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The Art of Dispatching work

Joe Marconi
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CARMandP Proficient

CARMandP

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If you are paying by the hour, that will work. If you are playing flat rape then you will piss a bunch of people off. This still happens at the dealership that I use to work at. The gravy suckers/loudest bitchers got all the easy work and the rest got stuck with the hard/low paying diagnostic work.

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Dan Reichow Contributor

Dan Reichow

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In an effort to maximize productivity, my service advisors will dispatch the work to those techs that are proficient in a particular are. So, a tech that is great with check engine lights will get the majority of check engine lights. Most shops probably do the same thing.

 

But, he’s my dilemma; I understand the different techs have different strengths but doesn’t this practice make techs better and better in one area while not giving other techs the opportunity to learn new skills?

 

 

We belive you need to train others even thou we all want to maintain profit. The trouble begains when you create an elite few that thier will comea day they turn and eat your lunch.

 

We believe cross training is the vest practice in all jobs

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  • 3 months later...
Alowes2837 Newbie

Alowes2837

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I agree that you shouldn't just give certain techs certain jobs as yes it will piss some other techs off and that will start to erode the morale of the shop, then the bitching starts etc and you then have another problem to deal with. Also if there is a certain tech that does one type of job all the time he will possibly lose some of the skills for other jobs. There are plenty of other issues with this and not many are positive.

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Dan Winter Apprentice

Dan Winter

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That's excalty what we do, glad to see we are on the same page.

 

BTW, I am going to use that term from now on; flat rape

 

I hate that term, I was paid flat rate as a tech throughout my career, was well paid and loved it. I pay my guy's flat rate, and they love it as well.

 

What I liked best about it was paid according to my efforts, not paid the same as the lazy screw up in the bay next to me. It has been my experience that the guys that don't like flat rate, don't like to work.

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CARMandP Proficient

CARMandP

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I loved flat rate. I made a lot of money working flat rate but the problem is when there isn't enough work, you don't make any money. Also when you get stuck with the warranty work all the time instead of the service and maintenance work, it really kills the paycheck.

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

    • Joe Marconi
      Want to End Your Technician Shortage? Focus on Retention!
      By Joe Marconi in Joe's 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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