As 2024 comes to a close, it is important that quick lube employers prepare their end-of-the-year checklist to effectively prep their shop for the new year. NOLN sat down with two human resource experts — Claudia St. John, president of The Workplace Advisors and Deanna Baumgardner, president of Employers Advantage — to find out what key actions should be taken to set the table for shop success in 2025.
1. Do Housekeeping for Files, Policies
Quick lube owners should ensure that they are cleaning up their human resource files and that their policies and procedures are up to date. They should also make sure that everybody has signed off on receiving compliance documentation.
“It used to be that you would take a look at your handbook every couple of years, but laws change so much,” Baumgardner said. “State and federal laws are always changing, so we recommend a review of your handbook to see if it's still compliant. Ask yourself, is this rule still applicable to the workplace and the culture? Has there been significant change at the company that you know certain policies just don't work anymore? Look at what's working in your policies, see what's not, and then make changes for the new year.”
2. Improve Hiring Strategies
With predictions that the labor market will remain tight going into 2025, it is vital that owners are thinking about the year ahead.
“Look and see how you've been successful,” St. John said. “Review the strategies that you did for 2024, and do some tweaking. Maybe some of the promotion initiatives that you've used for direct recruiting of talent have been successful or not. So really, just look from a high level at what's been working to hire people and what's hasn’t, and what to do more of for 2025.”
3. Offer Your Employees Flexibility
Presently, many shop employees want flexibility. Unfortunately, the services offered in the quick lube industry are not something that employees can perform from home. They must work in the shop. Being flexible with staff is something that quick lube owners must get creative with.
“We know that different people want different things from their jobs,” St. John said. “You might have some folks who are going to raise their hand and say, I want to work as much overtime as I can. You might have others who say, ‘I just had a new baby, and I want to be able to spend a little bit more time at home.’ So, look to things like scheduling flexibility and creating incentives for people to earn time off.”
4. Conduct Compensation Reviews
On July 1, 2024, significant changes were made to federal wage and hour requirements. The salary threshold minimum was increased so that anyone who is paid on a salary basis and is not eligible for overtime must receive at least $43,844 a year. On January 1, 2025, the salary threshold minimum will be bumped up to $58,656.
“We encourage shop owners to do compensation reviews to make sure that they have pay equity across the board,” Baumgardner said. “Owners really need to look at how they're paying employees, and if they're going to be impacted by that. If they are, employees might need to be converted to hourly, and then they're eligible for overtime. That can really impact a small business budget.”
5. Ensure Supervisors are Being Properly Developed
Shop owners should be mindful that their supervisors are getting the training they need to be successful.
“People quit their managers, not their jobs,” St. John said. “If a shop had turnover, owners need to look at their supervisors. They need to check if those supervisors are getting the professional development that's going to help them with their retention strategy. It's not just hiring people. It's keeping them, making sure that they're able to offer the benefits and flexibility. It is important that supervisors know how to give positive feedback. That they know how to have critical conversations. They're able to show empathy and are flexible with communication style. They need to have emotional intelligence. Most folks have some of those. Few people have all of those. So how do we develop those skill sets in our supervisors, our frontline supervisors?”
6. Utilize New Resources
Many forms of media are being put out by different associations and experts to help with everything from goal setting to improving team culture. Shop owners should be looking at what they want to improve upon and utilize these different resources for help.
“There are a lot of resources out there, and if I were a leader, I would ask myself: What are some of the things that I want my team to have?” St. John said. “There are great books and online training courses that can be developed. There are a lot of resources out there once the shop owner decides these are some of the content areas that that we need to move forward with. I also think that podcasts are great. If I’m a business owner and I don't really know how to develop my teams, there are great podcasts on how to develop supervisors and managers. You can't swing a bat without hitting one of those.”
