The car wash industry is as profitable as it is exciting. People invent new technological developments every day, with more efficient car care methods being born as a result. Because this is a highly-stressful and fast-paced environment, your staff members will certainly feel the pressure, the longer they stay with your company. As they get settled into their work roles, they will soon find out that cleaning cars is not just a matter of soaping up a vehicle and then hosing it down. From time to time, you will have to take on the role of the responsible leader so you can think of ways to motivating employees.

Your business organization will not move forward or grow without the people who work for you. Here are our five tips to help you get on the good side of your employees and encourage them to work harder and better.

Motivating Employees

1. Let Them Know that You Take Your Role Seriously, so They Should Do the Same

Your employees need to know that you are willing to play your role as the boss—the person from whom they take their instructions, the person whom they look up to when they need answers. At the same time, your role as boss is to point out their mistakes and correct them if necessary, so these can be identified, analyzed, and avoided. Be consistent with your decisions and comments so your employees won’t feel as if you’re playing favorites among them. Professional inspiration comes from being confident in your boss and in his vision for the company.

2. Have Fun with Your Employees from Time to Time

Anyone will have a hard time keeping up with all the detailing schedules and work orders that come through your facility every week. By Friday afternoon, your employees will need a little pat on the back and some pep talk from the boss. If they know that you’re willing to do this for them, they wouldn’t feel so bad about putting in overtime work because they look forward to hanging out with you. It’s good to be friendly with them so you can get to know each other beyond what you do at the car wash shop.

3. Build Genuine Relationships with Your Employees

You have to make your team members feel that they are part of something good and wonderful. While your business is ultimately a money-making enterprise, this doesn’t mean that you have to deal with each other in a cold and detached manner. Be pleasant with your employees, from the highest, to the lowest-ranking staff detailer. Showing your employees respect and camaraderie will help you foster genuine relationships with them. Make them feel like they own the place, instead of simply working there. This for sure will help you in motivating employees within your business.

4. Establish a Recognition System

Training your employees is also a method of motivating employees. After training them, they can start doing their jobs better. Afterwards create methods to recognize their extraordinary efforts at work. Put up a rewards system that is separate and distinct from what the franchisor has so that your employees will feel that personal touch you have with the business. When you reward your employees’ work properly, they’ll feel motivated more than ever. The spike in productivity and overall employee satisfaction will be felt almost instantaneously. After all, we’re just humans, and we like it best when our efforts are recognized and given commensurate rewards. When we say rewards, we don’t always mean giving monetary benefits only. A simple word of congratulations or a free pizza for everyone is already a good way to inspire your employees and make them happy.

5. Keep Your Employees in the Loop

The most detrimental rule you can implement in your car wash franchise is to compartmentalize the jobs and tasks that are assigned to your employees. Your company is a small operation, so make sure that you let everyone know what’s happening. While it’s certainly a great idea to give your staff definite responsibilities, they also have to be aware of what the other people on the team are doing. This will be helpful in motivating employees into becoming more productive with their own responsibilities, and perhaps even inspire them to think of ways on how the others can improve on their roles. Challenge your employees by asking their honest opinion about how the company is run and how you interact with them.

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