While quality wash results influence experience and loyalty, the long-term success of a carwash — as a local business — is very much still community-driven. Your employees are likely students or graduates of the local high school or college. Their relatives and friends visit the wash, or at least know about it. A successful carwash, especially a long-standing brand, is woven into the community.
Despite increased automation in the industry and push for volume in recent decades, carwashing is still a people business in many U.S. communities. As the faces of the carwash business, your employees wear many hats.
Since 1991, Professional Carwashing & Detailing magazine has recognized the best of the best as our Most Valuable Carwasher (MVC) of the year. Our first MVC receipt in 1991 was Norris Brown from Phoenix, Arizona-based Weiss Guys Car Wash.
Last year, we were honored to tell the story and impact of 2021’s MVC Izzy Aguayo, a site manager for Breeze Thru Car Wash.
In the next issue of this publication, we will feature the 2022 MVC. As always, we received many great nominations and picking just one outstanding individual proved difficult again this year. Thank you all for your MVC nominations.
When deciding on the year’s MVC, we consider such factors as accomplishments, overall impact in his or her role and how he or she makes the team better.
If you are lucky enough to have one MVC on staff, you should focus on rewarding and retaining that employee. For locations that have several MVC quality employees on staff, this is often called having a great culture, which is the focus of this month’s cover story.
“As business leaders, most of us have come to terms with the fact that our company’s culture profoundly impacts our business goals, successes and failures,” writes authors David Begin and Matt Brunk. “But, how exactly do we define the culture within an organization?”
Begin and Brunk detail how important culture in the workplace is in this month’s cover story as well as offer five elements to help build a great culture at your wash.
Employees can excel and reach MVC caliber performance when put in the right positions and provided with the best opportunities to execute based on their strengths. While hiring right is a good start, building a great culture is a longer term strategy.
