As most of us know from working experience, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you always get what you’ve always got.” But at some stage there comes a need for change.

Mark Sanborn, leadership expert and leading author once said: “Your success in life isn’t based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers and business.”

So, when it comes to implementing businesses changes or driving repair process efficiencies, how do you tackle  change effectively?  

From my experience with many Bodyshops, people look at change differently. You need to address the human element. Most people are resistant to change, particularly if they are not the ones initiating it. Try to understand how the changes will impact your team and how to overcome obstacles. Ensure they understand why you are driving change and what the consequences are if changes aren’t made. Clear, concise communication is critical.

There are many studies around change management, I find the simplest model to understand is Gleicher’s modified Formula  for Change:

CHANGE POTENTIAL (C) = D x V x F > R

D = Dissatisfaction with how things are now  

V = Vision of what is possible 

F = First concrete steps towards the vision 

R = Resistance to change

In simple terms, to successfully implement change, the factors at play need to overcome or be stronger than the resistance. These can be calculated mathematically – feel free to research this further!  

TIPS I RECOMMEND TO DRIVE CHANGE IN YOUR REPAIR FACILITY

• Identify or create a level of dissatisfaction. Unless you or the team are unhappy with the current situation nothing will change. Dissatisfaction can become from listening to employees, sharing market trends or seeing what competitors are doing/achieving.

• Create a vision or picture of how things could be. Show

the path forward and how we are going to get there (F). This should include the benefits to employees “What’s in

it for me?”

• Keep the vision top of mind. Initially performance may drop, so you will all need to ride this out. This is typical as shown in the J-curve chart below. A good example I use is when shops change from solvent basecoat to waterborne basecoat and performance initially drops off, before recovering and then improving.