We need to put the right people in place to grow our businesses and secure our futures.
By Allan Janssen
Lieutenant-General Walter Natynczyk could have asked for tanks or humvees or flak jackets. He could have asked for updated weaponry or munitions. He could even have asked for helicopters. (We almost expected him to ask for helicopters.)
But when he was asked, at the AIA’s recent Automotive Conference for Executives, what the Canadian military needs most to do the challenging work it is asked to do in the world’s hot spots, he said people.
He didn’t hesitate and he didn’t blink.
“We need people,” he told the leaders of the aftermarket’s biggest manufacturing and distribution companies. “Isn’t that what you’re looking for too? Isn’t that what we all need?”
He’s absolutely right. Everyone’s looking for more boots on the ground.
Human resource issues have been climbing steadily on the priority lists of repair shops for years. And for good reason. It’s a seller’s market when it comes to labor. Consumers are demanding ever-better service, convenience, and competency. And with new vehicle technology constantly being introduced, we need the best and the brightest to ensure we can fix today’s fleet of cars, let alone tomorrow’s.
So the most progressive shop owners among us are shoring up their businesses with more comfortable working conditions, more flexible schedules, improved benefits packages, and more frequent training sessions. They’re doing whatever they have to do to retain their best people. And, above all, they never stop recruiting. They’re always looking for new talent. Even raw, undeveloped talent that they can adopt and nurture.
It’s tough. But some of you out there are getting creative about this new business challenge.
One shop owner I spoke to recently has started a car club that meets regularly at his shop. He put some notices up in the local high schools, inviting motor heads to learn about the latest trends in modifying cars. He came up with 12 subjects to spread out over a year, and at each meeting he sets up a car for a hands-on demonstration. It’s informal and fun. Kids eat that stuff up! And when the stars emerge from the group, he starts talking to them about a career in automotive repair and service.
I know another shop owner who devised an assembly puzzle using automotive parts that requires at least some natural ability for taking things apart and putting them back in the right order. He sets it up at community events as a fun challenge or a fundraiser of sorts. Not only is it good exposure for his shop, but once in a while he spots a young kid with a real flair for mechanics.
Lt.-Gen. Natynczyk has it right. More and better equipment is not the real challenge – not in his field, nor in ours. The real challenge is finding the right people to carry our missions (or our businesses) forward.
We need to find the most promising apprentices and journeymen to grow our businesses and secure our futures. We need people to take some of the load off our shoulders. We need the best and the brightest to help drum up new business, and solidify our reputations for quality service.
Isn’t that what we’re all looking for?
Sir! Yes sir!
You can reach me 416/614-5814. Or e-mail me at ajanssen@canadiantechnician.ca
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Edited comments may appear in Canadian Technician magazine.
August 11, 2010 - BARRYDALE says: “ David Spicer;
You can reach me at carodav03@hotmail.com or you can find me on the web at http://www.automotiveservicetraining.blogspot.com/ or http://www.google.com/profiles/automotiveservicetraining or
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/david-spicer/21/4a5/971 ”
August 11, 2010 - BARRYDALE says: “ When hiring new employees make sure you focus on the qualities and attributes that you really need. Without first really knowing what exactly you need or require, you will never know what kind of people to hire. First and foremost hire for attitude and train for aptitude, when your new hire succeeds you will gain altitude.
Good hiring practices mean you are hiring for specifics. Some specific items to look for in future potential employees are:
- Attitude
- Integrity
- Commitment
- Dedication
- Caring
- Reliability
- Responsiveness
- Assurance of action
- Empathy
Once you have these nine quotients filled you can target the intangibles. Good customer service is exactly an intangible that directly quantifies your businesses bottom line. You can always teach someone product knowledge however you cannot teach anyone any of the attributes listed above. Either people have these qualities or they don’t.
Employee training must be ongoing. The three main areas of training you should be concerned with are:
- Customer service training
- Computer training – on the programs your dealership uses every day for business
- Product knowledge training – requirements = all staff
Training cannot be stressed enough. All front line staff such as advisors requires customer service training, some form of dispute resolution training, product training and computer systems training. I would even stress that the BDC and porters take some form of product knowledge training. A customer should be able to ask a straight forward product knowledge question of any staff member, receiving an intelligent answer in return. If you do not provide your most important asset with ongoing training they will eventually become obsolete and turn into your biggest liability.
Once you have your people motivated to give great customer service, you can start to build comprehensive policies and procedures to guide your service department to profits. The following list is an example of setting out a plan to achieve your business goals.
- Building leadership builds businesses opportunities
- Focusing on departmental financial discipline
- Business growth – driven by process and policies
- Talented people focusing on productivity and customer service
- A team that shares common goals and values
- A team vested in customer service equals retention and growth
- Ongoing training for every aspect of customer contact
- Cloning what is working effectively throughout the service department
For years we have seen the decline of our workforce with regard to highly trained professionals in the back end of our departments or stores. We need to help develope talent from the ground up as we are losing our long term experienced technicians due to retirement and product technological advancement. Hiring from training schools to mold people into the talent that fits your business will be the way of the future.
Lets face reality, how many young people can afford to spend thousands of dollars purchasing tools to gain employment on the mere hourly salary they receive. The trade must grow and expand rapidly over the next five to ten years with hiring and training or we will be a quandry. There must be more commitment towards the apprentice from the prospective employer to gain ground.
Setting into policy a cmpensation plan for all senior technicians to increase productivity and efficiency will produce more hours and gross profits. Having the apprentice who works directly with a senior technician reap a percentage of the bonus will speak volumes and may inject the type of interest we need back into the hiring process and win back the types of candidates we were seeing years ago.
David Spicer
Author - "Roadmap to Service Profitability" - "Keeping Your Service Department In The Black". ”
“ David Spicer; You can reach me at carodav03@hotmail.com or you can find me on the web at http://www.automotiveservicetraining.blogspot.com/ or http://www.google.com/profiles/automotiveservicetraining or http://www.linkedin.com/pub/david-spicer/21/4a5/971 ”