Pilot program aims to find out what mechanics really think

Dealerships nationwide are participating in a pilot program to mitigate a critical issue confronting the industry: how to stem technician turnover.

December 12, 2021 07:00 PM

KEN WYSOCKY

About 150 dealerships nationwide are participating in a pilot program to mitigate a critical issue confronting the auto industry: how to stem technician turnover as well as entice newbies to embrace careers as mechanics.The Automotive Technician Collaboration, a group of 10 car manufacturers that joined forces in 2018 in response to the technician crisis, is funding the program. Carlisle & Co., an automotive consulting firm, collaborated on its development.The program consists of two components. The first is confidential online surveys, designed to suss out how technicians feel about their employers, jobs and careers. The second is an online tool that offers dealerships solutions to pain points the surveys reveal, says Meredith Collins, a director at Carlisle.<fact>FB01</fact>"The tool will help dealers prioritize the things they need to tackle in order to improve technician satisfaction and reduce turnover," she told Fixed Ops Journal. "Based on what we hear from OEMs and dealers, I'm not aware that anything like this has ever been done before."The 10 participating automakers are Audi, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Volkswagen and Volvo, Collins says.The 2020 results of a technician survey that Carlisle conducts every other year underscored the severity of the problem and spurred the pilot program. Out of roughly 18,000 technicians surveyed, only 28 percent were satisfied with their job, and only 16 percent would recommend their job to a friend or family member, Collins says.Automotive Technician Collaboration researchers then drilled deeper into that survey's results to better pinpoint what drives technician dissatisfaction. The result was a 120-page "playbook" that helps dealers assess problem areas and suggests solutions based on best practices, Collins says. "We built the online tool on top of that so dealers don't have to read the whole 120-page playbook." Chad Force, service manager at Porsche St. Louis, endorses the program, even though he says the dealership — which employs 15 technicians — has low technician turnover rates. The store is part of Houston-based indiGo Auto Group, which owns 20 dealerships in California, Missouri and Texas.

The program’s online tool offers dealerships solutions to pain points revealed in technician surveys.

"With the current technician shortage, any way we can focus on them and determine their needs and desires is good," Force says. "It gives us opportunities to see where we can improve. And it also can affirm what we're doing right."Like everything else in life, if you don't look in a mirror every so often and see how you can get better, you do yourself a disservice."Larry Pryor, service and parts director at Audi Pittsburgh — one of 23 stores owned by Pennsylvania-based #1 Cochran Automotive — agrees. He says there's always room for improvement, even for well-run service departments. "If you don't accept that you have some warts, you're never going to get anywhere," he says. "It's easy to get complacent and operate on autopilot."The survey questions were more specific and more detailed than others I've seen," Pryor adds. "I told my guys, if they want to effect changes, they should be as open and honest as possible."Technicians at Audi Pittsburgh took the online survey for the program in early November. The results have already revealed one good takeaway: Technicians miss the Top Gun awards, a recognition program based on flat-rate hours turned and customer service scores, Pryor says.The pandemic prompted the dealership to suspend the program because the prize was an all-expense-paid resort getaway for technicians and a guest, he says."People really paid attention to it — it carried some weight," Pryor notes. "But we didn't replace it with anything."Pryor now is using the online tool to find other ways to recognize high-performing technicians."There's real value to this tool," he says.Of course, it's critical to act on the survey feedback, Force notes."All of this is for nothing if we don't act on the opportunities to get better," he says.