SHOP STATS: Dave's Auto Body Location: Galesburg, IL Owner: Dave Dunn Average Monthly Car Count: 175-200 Staff Size: 30 (23 full time, 3 part time, 4 separate retail/detail employees) Shop Size: 14,000 square feet Average Repair Order: $3,000 Annual Revenue: $7.2 million
The days of giving out a gold watch in exchange for decades of service to a company may be long dead—but the spirit lives on, at least at one western Illinois body shop. Instead of the permanence of a timepiece, sufficiently tenured employees of Dave’s Auto Body—and their families—receive a lifetime of memories in a once-in-a-lifetime vacation to Hawaii.
“And we send them first class,” says shop owner Dave Dunn. “I mean, it's not a rinky-dink trip. It's a real classy trip.”
The award is only proffered after 20 years, but such is the loyalty of Dave’s employees that 10 have earned the trip so far with another five getting theirs soon. The average employee has been at Dave’s 12 years, with most falling in the 10 to 20 range, a few over 20 and a “significant” number with 35 years or more. A waiting spot on a Hawaii beach is a good motivator, but it’s far from the sole reason employees stick around at Dave’s, and only one of many factors that make the shop one of FenderBender’s 2023 Best Workplaces.
A Shop’s Purpose
Dunn is by admission a high school dropout, but he left school at 16 a straight “A” student, motivated only by striking out on his own. He found work at a body shop and by 19 had started one himself. At 29 he was able to bid goodbye to the day-to-day operations of the shop and never looked back.
People wanted to know how a high school dropout was able to be an absentee owner by the age of 30, so that led to him starting Masters Educational Services 27 years ago. Masters is the only permanent school dedicated to collision repair management and is located just up U.S. 150 from the shop, in historic downtown Galesburg. Dunn even wrote a book, “Liquid Amalgam,” a book of management techniques specifically for collision repair leaders.
Dunn says that even with all that success, the thing he’s most proud of is his shop’s record of employee retention. As an educator himself, Dunn places a value on giving his employees the skills they need to grow and thrive in the business and the industry as a whole. But as to why exactly that model has been so successful, that answer isn’t so easy.
“It's never a single thing,” says Dunn. “In other words, if you do this one thing, it's not guaranteed you're going to be successful. But if you do enough things right, you have a greater chance.”
Owning both a shop and an educational center means that Dunn naturally has all his employees taking coursework at some point. Furthermore, employees who have customer-facing roles receive Dale Carnegie Training for professional development, which Dunn says he’s never seen not pay off. Then there’s technical training such as paintless dent repair instruction for every member of the metal shop.
Personal and Professional Development
Training is just part of the equation for Dave’s employees. Every three months, they have a review that is less about performance improvement and more about employees getting a chance to be heard with management. There are two things that are always discussed.
One is a review of the company’s core values, not just a test of the employee’s memory but an evaluation of how the employee put those values to use in their work. The other topic is compensation. Dunn asks employees how they feel about their level of salary in each one of these reviews so they get a chance to feel heard before it becomes an issue.
“I want to proactively discuss compensation, benefits, money with people,” says Dunn. “Because what normally happens in the workplace, the employee becomes dissatisfied. So they go out and they start checking around to see what's available out there. And when you finally talk about money with people, you're already in a crisis stage.”
Dave’s offers employee medical plans similar to other businesses of its size but offers other forms of benefits that make it stand out such as the Medical Assistance Fund covering the employee and his or her family, pets included. An employee can incur up to $3,000 of those expenses and have half covered by the company.
There is a bonus point program where employees receive points simply for doing the things they’re supposed to do like arriving on time for their shift all week. Those points go into a pool and can be exchanged later on for paid time off or for cash value if an employee has an unexpected expense they need to take care of. That’s a win-win, says Dunn, because the shop doesn’t miss out on the productivity of the employee taking paid time off and the employee gets assistance when he or she needs it.
There are other fringe benefits as well. A little bit closer to home than the Hawaiian vacation is the property the shop owns north of town with hunting grounds and a fishing pond for the outdoorsy employees. There are also campgrounds and bonfire pits for families to enjoy.
Cultural Maintenance
All these benefits and initiatives lead to what Dunn calls a “harmonious environment.” While that in turn leads to a culture in which employees are inclined to stay for decades, there are of course times when new employees are needed. Dunn takes a proactive approach to recruiting, saying he does it 365 days a year even if he doesn’t actively need someone.
One of the perks customers of Dave’s receive is four free details a year for as long as they own their car. The always-busy detail shop has then become something of a training ground for new hires who aren’t already skilled in collision repair. It allows managers to evaluate their skills and abilities as well as their fit into the shop culture. That helps keep the shop’s high standards going as well as provide a career path for new employees.
“We feel like we have a grow-your-own policy that we've had now for many years,” says Dunn. “And the detail department is kind of the starting point for that. And it does require some investment, and it requires some infrastructure to be able to do that. But we have a waiting line of people working for us.”
