6/23/2016, June 2016 Issue -- In 1987, the Conference Board, a New York-based nonprofit research group conducted a job satisfaction survey. Since then, the survey has become a regular occurrence, the most recent conducted in 2014. In its first year, 61 percent of workers said they liked their jobs. That number fell over the years, reaching an all-time low in 2010 after the Great Recession with only 42.6 percent satisfied with their jobs. The survey went on to cover various elements of a person's job including job security, wages, vacation policies, health and retirement plans and sick leave, among others. All elements pointed to a downward trend, showing that workers were happier in 1987 than they are today.  

Mobile Electronics recently sent out a similar survey to try to identify how the industry feels about many such elements. 41 questions were asked with topics that included professional development, career advancement, enthusiasm for work, overall shop attitude, compensation, relationship between management and employees, various benefits and job security, among others. The majority of those surveyed are owners (40 percent) with lead installation technicians coming in second (15 percent) and regular installers (10 percent) coming in third. 131 people were surveyed in total.

The survey reflected opinions from some of the top retailers and installers in the industry, including Top 12 list-makers Jeff Cantrell of 660 Audio, Josh Mojica of GNC Customs and Matt Cropper of Stereo King. As an industry, finding quality employees has been one of the most talked-about struggles of the modern age. To solve it, various industry participants were interviewed to gather their take on what the information represents and how best to use it to improve the industry's practices related to job satisfaction.

Work Hard, Play Harder

Out of 113 people surveyed on being satisfied with opportunities for professional growth, 42 (about 37 percent) are satisfied. At the same time, while 30 percent agree they are pleased with the career advancement opportunities available to them, about 26 percent are neutral and roughly 20 percent disagree. Those figures seem to suggest that while the majority of people surveyed are owners, they and their employees feel there is plenty of room to grow their skill sets but not a lot of room to advance their careers.

As president of K40 Electronics, one of the industry's top radar detection companies, one could say that Peggy Finley is an expert regarding happiness at her company. When she took over as president the company had high turnover and low morale. She transformed it into a positive work environment where the concept of "work hard, play hard" is center stage. Her style earned her a "Top 10 Bosses To Work For" Award from Small Business Magazine.

"We have a really open, transparent policy with our retailers. We also have it inside the company. If you walk inside the building, there are no walls. My office is all glass," Finley said. "There are no hidden agendas or hidden product defects. If there's an issue with the product everybody knows it."

When asked whether communication between senior leaders and employees is good in their organization, 20 percent disagreed, while 28 percent were neutral and 32 percent agreed. At the same time, when asked if management within the organization recognizes strong job performance, 40 percent agree, while only 18 percent were neutral and 12 percent disagree. This may imply that while communication isn't always as high as some would like, recognition of a job well done is usually noted correctly. In contrast, when mistakes happen, it's management's responsibility not to overreact.

"The culture is punishment free. No one is waiting to get in trouble for anything. It's a culture that I think promotes creativity. We don't call it problem solving. I would say it's a creative environment," Finley said of K40's culture. "We have an opportunity to be creative together without fear that we might do something wrong. It's an opportunity to learn from decisions we make and to make better decisions. One of the things that happens is the genius engineers design the product and give it to sales people to sell. They have objections because they are on front line. When we design a product, we get several retailers involved and salespeople involved. So it's very cooperative and all-inclusive."

Read the rest of the story HERE.

6-27-2016, June Issue Tech Feature -- We have covered a number of technical and fabrication related topics so far in this series. Moving from the idea of fitting a subwoofer in a footwell space, we are now going to look at another stealth way to integrate audio equipment: the false floor. I have the privilege of working with a master of false floor building, Bing Xu. Rather than share with you the details of building a false floor that I have learned over the years from Bing, I thought I would have him share it directly. Bing does a masterful job of fitting equipment into the confined space of a spare tire well. He has a lot to share on the subject, so enjoy part one of this two-part article.

Introduction

I still vividly remember my first ever experience with aftermarket car audio. It was the summer of 1995 and I—along with most of my friends—had just gotten my driver’s license and obtained my first vehicle. One day, a good buddy showed me a catalog. In it were all kinds of gadgets and doodads that I had never seen before. From speakers and subwoofers, to amplifiers and even—gasp! Compact Disc players! My friend proudly pointed out the various products he had ordered, and proclaimed that he was going to install it all himself and make his Nissan Pathfinder sound absolutely heroic. Of course, being a good friend, I naturally told him he was doing nothing but courting disaster. I told him that car audio installation is something that can only be achieved by professionals with years and years of experience, and it was more likely that he would transform his beloved SUV into a roman candle and I would be there to laugh at the ashes. Yet, a couple of weeks later, I found myself sitting in his car, rolling down the street and blasting Bruce Springsteen, no doubt annoying the entire neighborhood with our dual 12-inch Infinity Kappa subwoofers in a pre-fabricated ported enclosure. 

I was hooked instantly and started planning the system in my own vehicle—of course, one that would be a billion times more impressive than his. As I slowly saved up to accomplish my dream, I hung out with my friend a lot and paid attention to the advantages and disadvantages of his design. After a while, it quickly became apparent that by far the biggest hindrance his system caused was the gargantuan sub box eating up about half of his cargo space. Every time we wanted to put our mountain bikes in the back, he had to unplug the damn thing and leave it at home. We also had to be careful what we put in the car for fear of puncturing the woofer cone. After a while, I began to wonder about ways of having a full-blown system in a vehicle without compromising cargo space and daily usability.

Read the rest HERE.