Page 16 - Australasian Paint & Panel March-April 2022

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BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY
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PAINT&PANEL MARCH / APRIL 2022
22 I-CAR GOLD • 26 TECH TALK • 30 INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
HOW NOT TO GET FRIED BY POACHING
AS IF COVID WASN’T BAD ENOUGH, ONE OF THE DARKEST CLOUDS HANGING OVER THE INDUSTRY IS THE TECHNICIAN SHORTAGE AND THE RAMPANT POACHING OF STAFF. STEPHEN CORBY TALKS TO THREE BUSINESSES WHO HAVE CREATED A CULTURE WHERE LONG TERM
EMPLOYEES ARE THE NORM.
OLLISION REPAIR SHOP OWN-
ers are suffering from the at-
tempted or successful poach- ing of employees from rival shops thanks to an industry-wide shortage of technicians and workshop
managers. If you’re a technician, of course, you might not call it a problem at all, because it’s more like being an in-demand footballer with people throwing money at you.
WAYNE PHIPPS SMASH
REPAIRS, WA
It has certainly been an issue worrying people like Wayne Phipps from Phipps Smash Repairs in Midland, Western Aus- tralia. He believes the epidemic of poach- ing is the result of several contributing fac- tors. While he has not been a victim yet, he believes he has a target on his back.
“First of all, the repair industry is at fault for most of it, because a lot of peo-
ple don’t understand how you actually train and keep people,” he says.
“They take on apprentices and they give them jobs to do, but they don’t look into the way they train them. So they might finish their time, but they
Some of Phipps’ staff
incentives include regular prize raffles,
‘ice-cream days’ with a Mr Whippy van visiting regularly in summer...”
don’t have the skills necessary to be able to hold down good jobs in the workplace.
“Educators are certainly at fault, be- cause for decades they’ve been telling young people to go to university. There’s nothing wrong with that, but a lot get
degrees they can never ever use. And the word ‘trade’ has been a bit of a dirty word. Plus, nobody’s promoting career paths. There are career paths.
“Of course, young apprentices get paid bugger all, and they might have a mate who’s a bricky’s labourer who’s going to make a fortune, so all of these things have a bearing on bringing in fresh blood.”
Having worked in the business for 45 years, Phipps says he has made a con- certed effort to focus on staff achieve- ments and wellbeing, and has imple- mented numerous activities and rewards to let his team know they’re appreciated, resulting in excellent staff retention.
“I have a number of people that have been with me for 20-plus years,” he says. “Over that period of time, you develop re- lationships where both parties get used to each other and have an understanding of where they’re both at, and what the ex- pectation is from both sides.