Sometimes, shop owners during the interview, misunderstand the potential technician’s capabilities or the technician lies about what they really know. This happens across any industry but soon flushes itself out with time. Assuming that a technician has all skills needed to achieve accurate and efficient repairs on a vehicle can get you in trouble.
Shop owners should seriously consider testing their technicians before hiring them. It has been found with other shops doing just this, that only 46% of its applicants can actually pass the test. That’s pretty scary but very proactive of the shop to eliminate technicians that will end up costing them more in costly, uneducated mistakes.
It’s extremely difficult to find young, well-trained technicians. One shop spends roughly $14,000 annually for technician training initiatives. Quarterly, 10 to 12 hours are scheduled and booked for classes for each technician, and posts on an Excel spreadsheet are used in the shop that outlines each of the technicians training requirements for the year. Every technician takes at least five to seven classes annually.
As a shop owner, you have to ask yourself how you see providing training for your technicians. Do you find it to be a burden? Or do you see training as a way of solving problems proactively?
Using phrases like “You have to go to training, it’s not an option!” or “Just get through it, you won’t have to do it again for another month.” These don’t promote positivity and set you up for failure right from the start. If you are doing these trainings just to get on with an outside manufacturer or insurance program, then I can tell you already, you’ve failed yourself, your shop and above all, your technician.