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New Technician Training Issue or Character Flaw?


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Recently hired a new tech. He's been with us for about 3 weeks now. Been having weekly meetings with him on things that we would like him to improve upon. Have noticed that the majority of oil changes that he has done with vehicles that have anywhere from 100K to 250K miles don't have a single technician recommendation. I thought it was just one instance initially but have noticed that its been MOST of the vehicles he has serviced for oil changes. With vehicles with that many miles on them, I would expect that there would be at least 1 if not numerous recommendations. We do have a check list that all technicians perform when doing oil changes and he has been marking "checked ok" on all of the checklist items for these vehicles. I approached him about this and he seemed to get really defensive. I obviously don't want him to ever fabricate any issues but I just can't believe that out of 10 vehicles with that high mileage there are simply no recommendations. We pay our technicians hourly here at our shop and I'm starting to think that because of this, for this technician anyways, he isn't very self motivated to perform the 24 point inspection very thoroughly. I have scheduled a meeting for the lead technician to go over how a 24 point vehicle inspection should be done with this technician on Thursday. Any thoughts on how I could help this tech or is it a personality thing that cannot be changed?

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Before you start flaming him for no recommendations you should randonly audit his cars. Especially ones that head s no recs for. It could be a situation where he doesnt know what to look for or what the shop standards are. If you randomly audit youll get a better picture. Actually even before then id run him though several cars to train him on what to look for and what your shop considers severe enough for a rec.

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Took your advice M-SPEC and haven been having my lead technician "show" him how we would like our 24 point vehicle inspection performed. He seems to be getting better at it......

 

 

Awesome! Yeah everyone needs a chance to succeed and a lot of times we as shop owners are the only ones with the plan in their head LOL

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

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      It always amazes me when I hear about a technician who quits one repair shop to go work at another shop for less money. I know you have heard of this too, and you’ve probably asked yourself, “Can this be true? And Why?” The answer rests within the culture of the company. More specifically, the boss, manager, or a toxic work environment literally pushed the technician out the door.
      While money and benefits tend to attract people to a company, it won’t keep them there. When a technician begins to look over the fence for greener grass, that is usually a sign that something is wrong within the workplace. It also means that his or her heart is probably already gone. If the issue is not resolved, no amount of money will keep that technician for the long term. The heart is always the first to leave. The last thing that leaves is the technician’s toolbox.
      Shop owners: Focus more on employee retention than acquisition. This is not to say that you should not be constantly recruiting. You should. What it does means is that once you hire someone, your job isn’t over, that’s when it begins. Get to know your technicians. Build strong relationships. Have frequent one-on-ones. Engage in meaningful conversation. Find what truly motivates your technicians. You may be surprised that while money is a motivator, it’s usually not the prime motivator.
      One last thing; the cost of technician turnover can be financially devastating. It also affects shop morale. Do all you can to create a workplace where technicians feel they are respected, recognized, and know that their work contributes to the overall success of the company. This will lead to improved morale and team spirit. Remember, when you see a technician’s toolbox rolling out of the bay on its way to another shop, the heart was most likely gone long before that.
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