From the Magazine: Boosting your bench

With the right strategy, hiring, training and growing your team doesn’t need to be a difficult challenge

It’s important to hire apprentices and train them to combat our technician shortage. You may think that’s easier said than done. And in some ways it is.

Here are a few tips for successfully hiring, training and growing a team of technicians who will take pride in their work and ensure your clients are taken care of.

Tip 1: Hire the right people

When hiring an apprentice, look for someone who loves solving problems, is mechanically inclined and is thirsty for knowledge. Get in contact with your local technical school and ask the instructors to send you the best student in the class; the one who studies for tests, who asks questions and the one who participates during shop time.

This is a challenging career. You want someone who loves challenges and wants to fight with a Ford Escape on a daily basis (if Ford is not your nemesis, like it is mine, insert brand that drives you the craziest).

You also want someone who loves learning, as this industry is constantly changing, requiring us to be students for the duration of our careers. 

You also want someone who loves learning, as this industry is constantly changing, requiring us to be students for the duration of our careers. 

Tip 2: Create a training plan

An apprentice should start with performing basic services and slowly grow into more complicated services once they have shown that they can work independently. It is very common in our industry to follow this progression, however, what is lacking is the training and quality control required to ensure they are learning at a successful pace.

In my business, we have created step-by-step processes for basic services (oil changes, tire changes/repairs), so the apprentices have a point of reference when performing these services. This allows them to work more independently, and it gets them in the habit of following repair procedures.

As well, we have created a quality control system that needs to be followed until the new apprentice can complete a service without issue. When apprentices receive proper training, they feel like they are succeeding and when they succeed, so does your business. 

No one wants to make mistakes but that’s how we learn. You need to prepare yourself for stripped bolts, improperly installed seals and lost time.

Tip 3: A culture where people can make mistakes

No one wants to make mistakes but that’s how we learn. You need to prepare yourself for stripped bolts, improperly installed seals and lost time. Yes, you will lose some money on parts and labour, but as long as the apprentices are supervised and quality control checks are being performed, the cost will be minimal.

Remember, this is an investment in the future of your business! Take the time and show them how to fix their own mistakes, this will keep the more senior technicians working in their bays. Most importantly, don’t get mad at them when they make mistakes.

If you’ve hired someone who wants to do a good job, they’re probably beating themselves up already. They need you to let them know that it’s ok and then teach them how to avoid the issue next time. 

Thoughts

As previously mentioned, hiring and training apprentices is an investment. You will need to budget for this investment, both in actual expenses (payroll, broken parts, school fees) and in loss of revenue due to increased non-productive time. If your business isn’t able to absorb these additional expenses with the rates you are charging, raise your rates.

Your clients want you to stay in business and to do that, you need trained technicians who want to do a great job. Raise your rates, provide proper training and take great care of your clients.

Erin Vaughan is the owner of Kinetic Auto Service in Regina.

This article originally appeared in the February issue of CARS magazine