12-11-2017, Mobile Electronics -- The end of the year brings many tasks for a retail shop. Decisions are made about the success or failure of product lines, promotions used throughout the year, employee growth versus areas for improvement, hiring, firing, profit versus loss on the year and hundreds of other micro issues that can stress out even the most seasoned business owner.
In 12-volt, there are enough categories of product alone to make a person's head spin. That's why for the second year in a row, Mobile Electronics magazine sent out a job satisfaction survey to help retailers identify issues they might be having related to employee satisfaction. This was done not only to help take away the stress of finding out these things themselves, but had the intention of helping take a major category off of their plates when planning for next year.
Each portion of the survey was broken into sections that focused on a different topic. The 47-question survey included questions on career development, work engagement, compensation, relationship management and work environment.
Career Development
The first topic the survey focused on was career development. The majority of those surveyed in total (46 percent) were owners, while lead installers came in second at 11 percent and the installation managers and regular installation technicians came in tied for third at around five percent. Around 30 percent of those who answered about their satisfaction regarding professional growth agreed with being satisfied, while around 19 percent disagreed with 23 percent remaining neutral on the topic.
The neutrals came in even stronger when asked if they are pleased with career advancement opportunities available to them. Around 35 percent of workers were neutral while around 19 percent both agreed and disagreed with the statement. This statistic shows that the majority of those surveyed believe career advancement is limited but may likely not be upset about that fact given the popularity of the jobs themselves. The top answer for how involved employees feel in their work was to strongly agree at being very involved. Similar questions about getting excited to go to work and the level of effort employees are willing to give at work each day were resoundingly affirmative.
Compensation is often a sore spot for many Americans these days, with 12-volt retailers split down the middle on whether they feel fairly compensated. For many in the survey, their love of their work keeps them happier than the pay they receive, which includes business owners.
"As an owner, shop compensation is a bit different than if you are a tech. Everyone always wants more one way or another but as an owner I am happy with my salary," explained one surveyed retailer. "As far as the business as a whole, I mainly just want for the shop to make enough money to pay all of my guys, cover all bills, and make a little bit more each year to invest back into the shop. I don't ever plan on getting rich owning my shop I just want to be comfortable and not stress over paying each bill or employee."
Training is also a major issue for employees, with nearly a quarter of those surveyed believing they don't receive adequate training from their company. One owner said, "We need to do a better job of training people. That’s on me!!" Another added, "I want to go to training to advance my skills but it must be on my time and my money." In contrast, over 50 percent of respondents believe they do receive proper training, including both in-house and training at industry events.
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