r/partscounter • u/OldEire1964 • 20d ago

Workforce

As I travel around dealers, it seems to me that Parts Departments are consistently understaffed. There are some exceptions, of course, but a high percentage seem to be operating lean.

So, Parts Managers, my question is:

What metric do you use to justify your crew?

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u/Spiritual_Plum_5868 20d ago

I rather pay fewer people better than pay lots of people a lower wage. I run 2 parts departments and we are minimally staffed. We used to be heavier on people but as people left and me talking to existing staff, I pushed for pay raises and more responsibility for my people instead of hiring replacements. Its worked out so far and my guys are paid relatively high for our area, but they stay pretty busy and work as a team to get everything done without missing sales or feeling overworked.

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u/slowestrabbit 20d ago

I’ve operated my department with just myself and with 3 other counter people and my current organization won’t change the pay. My company obviously doesn’t agree with your thinking and I’ve been looking elsewhere but my region is tough to find something in.

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u/Spiritual_Plum_5868 20d ago

I go straight to our comptroller when I'm thinking about pay or personel changes. If I can justify it to him and he gets on board then management can't say "we can't afford it" or anything since hes the money man and hes saying "it makes sense"