On a scale of one to 10, how efficient are your employees? Is it possible that their efficiency rating is as low as four or five?
How much could your company grow if they could reach an eight or nine on the scale?
Employees are the primary key to your success, so you should attempt a wide variety of strategies to help make the best use of their time.
It's amazing how much time is inadvertently wasted every day. Don't expect that employees will become more efficient simply because you have given them this directive.
Structured training that includes "time efficiency training" as well as "sales and customer service training" should be one of a rental business's top initiatives. A series of company-wide training sessions is definitely worth the investment.
Here are just a few ideas and reminders:
- Train employees to be time efficient. Don't just focus training on equipment familiarization. When I am conducting rental employee training for clients, I train them in product knowledge, process, procedures, safety, and particularly stress the importance of doing their tasks efficiently.
- It's very important to have your operation analyzed to identify what changes can be made to improve employee efficiency. Every rental business is different.
- Use incentives. It's important to use a variety of motivational tools to help keep employees enthusiastic. A paycheck is not enough any more. Which incentives to use will depend on a wide variety of factors related to your individual operation.
Incentives cost money but imagine how much growth your company would experience if employees were able to significantly increase their efficiency.
In addition to helping employees to become more efficient, look for products that help save equipment service time. There are a number of simple opportunities to save time in the area of equipment cleanup following the rental. For example, using a more powerful pressure washer, using the proper pressure washer nozzle, and using a chemical injector nozzle with a good cleaning chemical can significantly reduce cleanup time. Preventing equipment from accumulating dirt and paint over-spray is also part of the answer.
Consider using airless paint sprayer hose covers and protective spray products that keep paint or concrete from sticking to rental equipment. Also, there is a new electric power tool from Montipower Inc. that removes old decals and prepares rental equipment to be repainted. It also removes small amounts of dried-on concrete. Rental equipment will rent better and will be cared for better by customers if it looks great.
Speaking of old decals on equipment, it's important to have readable safety, operational and warning messages on rental equipment. Over time, they fade, rip, get painted over, etc. and new ones should be obtained from the manufacturers. Don't forget to have your store's fresh-looking decal on everything you rent.
Efficiency reduces employee frustration, and leads to greater job satisfaction. Many rental business operators complain about how they have a difficult time attracting qualified help. Employee turnover tends to decrease when workers are trained to become more efficient. So, start the process of efficiency training now — it's worth the investment.
