Your Next Big Hire

Next Article

One Message

EXECUTIVE DECISION ARE YOU READY TO ADD C-LEVEL MANAGEMENT?

By Anna Zeck

You likely still remember what it was like just running one single store. You were there every day, day in and day out. You knew every inch of the building, every employee, every operation. You set the culture, the processes, the SOPs, the behaviors. You might have been known as the friendly, familyowned collision repair center.

But what happens when your time is suddenly split between two stores?

That’s the question Leroy Rush, business development manager at Sherwin-Williams, asks nearly all of his MSO clients.

And what happens if it’s split between three stores, or 10, or 20?

Suddenly, after spending six months opening a new store, you visit one of your other locations and realize, things aren’t the same. Processes aren’t being followed, there’s high variation between locations, and there’s not a chain of command influencing each employee’s actions—even with great managers.

“There’s a reality that can’t be ignored: it diminishes your influence and impact,” Rush says. “Imagine if you have 20 locations. There could be stores that haven't seen you for 30 or 45 days. You could have employees that have not yet met you. There’s zero influence over behavior and culture.”

Luckily, there’s a position so simple, yet critical, that, if effectively utilized, can solve those problems: an operations manager or COO.

There really is no reason to needlessly stress yourself out and spend every day spinning your wheels, Rush says. And, no, adding a C-level title won’t make you lose the personal feel of your business; it will actually free up your time to allow you to spend more time working on that culture and brand.

“As you become a multi-store operator, it changes. The friendly local family collision repair center becomes two, becomes three. It becomes a corporation,” he says. “The need to modify the way you approach multiple store operations changes. You don’t have to lose that family feel; that’s a culture thing. This is about operations, to sustain multiple locations.”

ARE YOU READY TO HIRE AN OPS MANAGER?

There’s no hard-and-fast rule about when the time is right to hire an ops manager, but, Rush says, there’s an easy way to tell if you’re beyond ready: Are you at your wit’s end? Beyond just stress, though, are you finding yourself more frequently reacting to your business? The matter that you used to manage well and were out ahead on, are you now getting a call from your store manager that something’s gone wrong and you have to fix it? That’s an indicator that you’re spread too thin and don’t have a firm grasp on your day-to-day operations.

However, hiring an ops manager shouldn’t be a strictly emotional decision. It also comes down to the following factors, outlined in the graph on the right.

Hiring an Ops Manager

So you’ve made the decision you’re ready to hire an ops manager. Next logical question: Where do you find one?

Easy, Rush says: internally. There’s credibility and cultural influence with an internal hire, and they’re already trained in the way your business operates. But, from there, it’s not entirely easy at all, really.

“There’s also risk. Just because an individual runs a single location well, a multi-store manager requires different attributes,” Rush says. “Do not promote someone straight out of a general manager chair without knowing how they’ll truly perform. You will lose that person if you have to demote them.”

ARE ALL MY LOCATIONS MAXED OUT?

YES NO

Work on increasing volume first (RO counts, revenue)

Am I able to stay on top of issues at all of my locations?

NO

YES Work on streamlining processes across the entire operation

Is my P&L statement financially sound?

NO

YES Work on financial stability first

Set gross, net profit goals for ops manager hire

BEGIN OPS MANAGER HIRING PROCESS

That’s why he suggests a very systematic approach to promoting an internal candidate to ops manager:

1. Identify your next level of talent.

Look at your org chart and identify those with leadership qualities.

2. Get a feel for their goals during monthly one-on-one check-ins.

3. If they’re interested in management, begin to groom and train them.

Give the store manager responsibility for a second store, while still running the first store. Allow them to mentor, coach and, operationally, begin to manage the second location by working with the manager on a regular cadence.

4. Observe the positives and negatives.

In particular, note how he or she interacts with the second store manager. “The manager at the second store is usually not going to be excited that someone else is coming in to help them,” Rush says. “So, how does the potential operating manager manage that? You’re always going to have that. An operating manager coming in and managing managers is always going to have its challenges.”

If you don’t have someone at your stores who can step in, Rush says that you certainly can pull ops managers from other industries, but the key will be to rapidly educate that manager on the nuances of the collision repair industry. He says that a good, functional multi-store manager should be able to do that within six months.

