Welcoming a new team member should not feel like a coin toss. There are many things owners can do to improve their odds during hiring, and many more they can do after a new person joins to help them adjust to the shop’s culture, rhythm, and philosophy.
In episode 82 of Maximum Octane, Kim Hickey talks with Al Sutherland, owner of Al’s Certified Auto Repair, which opened in 2001. Al shares how his shop handles hiring, how to avoid groupthink in interviews, how to set healthy boundaries, the toughest lesson he has learned as an owner, and how to help new employees fit in.
What You Will Learn
- About what made Al start his own business
- Al talks about how they handle hiring processes at his auto repair shop
- How to establish healthy boundaries with internal customers
- Al shares the most challenging lesson he learned as a shop owner
- Sometimes, we must re-educate internal customers
- How to help new internal customers adapt to our company’s culture
Why Al Started His Own Business
Al opens with what led him to start his own shop. His goal was to help as many people as possible solve their car problems and enjoy a great experience along the way. That purpose still guides how he hires and leads.
Many shop owners start their businesses with a desire to do things better than they experienced elsewhere. That purpose can be a powerful foundation for culture. When owners clearly communicate why they started the business and what they want it to stand for, employees and customers can connect with that purpose.
How Al Handles Hiring
Around the 6 minute mark, Al describes his shop’s hiring process. A structured process, with clear criteria, consistent questions, and multiple perspectives, helps reduce the guesswork. Al also discusses how to avoid a “mob mentality” during interviews, where one strong opinion sways the whole group. Having each interviewer form an independent view before discussing helps keep decisions balanced.
ATI’s The Right Interview Questions: Your Secret Weapon for Successful Hiring and 7 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting the Hiring Process can help build a stronger process.
Structured interviews improve hiring decisions by ensuring each candidate is evaluated against the same criteria. Using a scorecard that lists key qualities, asking the same core questions, and having interviewers rate candidates independently before discussing reduces bias and groupthink. Including practical assessments, such as a working interview or role-play, provides additional insight.
Groupthink is easy to fall into in a small shop, especially when the owner or a respected lead technician speaks first. One simple safeguard is to have every interviewer write down a rating and a few notes before anyone discusses the candidate. Another is to assign each interviewer a specific area to evaluate, such as technical skill, communication, or cultural fit, so that each person brings a distinct perspective. When the group finally compares notes, disagreements become useful information rather than something one strong voice quickly overrides.
Setting Healthy Boundaries
Al talks about how to establish healthy boundaries with employees. Clear boundaries define what is acceptable, how people communicate, and how the owner and team relate to each other. They protect relationships and keep the focus on doing great work. Greg Marks shares his approach to balancing friendship and leadership in How to Befriend Internal Customers and Keep Things Business Oriented.
Boundaries help define professional relationships. They might include expectations about communication outside work hours, how personal issues are handled, and how disagreements are resolved. Clear boundaries prevent misunderstandings and help maintain respect between owners and employees.
Boundaries matter most in small shops, where owners and employees often work side by side for years and personal relationships naturally form. Friendship is not a problem in itself, but it can complicate feedback, discipline, and pay decisions if expectations are never discussed. Many owners find it helpful to separate the conversations clearly: work matters are handled at work, in a consistent way for everyone, while personal relationships are respected without becoming a reason for exceptions. Consistency is what keeps the rest of the team confident that the rules apply equally.
Al’s Toughest Lesson
Around the 17 minute mark, Al shares the most challenging lesson he has learned as a shop owner. Every owner has one, and hearing how others have handled theirs can help listeners avoid the same mistakes.
Hard lessons often become the foundation for better practices. Many owners can point to a difficult experience, such as a bad hire, a financial setback, or a customer dispute, that changed how they run their business. Sharing these lessons helps others avoid the same mistakes.
Re-Educating Internal Customers
Al explains that sometimes owners must re-educate employees on certain aspects of how they work or approach their jobs. New hires bring habits from previous shops, and long-time employees can drift from standards over time. Re-education is not punishment. It is a reset that brings everyone back to the same expectations.
