In 1978, Bob and Norma Wiese opened B Street Auto Body on B Street in Omaha, NE. Their vision was to be the “premier post-collision service provider in the region. The husband-and-wife team ran the shop with a couple of technicians who were repairing vehicles.
The business was later renamed B Street Collision Center. Although the Wieses eventually moved from that location, they maintained their commitment to unparalleled quality for customers.
In 1999, their children, Tony, Zach and Bob, began running the business and share their parents’ passion for exceeding customer expectations. Their decades of hard work and dedication to family values have helped the business flourish.
The company has grown to include about 300 employees and 12 locations in Nebraska and Kansas.
Autobody News spoke to Emily Workman, human resources recruiter at B Street Collision Center, about the company’s hiring and retention strategies, what makes their business unique and how community involvement is important in their business.
How has your background helped you connect with prospective employees?
When you work in a family-owned and -operated world, you wear a lot of hats. I was hired as the human resources manager/recruiter nearly six years ago.
It’s common in our industry and the trades, in general, to not necessarily have a designated HR or recruiting individual.
I grew up in a family of electricians in the Midwest, so I've always been passionate and an advocate for the trades. I attended a trade school as a business student and interned with a college in the admissions department. My job entailed recruiting high school students for the college. I invited counselors and prospective students to tour the campus and loved every second.
As much as I enjoyed that experience, I didn't know how to apply it, so I worked in retail over the next decade. I realized how much I missed the trades and learned about a job opening at B Street. One of my first meetings was with the owners. That spoke extremely loudly to me. It was a really cool moment to realize they valued this position so much that they took time out to meet me.
Part of my role is reaching out to trade schools and students. Understanding the different types of education, whether it's a trade school or university or going straight into the workforce, has been beneficial and helped me connect with candidates.
What recruiting and retention strategies have you implemented?
We take pride in being self-aware and transparent, with an understanding that we need to grow departments such as HR and recruiting. I work alongside two HR managers, allowing us to split up responsibilities. Having designated individuals for the team to go to has been extremely beneficial, whether that's an employee with questions about benefits or a manager looking to fill a new role.
Presenting at local schools is an important part of B Street’s strategy to educate students about a career in collision repair.
As far as recruiting, we maintain a job board and regularly post positions. We also use social media to ensure our brand and logo are recognized. I never thought I would have a TikTok account or use Instagram, but both have worked well for recruiting. Even spending 15 minutes on TikTok can help get your logo in front of someone.
One of our HR managers assists with employee benefits. In addition to providing health, vision and dental coverage, we have a retirement plan and life insurance. Offering benefits is attractive to a candidate looking for a job and comparing employers. It also helps with retention.
Everyone knows of the tech crisis and more people are retiring than coming in. If you’re not involved in the local schools in your area, you are missing a huge benefit.
It’s important to invest in the next generation of technicians and develop a career path for them. They have gone out of their way to learn a trade and skill set. I highly recommend getting involved in the industry, whether it’s through auto body associations or advisory school boards.
We work closely with many schools and I sit on several school advisory boards. The schools often ask us to review their curriculum to ensure they are teaching the right things in the right order. By getting involved, you can essentially help mold your next technician.
It's that candidate who doesn't know they want a new job that's harder to find. We attend every career fair possible and usually take a technician or a manager so the message isn’t just from a recruiter. It's coming from someone who can put their hands on a car and share a real-life experience.
I enjoy presenting to schools about our industry and have spoken to just about every age group, from elementary school to someone making a career change later in life. For younger students, it’s a very different conversation. I talk to them at a high level to help pique their interest and ask if they think about how cool it is to work on cars, or if they like working on their bikes.
We constantly invite high schools to come in and tour our shops. Maybe this isn't the world they want to go into, but why not start figuring that out and start taking steps to mold a career.
I would be fibbing if I said we've never had challenges. There are always challenges. However, building relationships with the next generation of technicians has helped us find individuals to hire.
How has your culture helped with retention?
A company’s culture is a huge piece of ensuring retention. We work as a team and encourage a high level of camaraderie and open communication. We work hard when we're here. It's heads down, hands on and there is definitely a lot of intensity in our four walls, but we also pay attention to a work-life balance. We’re good listeners and want to hear the needs and wants of employees.
All shops have a 15-minute team meeting everyday to touch base and ensure we are on the same page. In addition, the management team and owners meet bimonthly or monthly as needed. We're a very sleeves-rolled-up, T-shirt-and-jeans kind of company and our owners are really engaged.
One day, I ran into one of the owners. We both had a destination and were cruising through the shop quickly. We talked for a few seconds, and I watched him walk away and slowly veer off. Suddenly, he kneeled beside one of our body techs and began working with him.
We have a really good team environment, with the leadership involved. It’s like a family where everyone supports each other.
Whenever possible, we host get-togethers with employees, whether it’s a summer party, a trunk-or-treat during Halloween or our annual Christmas party.
What sets the business apart?
The layout of the buildings is unique. Everything is process-driven and done very intentionally. I don't mean that as a standard operating procedure (SOP) that sits on a shelf. I mean that in the sense of physically where things exist in our building.
We operated as a traditional shop, with an estimator, body tech and paint tech, until around 2005, when we developed a team process. Some refer to it as an assembly line setup. We developed a set of specialists who focus on each step of repair. Some might question why the technician who disassembled the car isn’t the one reassembling it but it’s the idea of advancement through repetition. We get better as we do things over and over again. The teardown tech works next to a reassembly tech so if there is a question, that person is nearby. Since implementing that model, we’ve found it really promotes teamwork.
B Street is proud to be part of a vast network of charitable events and organizations.
In addition, we have a three-part strategy that defines our commitment to quality repair. First, our estimators focus on educating customers rather than selling to them. When a vehicle owner is properly informed, we believe they will make a decision that is in the best interest of their car.
Second, our technicians are trained and certified to ensure we provide the safest and most reliable collision repair. Lastly, our shops are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to ensure safe, accurate and reliable repairs approved by the vehicle manufacturer.
What type of community involvement is B Street part of?
The company’s success has provided the opportunity to recognize those needing help and support in the community. Instead of staying on the sidelines and focusing only on providing collision repair, we have chosen to contribute to bettering our communities.
We’re proud to be part of a vast network of charitable events and organizations, such as sponsoring the Omaha Boys & Girls Club and supporting cancer survivors through Wear Yellow Nebraska. During the holiday season, each B Street body shop in KC and Overland Park and every collision center in Omaha and Lincoln organizes a turkey giveaway.
One of my fond memories is our team taking some bulk rice and sectioning it off so it could be donated to more locations. It got competitive, with employees trying to get as many bags donated as possible.
If you're going to be part of a community, you have to be involved and give back. We try our hardest to get involved in events being held. We like to be hands-on so we’ll take some managers or technicians with us.
It goes back to camaraderie. We have a lot of big-hearted individuals who work here and we like being around each other. When our HR department and administration team members are organizing an event and need 20 sets of hands, by the end of the day, those 20 spots are filled.
We built this culture of camaraderie and want it to radiate throughout the community. If you think about it, we help people all day.
Two months after I joined B Street, one of the owners asked me how things were going. He said at the end of the day, we’re a business and we fix cars. A customer’s vehicle might be the largest purchase they’ve made and they're trusting it with us so they can put their loved ones into it. Therefore, we must do a great job. That mindset is why we are so involved in the community we are part of.
Stacey Phillips Ronak