Marinucci: Breakfast and coffee an overlooked job perk

Providing breakfast may be a valuable but overlooked incentive at automotive service facilities. Here's why.

A relaxed breakfast and fresh, hot coffee could improve productivity and efficiency as well as boost employee morale.

A full stomach and a dose of java usually turn listless, groggy people into energized employees who hit the ground running when the business opens.

Physically and mentally, fed workers are better prepared to tackle the day's tasks than hungry ones.

Furthermore, gathering the crew together every morning helps cultivate camaraderie among workers. Familiarity and fellowship fuel a pleasant rather than fraught work atmosphere.

Camaraderie boosts morale.

A free breakfast is not and cannot be a cure-all for problems at your auto service facility. Surely, however, it merits some consideration.

Some bosses have recruited and retained a stellar group of dependable employees who are the envy of their local competitors. Lateness and sluggish starts rarely occur because bosses have created a culture of responsibility within the staff.

These workers faithfully deliver from opening time until quitting time.

(Sluggish starts refer to the behavior of physically or mentally unprepared employees who make mistakes earlier in the day. These avoidable blunders may put worker safety, customers' vehicles and the business' reputation at risk.)

But owners and managers at other auto service facilities face a more-complicated scenario. They have hired capable people who, for example, sell service successfully and repair vehicles properly.

However, getting the entire staff on site and ready to roll prior to opening time is an ongoing challenge. And regardless of their age, capable employees may have to warm up in the morning like an old engine before they perform properly.

Firing a talented but tardy technician is a common and convenient reaction. But bosses who fire employees lose their entire investment in recruiting and training those workers.

Creative incentives such as a free breakfast may promote promptness more effectively than owners and managers imagined.

Before I proceed here, I need to put a familiar expression — younger generation — into proper perspective.

Regular readers may recall that I have crisscrossed the country reporting on the auto service industry since 1976. Ever since then, I regularly have heard bosses' gripes about the work ethic of younger employees.

Some owners and managers state that younger workers do not take their jobs as seriously as they should. For example, they cite employees' cavalier attitudes about being ready to work when the business opens.

Younger employees' lackadaisical attitudes toward work have discouraged me, too.

But addressing this issue and complaining about it are two very different matters. I urge owners and managers to "coach up" young workers to meet expectations such as early arrivals.

Think of creative ways to incentivize rather than criticize people. A good place to start may be free breakfast and fresh coffee.

Auto-service facilities try to meet motorists' needs by selling the appropriate tires, maintenance and repairs. Although their business goals may be the same, their employees' personalities, perceived needs and expectations vary from one tire dealership or service shop to another.

Offering breakfast prior to opening may be a pointless suggestion if employees do not see value in it. Gauge their interest by discussing the topic at a mandatory-attendance team meeting.

First of all, respectfully but firmly state your objectives: You want to improve the health of the business. The healthier the business is, the stronger employees' job security will be.

Increasing productivity and efficiency boosts profitability. This means maximizing each worker's time during normal business hours.

Second, never assume that employees understand the potential consequences of arriving late or showing up at the last moment. Spell it out for them.

For example, lateness limits the boss' ability to maximize every employee's talent and time during regular hours. Tardiness also may squander available hours by disrupting coworkers' schedules and tasks.

What's more, lateness may hurt the company by disappointing customers and harming its reputation for promptness and reliability.

Arriving late may waste time by fomenting mistakes. These avoidable errors occur because harried techs are rushing to make up for lost time.

Groggy techs may lose keys, spill fluids, break fasteners — the list of potential blunders is endless. Prior to opening time, some people must sip several cups of coffee in order to become competent employees as well as civil human beings.

Third, emphasize that eating food in front of motorists looks unprofessional. Surely there is a time to eat and a time to focus on people on the other side of the service counter.

Breakfast may be the most-important meal of the day, but it still should be savored out of the sight of customers and prospective customers.

Next, state your proposal to provide breakfast and beverages in order to get the crew on site and fully prepared prior to the business' start time. Engage the entire staff in determining the most-agreeable, most-workable format for a practical employee breakfast.

Because this endeavor involves multiple people, anticipate some give and take rather than total agreement on every aspect. (Reasonable adults understand compromise.)

For openers, I hope there is a private or reasonably secluded spot where crew members can eat breakfast. At some auto service facilities, employees go so far as to set up folding tables — card tables — in secluded sites somewhere inside the business.

They wipe off the tables after meals and stow them away again.

Second, the boss and the crew must determine a workable time slot for breakfast. The key is allocating adequate time prepare food (where necessary), eat it at a sensible pace and then clean up the area.

For instance, 7:15 to 7:45 may work well for a tire dealership or service shop that opens at 8 a.m.

Hitting this time slot may force some crew members to rise much earlier than they did in the past. They just reset their alarm and gradually adapt to a revised routine.

In some cases, an earlier departure simplifies and shortens their commute because they get started ahead of the heaviest traffic.

However, some coworkers may judge an earlier start to be too stressful.

Third, poll employees on beverage and food choices. You may have to juggle factors such as personal preferences, preparation and clean up time, shelf life and workers' dietary restrictions.

A popular brand of coffee and tea may satisfy most — if not all — employees. But some workers may require decaffeinated beverages per a doctor's orders.

In some businesses, fruit juices rule and coffee is the outlier. Perhaps the staff loves milk. Hopefully they agree on one type of milk or one fruit juice.

Sometimes, buying these in the largest, most cost-effective sizes is impractical because the beverage spoils before employees can finish it. Purchase more cautiously next time.

Fourth, experience suggests that modern auto-service businesses usually have refrigerators, microwave ovens, toaster ovens or traditional toasters. These popular appliances simplify making meals — including breakfast — at tire dealerships or service shops.

For example, employees can make toast or English muffins – not to mention heating up various traditional muffins. Plus, there is minimal clean up.

Many workers thrive on cold cereal. But thanks to the microwave, people can enjoy a wide range of no-fuss breakfasts. These include treats such as oatmeal and hot, wheat-based cereal.

Microwaveable breakfast options also include egg-based meals, breakfast meats and omelet-like combinations of them.

In some auto-repair businesses, the boss has created a functional kitchen for the staff. Remember that modern appliances enable you to do a respectable job with a full-fledged kitchen.

Earlier, I urged owners and managers to create useful, unexpected perks for their employees. Think of ways to incentivize them to reach goals such as arriving early, working smarter, etc.

You never know what incentives may succeed until you try the ideas and fine-tune them to your business.