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2022 Napa Technician Of The Year: Meg Lewis [RR 769]


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We are at the NAPA Expo joined by the 2022 Napa Technician of the Year, Meg Lewis. She is the first female winner and is a huge advocate for automotive training and reaching the youth in schools. I’m also joined by Matt Fanslow from the Diagnosing the Aftermarket A to Z Podcast. We discuss goals, passions, work-life balance and advice to women in the industry.

Meg Lewis, BJ’s Automotive Diagnostic Center, Belfast, ME, NAPA Auto Care Technician of the Year 2022

Key Talking Points

  • Advocate for automotive training- starting as young as you can with schools, especially nurturing women
  • Motivation- her Dad, Meg was tinkering with cars “Tinkerbell” and she expressed interest and fascination. Natural curiosity. 
  • Worked previously in hospitality- learned customer service quickly 
  • Goal-oriented person- be a technician and own her own shop as an endgame. The succession plan will be complete in 5 years as owner. 
  • What do you love to do in the bays? Gets thrill from fixing something that is broken and helping customers. 
  • Tool share program with local BDG group 
  • Work-life balance- Meg’s two kids have always been supportive, brings kids to events 
  • Advice- surround yourself with people that support you and your passions
  • Attracting new hires- incentive program with basic knowledge in automotive, providing training/tools/toolbox to get them in the door. Growing your own technician. 
  • ASE exams- tool for showing areas of improvement 
  • Being the ‘winner’ shouldn't matter if you are a man or a woman 
  • Advice to women- don’t be discouraged; you will face challenges. It will make you stronger

 

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Learn more about NAPA AutoCare and the benefits of being part of the NAPA family by visiting www.NAPAAutoCare.com

 
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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

         5 comments
      I recently spoke with a friend of mine who owns a large general repair shop in the Midwest. His father founded the business in 1975. He was telling me that although he’s busy, he’s also very frustrated. When I probed him more about his frustrations, he said that it’s hard to find qualified technicians. My friend employs four technicians and is looking to hire two more. I then asked him, “How long does a technician last working for you.” He looked puzzled and replied, “I never really thought about that, but I can tell that except for one tech, most technicians don’t last working for me longer than a few years.”
      Judging from personal experience as a shop owner and from what I know about the auto repair industry, I can tell you that other than a few exceptions, the turnover rate for technicians in our industry is too high. This makes me think, do we have a technician shortage or a retention problem? Have we done the best we can over the decades to provide great pay plans, benefits packages, great work environments, and the right culture to ensure that the techs we have stay with us?
      Finding and hiring qualified automotive technicians is not a new phenomenon. This problem has been around for as long as I can remember. While we do need to attract people to our industry and provide the necessary training and mentorship, we also need to focus on retention. Having a revolving door and needing to hire techs every few years or so costs your company money. Big money! And that revolving door may be a sign of an even bigger issue: poor leadership, and poor employee management skills.
      Here’s one more thing to consider, for the most part, technicians don’t leave one job to start a new career, they leave one shop as a technician to become a technician at another shop. The reasons why they leave can be debated, but there is one fact that we cannot deny, people don’t quit the company they work for, they usually leave because of the boss or manager they work for.
      Put yourselves in the shoes of your employees. Do you have a workplace that communicates, “We appreciate you and want you to stay!”
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