Drag Illustrated Issue 151, December 2019 | Page 48

D.I. COLUMNIST Tuned Up with Will Hanna One of Your Biggest Sponsors is Your Crew ‘I ’d like to thank my crew. Couldn’t do it without them.” How many times have we heard a driver say that in an interview or read that in a story or press release? I’d like to say most of the times it’s genuine. Sometimes it’s somewhere between genu- ine and going through the motions. Sometimes it’s just habit to say if you’re lucky enough to be in situations where you get to say it. As racers we go out of our way to thank a sponsor and make sure we plug them whether it’s a major deal or a box of spark plugs, and right- fully so. However, it’s easy to take the contributions of our crew members for granted. Having a crew member that is dependable and helps at the track and the shop is invaluable. In the heat of battle we often expect a crew member to contribute and do their “job.” In fact, many times as racers we depend on our crew to help and do a particu- lar job. See “couldn’t do it without them” above. It’s very easy to get immersed and caught up in our own world when it comes to going racing. When that happens, we quickly forget we’re asking someone to volunteer their free time, their days off from work to help us chase our dreams of winning races. As a society in general, free time is something we have less and less of, so it’s a valuable commodity. I count myself fortunate to have worked for as many teams as I have over the years. I started at the bot- tom and worked for several teams doing various jobs before getting a chance to start tuning and working as a crew chief and consultant. My military experience and manage- ment courses in college also have given me perspective of working with and managing team members. Every race car runs on money. Some crew members are paid, but most are volunteers. I think a lot of racers would love to be able to pay their crew, but they need to spend the money on the car. One of the things I learned from one of my management classes in college that stuck with me is Fred- erick Herzberg’s Two-Factor The- ory of Motivation. The two-factor theory states that there are certain factors in the workplace that cause job satisfaction, while a separate set of factors cause dissatisfaction, all of which act independently of each other. Take for instance increased pay. Getting paid more to do a job can cause a worker to be less dissat- isfied, but not more satisfied. Other things included with more pay are job security, fringe benefits and work conditions, which could only cause more or less dissatisfaction. Things that caused work- ers to be more satisfied with a job were recognition for achievement, opportunity to do something meaning- ful, responsibility and em- powerment to decide how to do a job. Satisfaction leads to real motivation. You can’t motivate a person by mak- ing them less dissatisfied with the things mentioned above like pay, benefits, etc. It may seem trivial, but a simple thanks goes a long way. I always try my best to tell people I work with “good job,” and when possible cite something specific. Rather than look at our crew as employees or work- ers, we should look at them as sponsors. They may not give money, but many give their time, which is just as valuable. Sure, dirty paper that folds is appreciated, but having your name on the car somewhere is something you can re- ally take pride in. It’s not the norm, but if we gave a decal commensurate with the amount of time many crew members give, it would be a whole lot bigger than the small non-valuable part of the car most get their name on, if they get it at all. Recognition is something most every racer can afford to give their crew, and should. DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI Will Hanna is a tuner/consultant- for-hire offering services from run evaluation to trackside consulting. He can be reached via email at [email protected]. TRACKSIDE CONSULTING • REMOTE TUNING • RUN EVALUATION / “Monday Morning Crew Chief Service” Available [email protected] • 979.415.4959 48 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com Issue 151