Fuel station owners throw rule book out the window

Dave and Lynette Gillies run 12 Z service stations from Omokoroa to Opotiki and employ more than 100 full-time staff. After more than 22 years in the industry, the couple have developed a philosophy of fun when it comes to hiring staff and doing business. Joseph Aldridge spoke to Dave Gillies to find out more

Dave Gillies does not believe in micro-management, but he does believe staff should have fun at work and that his business will benefit if they do.

"The whole thing for us on site is anything goes ... absolutely anything goes, as long as it's safe and it's appropriate for our customers to see and be involved in.

"If [a staff member] comes to me and asks 'can I do this on site?', I say 'don't ask for permission, just tell me what you're going to do and go for it'."

Many managers fear giving their staff such opportunity but Mr Gillies trusts his staff to make responsible decisions about what's appropriate.

"I believe because we have given them that trust, because we've allowed them to take responsibility for themselves, they're self-checking."

The Gillies don't set the price of fuel at their service stations (Z does that) but they set the atmosphere by encouraging staff to have fun with their customers and colleagues.

Customer experience is the number one priority now, Mr Gillies said, as compared with the "dark, dirty old Shell days", which were all about "compliance, constraint, checklists and rules.

"The way we are now about having fun, the rules are pretty much all gone - sure we've got to be safe but that's really the only critical one. Because we're more about fun and having a great time with our customers the staff are happy and our staff turnover has reduced from 150 per cent years ago to currently around 15 per cent."

Hiring the right people is one of the keys to reducing staff turnover and potential staff are tested to see if they can make people laugh during their work trial.

"That means you've got to make the customers laugh and you've got to make a team of workmates laugh, so it's not about how good you are on a computer, it's about how good you are with people, and that's what will get you a job at Z."

The Gillies started out with a BP service station on Chapel Street before switching to Shell in 1995. The couple has built their business up from two Shell service stations in Te Puke to 12 Z service stations across the Bay.

"We don't run service stations, we lead and develop people. That's our business philosophy, that we're going to have great customer experience by having people in our business who are absolutely the best at what they do and proud of it."