Posts Tagged ‘tire business management’

One of those Days…

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

funny_monkey_picturesDo you know those days where you are at your wits end, everything seems to be going against you, and it just takes one act of reverse brilliance to bring a smile to your face and turn it all around? This is a true story. The names have been changed to protect the … let’s just leave it at that.

If you have ever changed a truck tire or been in a shop that does, you know what a Tire Cage is. For those that don’t, it is a safety cage for dismounting truck tires from their rims. Truck tires are inflated to lethal pressures, and if one explodes while dismounting, serious injury can occur. The idea with the cage is if the tire explodes inside the cage, the cage catches the shrapnel and injury is avoided.

I was working in a retread shop and we had just hired this guy for basic tire changing duties. His claim was x many years of experience changing truck tires and he was great at this and that. Really tooting his own horn. Boy we thought we had hired a winner! We welcomed him right in and immediately put him to work knowing he would have a thing or two to show our less experienced employees. I walked away to let him work on changing a truck tire with duties of my own to attend to. About 15 minutes later I walked back to see the shock of my life. Mr. Experience (not real name) was in the cage himself with the tire on the outside. He was stretching through the cage with one arm trying to change this tire like a monkey reaching for food at the zoo. “What in the world are you doing!” I asked. “Boss I was being safe so I got in the cage. If the tire explodes I don’t want to get hurt.” I thought I was going to die laughing. Just goes to show that if you pay peanuts you get monkeys.

Give me a Break!

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

We all have those days at work when we stop and wonder what the heck we’re doing, if we’re doing it well, and why are we doing it anyway.

It is these times when you need to take a break!

Taking a break is one way to release the pressure and get back in it. Some companies even provide game rooms where you can play darts, ping pong or just sit out at the picnic table and do a crossword puzzle.

Does this encourage people to slack off?

I don’t think so. It lets the employees know that the company understands that we are not robots and that we do better quality work when we have breaks. It also encourages team building and can be sold to new employees as a benefit to work here.  If your company doesn’t provide such a thing, maybe you can plan to spend some time taking a walk — even a half hour — or just take the time to crack a few jokes with your coworkers, this is a favorite of ours at TCS; anything to get you out of the world you’re in…If just for a little while.

Basic Principles to Motivate Employees

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

1. Motivating yourself will Motivate employees
Enthusiasm is contagious. If you enjoy your job, it helps others enjoy theirs too. If you do a good job of taking care of yourself and your own job, you will have much clearer perspective on how others are doing. You are setting an example for employees to follow.

2. Work to align goals of the organization with goals of employees
Frequent reviews and strategic goal setting sessions will help to ensure that company goals and personal goals are in alignment. Managers need to make the goals of the company very clear so an employee can be sure the goals they set will contribute to the success of the company. Employees will buy into the goals of the company when they are allowed to have input.  Goals should meet the SMART rule: Specific, Measureable, Action, Realistic and Time oriented.

3. Understand what motivates each employee
Start by evaluating what motivates you. A key to motivating others is knowing what inspires them. Everyone is not motivated by the same method. Some want recognition, others money, learning, spending time with family and etc. Is their job configured to motivate them properly? What can you do to better motivate yourself and others?

4. Recognize that supporting employee motivation is a process, not a task
People and organizations change all the time so it is important to continually look at what motivates you and the employees and to make sure the processes you have in place are still effective. It is an on-going process.

5. Support employee motivation by using organizational systems (for example, policies and procedures) — don’t just count on good intentions
Use reliable and comprehensive systems in the workplace to help motivate employees. Don’t just count on cultivating strong interpersonal relationships with employees to help motivate them. Use established compensation systems, employee performance systems, and organizational policies and procedures to support employee motivation.