Trade secrets

Motor,  Sep 2003  by Cerullo, Bob

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In the case of Primo Donna, I felt it was worth the trouble. I took the time to analyze what kind of an environment I needed to keep Primo happy. I found that putting him in a remote section of the shop away from the other technicians worked very well. When he didn't hear or see the other techs, he was better off-and so were they.

Primo was such a good technician that I hired a helper for him, but only after I had him interview the job-seeker, too. Actually, this particular guy was a perfect choice because he and my superstar tech hit it off light from the start. They had identical ethnic backgrounds and while both spoke English fluently (Primo was born and raised in this country), they had a common second language. When Primo needed a hand, the helper was the one he called. They eventually went to lunch together every day and fished together on Primo's boat just about every weekend.

The helper told me that Primo had become his best friend. In fact, when the helper got married, Primo was his best man. Oddly, having his own helper seemed to have a calming effect on Primo. He did less complaining about certain cars and the engineers who built them. He seemed to relish the teaching role and having someone he could trust to work with. We even arranged a discreet hand signal so Primo could alert me when a customer who was hanging around was getting on his nerves.

The Trade Secret is that while your first impulse might be to get rid of a cantankerous superstar technician, there is no discounting the importance of having people with a high skill level in your shop. Sometimes it takes only a little rearranging to keep a superstar happy. Sometimes it's money, sometimes it's time off. Or it might just be moving his toolbox to another part of the shop.

The key is to sit down and discuss what it is the superstar wants to make his work easier. Obviously, there are limits, but if hiring the right helper with the prima donna's approval solves a bunch of problems, that can be a smart business solution...so long as giving superstar treatment to one tech doesn't wreak even greater havoc with your other employees.

Copyright Hearst Business Publishing Sep 2003
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