Re-education can be handled respectfully by explaining the reasons behind expectations, providing training, and giving people time to adjust. It works best when framed as helping employees succeed rather than criticizing past behavior.
Helping New Hires Adapt to Your Culture
Al closes with how to help new team members adapt to the shop’s culture. A strong onboarding process introduces the shop’s values, processes, and people. It sets expectations early and gives new hires a clear path to success. Drew Bryant explains onboarding in depth in Run Your Auto Repair Shop as Effectively as a Big Corporation.
Onboarding essentials:
- A written welcome that explains the shop’s mission and values.
- A clear training plan for the first 30, 60, and 90 days.
- An assigned mentor or point person.
- Regular check-ins to answer questions and address concerns.
Culture is often learned through observation. New hires watch how coworkers behave, how leaders respond to problems, and what gets recognized. Pairing new hires with employees who model the shop’s values helps them learn the culture quickly. Regular check-ins during the first few months allow leaders to address questions and reinforce expectations.
The Cost of a Bad Hire
A bad hire can be expensive. Beyond recruiting and training costs, a poor fit can damage customer relationships, lower team morale, and consume management time. Investing in a thorough hiring process, even when it takes longer, reduces these risks. Al’s emphasis on clear expectations, healthy boundaries, and thoughtful onboarding reflects lessons learned through experience.
Shops that combine careful hiring with strong onboarding and ongoing support give new employees the best chance to succeed. Over time, that approach builds a team that shares the shop’s values and delivers consistent service.
Common Hiring Mistakes Shops Make
Even experienced owners fall into hiring habits that raise the odds of a poor fit:
- Hiring the first available candidate because a position has been open too long.
- Relying on a gut feeling from a short conversation instead of a structured interview.
- Skipping reference checks or a working interview.
- Failing to describe the shop’s expectations and culture clearly before an offer.
- Treating the first day as the end of hiring rather than the start of onboarding.
Recruiting continuously, so the shop is never desperate, makes it much easier to avoid these mistakes and wait for the right person.
Hiring Questions for Your Team
- Does every interviewer use the same criteria and questions?
- How do you prevent one person’s opinion from dominating hiring decisions?
- What does a new hire’s first week look like at your shop?
- Which standards need a reset with your current team?
Roy Keiser explains how culture helps attract top talent in Using Culture and Reputation to Build a Bench for Your Auto Shop.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I hire the right people for my auto repair shop?
Start by defining what the role requires, including skills, attitude, and values. Use a structured interview with consistent questions and a scorecard so candidates are compared fairly. Include a practical element, such as a working interview, to see how the person performs. Check references, and describe the shop’s culture honestly so candidates can decide whether it fits them. Recruiting continuously also prevents rushed decisions.
How do you avoid groupthink in a job interview?
Have each interviewer evaluate the candidate independently before any discussion. Written ratings and notes, completed separately, make it harder for one opinion to sway the group. Assigning each interviewer a specific area to assess adds distinct perspectives. When the group meets, ask the most junior person to share first, since people are less likely to contradict a senior voice that speaks early. This approach leads to more balanced hiring decisions.
What should a new employee’s first week look like at a repair shop?
A good first week introduces the shop’s mission, values, people, and processes. The new hire should know who their mentor or point person is, what they will learn in the first 30, 60, and 90 days, and how success will be measured. Include time to observe experienced team members, review safety procedures, and get comfortable with the shop’s software. A short check-in at the end of the week helps address questions early.
How can an owner set boundaries with employees without seeming cold?
Explain boundaries as a way to treat everyone fairly, not as a way to create distance. Be clear about expectations for communication, scheduling, and how work concerns are raised, and apply them consistently. Stay warm and approachable in everyday interactions while keeping decisions about pay, performance, and discipline grounded in the same standards for everyone. Employees generally respect boundaries that are clear, consistent, and explained with care.