Defining the Role

On a basic level, the owner provides the leadership, management, and vision necessary to ensure that the company has the proper people and systems to effectively grow the company. The operating officer is responsible for all hands-on operational aspects of the company, and the store managers are responsible for the managing of tasks.

That’s just an overview, though. Rush outlines the duties of those positions as follows:

OWNER

• Visionary leader • Owner develops the next location. He or she works with real estate, banks, contractors, equipment vendors, etc. • Enjoying life! All jokes aside, Rush says that, at some point in an owner’s life, he or she likely is re ady to enjoy more downtime.

OPERATIONS MANAGER

• Operations • Provide annual strategic operations plan to drive companies’ goals • Provide leadership to location managers through store ops plans • Responsible for driving the company to achieve goals • Human resources • Responsible for all personnel functions • Responsible for recruiting, hiring and termination • Training • Develop employee development programs • Oversee the execution of training strategy • Finance/Budget • Provide financial analysis each month • Prepare an annual budget forecast and quarterly updates • Accounting • Supervise payroll, billing, accounts payable, accounts receivable • Technology • Develop, monitor and update a technology plan • Quality • Develop and supervise quality assurance program • Marketing • Develop or delegate strategic marketing plans and work with in-house or outsourced support

STORE MANAGER

• Ensure staff attends training • Provide weekly reports to ops managers • Manage numbers and KPIs for his or her specific store • Manage staff at store by exhibiting leadership • Provide personnel updates to ops managers • Work with ops manager to hire and terminate employees • Meet market goals and objectives

UNDERSTANDING THE ROLES

OWNER

Growing & expanding locations

STORE MANAGER

Achieve desired outcomes & goals

Work on day-to-day operations & goals Set the company vision

OPS MANAGER

Making it Work

If you read the previous job descriptions and realized you’ve handled nearly all of the ops manager’s responsibilities, you’re not alone, Rush says.

“It takes a strong personality just to have your own collision center. It’s rare,” he says. “Imagine that driven person. They’re not easily persuaded to relinquish control.”

Although you might not naturally be inclined to have a second in command, before bringing on an ops manager, it’s vital to fully understand the positions and what each will handle.

“I’ve seen where there were ops managers brought in and when interviewing the ops manager, they’re very dissatisfied because they're not given authority, overridden, second guessed,” Rush says.

The best way to combat that is with a written, strategic operations plan, which allows owners and ops managers to peacefully coexist and work together. There are a few levels to an effective operations plan: The strategic operations plan outlines a market-level MSO strategy stating market goals, objectives and general action items. Its purpose is to drive leadership focus, collaboration and actions to manage toward the desired outcomes of the business, not just “hope,” Rush says.

The store ops plan performs a similar function at the store level for the shop manager and staff. This ops plan is more specific and mirrors the market’s goals and objectives. The shop ops plan is a highly detailed, customized plan specific to each shop with action items, due dates, and persons responsible.

In the strategic operations plan, the owner and operations manager should go through and assign out responsibilities, so it’s clear who is responsible for each action item, how that person will report on the action item, and how frequently it will be discussed.

In the shop ops plan, Rush recommends creating a spreadsheet where each action item is listed out, assigned out, and has a due date attached.

“Store managers are working off an ops plan that helps us meet the goals of the market strategy,” Rush says. “Theirs is more granular and that includes actionable items: Sit down and meet with Lee Rush about I-CAR training. Schedule Lee for I-CAR training.”

You’ll also want to determine a cadence for the operations manager to check in with the store managers on the operations plans, so that both individuals are on the same page with decisions being made on the shop level.

“If I’m a COO and next thing you know, I get a call from a manager that, ‘I have to fire so-and-so,’ my response is, ‘That’s not possible because I have never seen it in your ops plan that you send every Monday by 10 a.m. How can that performance begin to slip and there’s no communication?’ That happens all the time,” Rush says. “The ops manager can get in front of that and help the manager save that employee and improve retention.

“I would know about it if I’m an ops manager because I’ve been looking at it in the ops plan for three months. We’ve been working to develop a plan. When we get to the point where we need to terminate an employee, it’s been part of our plan. There’s no conversation needed.”

For examples of how to create an operations plan on all three levels, head to fenderbender.com/operationsplan.