In doing research on the quality gurus, such as Demming and Juran, there is a common philosophy: "If it doesn't happen from the top down, it doesn't happen at all." In the case of Demming, he wouldn't consider taking on a process improvement if he wasn't 1) asked personally by the client company's president for his help and 2) the company president had to be directly involved in all phases of the process. If these foundations were not present, Demming would politely pass.
If the future of the auto industry doesn't start taking the same approach, it's inevitable that we're in for a very rocky road. For every dealer who understands that he or she has a direct responsibility in making changes in the dealership, I've encountered ten who didn't see the need for personal involvement. The quotation that I think summarizes change best is "If you change the way a business owner thinks, the business will change; if you don't, the business will never be anything other than what it already is." If you plan on making improvements in your sales, parts, service, or any other department, it is absolutely critical that the owner and upper management of the dealership be heavily involved in the process.
Let's take a look at what happens when upper management (dealer principle, GM, etc.) is or is not involved.
The risks you run when you're
not directly involved:
· If the department manager is the person who rolls out any program, you run a high risk of the improvements rolling out the door if they leave. Many times I've heard the statement "That's what I hire managers for, to bring me good ideas and to manage the way they see fit. I believe in empowering my managers." Empowerment smowerment, what a bunch of crap! It's your dealership, it needs to be your operating system and run the way you want. Somehow I just can't see Ray Crock saying, "Look, I'll give you the golden arches, some machines, and some burgers-run things however you want."
· When you hand a program to your manager and are not directly involved, it sends a message to your employees that this is something that's not important enough for you to be involved in. "If it's not something that's important to the owner, it's probably not really that important."
· When the dealer and upper management are not directly involved, it's usually perceived that this is just another program that will eventually wither away. The auto industry is notorious for "the cure du jour"-if a program doesn't work in fifteen minutes or less, let's give something else a shot.
· When you're not involved, your employees will generally do everything they can to suck your high-paid consultant into the status quo. When people don't want to change, and most of them don't, it's hard for your consultant to play fifteen-on-one without your direct support.
· When upper management is not directly involved, the consultant or trainer often ends up managing people at the front line. That's how many dealerships end up with changes that "only worked when the consultant was in the store." In those cases there hasn't really been any permanent changes made in the dealership operating system. Although I do recommend occasional follow-up to a consulting or training program that has genuinely worked, I don't recommend the grassroots approach that I've seen too many times. Some training programs that are sold today work strictly on the front-line employee with no regards to the operating system, or management of the dealership.
· When the dealer principle is not involved, there is often a low level of accountability. Before entering into any contract with a consultant or trainer, it is imperative that a decision is made on what will occur, what the role of the owner will be in the process, and how results will be measured. Without this, things very seldom change. If managers are not held accountable, they're not going to wake up one morning and come running to confess, "Gee boss, I'm really a bozo. I didn't even know how to track productivity and efficiency. I'm glad you brought this program in to straighten me out!"
· When you as a dealer are not involved, don't expect any lasting improvement.
When the owner and upper
management are involved:
· Your people will take a program you choose a lot more seriously. They'll know this is high on your priority list.
· The time that it takes to roll out an improvement process will be greatly shortened. Whether it's a program for phone skills, sales, or some other area, the speed of progress is in direct proportion to your support and involvement.
· You can rise above the status quo. It will take all the energy of the dealer principle, the GM, your consultant, and the department manager in a concerted effort to break out of the status quo. If front-line employees see genuine leadership from the top they will follow. Incidentally, if you're doing work outside the sales department, your general manager will often get an opportunity to become a general manager (since most aren't). The majority of general managers haven't had genuine involvement with fixed operations. Use any program in parts, service, or body shop to begin to utilize your GM's talents to the fullest potential.
· If done properly, Top Down will make any change a permanent operating system for your dealership. Since you have an operating system, understand the system, and will continue to use the same system with the next manager, it is easier to make changes in personnel if need be.
In checking out the background of many leaders in businesses that are growing at a dramatic rate, it became apparent to me that as much as fifty percent of their time was spent on direct involvement in growth initiatives. How much time have you spent during the past three months directly involved in programs to improve the performance of your business? Top down, or not at all. George Pavlyak is a retail automotive consultant based in Cincinnati, Ohio. If you have specific questions or require more information about this subject, please check the appropriate box on the reader response form on page 3.#