Family atmosphere, charity foster low turnover at PWG

COLUMBIA, S.C. — When Gus Herlong hires employees, he wants them to develop a career at his Midas dealership.

"When I say this is a career path, I don't want you to ever think this is a job. I think that means something to a lot of people," said Herlong, president and COO of Palmetto Garage Works L.L.C., and the 2024 Tire Business Tire Dealer Humanitarian.

"I don't want you to think or feel like you got to be here for six months and then jump again. If something's wrong, here's my cellphone, let's figure it out. This is a career, not a job."

Herlong offers training for his 260 employees and encourages a family atmosphere among the 32 Midas and SpeeDee locations in South Carolina, northern Florida and Maryland.

Some employees who have left the company have returned after learning the proverbial grass is not always greener on the other side, according to some of his long-time employees.

"What was really important for me is being a locally owned, family business," said Travis Jex, the downtown store manager who joined the dealership about six years ago.

Unlike working for large corporations, "I like being able to talk to the owners, talk to area managers and actually have conversations with them," he said, adding that the employer's community involvement is very important.

"If you're not helping your community, then we're just here. Just like every other shop, just trying to nickel and dime people for money. But, I mean, at the end of the day, we're here to help people, so that's big to me."

John Dieu, vice president of finance and strategy, said the company has contests among the stores to encourage teamwork, hosts cookouts and creates company engagement videos.

"We teamed up with NAPA Auto Parts, which is our big parts vendor, and we built out a nice toolbox for new technicians that didn't have tools. So if they stayed with us for a year, it would be theirs," he said, adding that the company's benefits, including PTOs, a paid day off for birthdays and gifts of T-shirts and Yeti cups to mark special occasions, contribute to the company's low turnover rate.

The stores have break rooms with comfortable chairs for technicians to relax in and eat lunches. The company installed a high-end coffee maker in the headquarters break room so employees don't have to spend money at coffee shops, according to Herlong.

Dieu said the company adjusted its scheduling to a five-day work week (the shops are closed on Sunday) to create a positive work-life balance.

"Because that's what the new generation is looking for. They'd rather have a work-life balance than making tons and tons of money, which you could take your choice.

"But we do still allow people to work when they need to or want to," he said.

Sometimes the shop will stagger employees' schedules if they need to come in late or leave early.

"I really think it does boost their morale, and they work harder," Dieu said.

"Obviously, there's a give and take. We do have people that take advantage of the system, but most of the people are pretty good," he said, adding, "People have things to do in their lives, and if they don't have time to do it, then they're going to look for another job."

Herlong said he may lose some sales by closing shops on Sundays, but he believes the decision is important for employee morale.

"If I'm not willing to work on Sundays, I'm not going to ask my teammates to do it," Herlong said.

"That would be me purely making a financial decision and not thinking about them, because they all need their time away from work. They all work five days, so everybody gets a day off plus Sunday.

"But I'm not going to be at one of these stores on a Sunday, so I'm not going to ask them to do it. Yeah, that's a choice. There are franchisees that staunchly believe and all of our competitors (believe) that you need to be open on Sundays. But I don't."

PGW provides Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) and vendor training to its technicians and pays a bonus for achieving ASE certification.

A large training room at the new headquarters features a large screen so employees at other locations can participate by video conferencing. The company, as well as its vendors, provides classroom training and will pay to send employees elsewhere for training.

Training includes introducing new technology into the shop, such as digital inspections.

Herlong has altered his approach to acclimating employees, especially older, long-time employees, to changes in procedures.

"It's our responsibility to get them accustomed to that without faltering their customer experience process, and explain the 'why,' " Herlong said, adding it's part of the trust-building process with his employees.

"This is why we're going to do it. This is why we're here today. And this is all the things that we're going to be setting forth to execute this in our stores, or in our business, or whatever it is.

"So we got to do that at the store level, too. Explain the 'why.' This is why we are putting digital vehicle inspections in your store. You know, whether that be the customer is expecting it or all of our competitors are doing it."

Joe Slice, manager of inventory, assets and special projects, has worked for PGW and the previous owner of the Midas dealership for 41 years.

He has stayed with the company because of the family atmosphere and because Herlong's humanitarian work helps attract and retain employees.

"When I used to be an area manager and I would interview people, my first goal, besides interviewing them, was to sell them on our company. And part of my sales was, 'Here's what we do for Camp Cole, and here's what we do for the blood drive and here's what we do for the firefighters,'" he said.

He oversees the refurbishing of vehicles destined to be donated to families in need through the Midas Spark program. The projects involve employees installing new motors, transmissions, tires and other parts, in addition to general maintenance.

"It's just a good feeling when you see these people (receiving donated vehicles). Just some of them start crying. They've got family, and they have no way (of getting) around. Every time I watch it; it makes you feel good," Slice said.

Herlong said community service doesn't immediately make a company a magnet for job applicants or customers.

"It is a patient game, because it doesn't happen overnight. You're not going to go do a food drive and, all of a sudden, everybody you know thinks you're great, and you're going to be flooded with business and applications," Herlong said.

"We're 12-15 years into this, and it's probably taken that long to get the results we're getting now. And that is an unintentional result.

"I mean, I'm not smart enough to have forecasted 12 years ago that we would be in a position that we're in with employment or business.

"It's our obligation. If we're going to do business in this market, we got to show the market we're going to invest in the community. We're going to give back."

He said the word has gotten out to potential job applicants about the company's reputation.

"It's a great place to work. We love it. It's a great place where they give you opportunity, especially to help the community," Dieu, who oversees the blood drives, said.

"I've been at a lot of companies that don't reach out and help, and it's a little mundane. There's something missing.

"So working here has been great, especially being able to take charge of (the blood drives)."