the target is being consistently achieved.  Utilizing a Reporting Agenda makes conducting this process more formal and precise.  It also creates a written diary of issues being addressed, making it easier to follow up on these issues.  Patterns of success, as well as failure, can now be identified, duplicated, or changed for your shop’s specific profile.

Good luck implementing this tool, we know you’ll appreciate its simple effectiveness and the new found authority running your shop! For more advice on the Return and Report Commitment Process or setting goals within your shop, call our development specialists at 866-826-7911.

For more training on this topic, try these related classes available on CD:
How to Get Your Employees to do What You Expect
Is that Employee Ruined, Or Can they Be Saved?