april2023 - 35

TRAINING
A 2,000
SE accredited auto,
truck, and collision
repair training programs
s125,000+
o20%f students leave the
industry at graduation
tudents enrolled in the
current school year
o21%f students leave the
industry two years
after graduation
Cleaner.
Better.
Further.
You should also check your
expectations of newly graduated
entry-level techs. Have you ever
heard someone say, " I hired this kid
out of that high-power tech school
and he/she rolled in their new red
toolbox, and I put him/her on a job
first thing, and they messed it up " ?
Did the student mess it up, or were
they taught a different procedure in
school? Or do you shortcut the procedure
to get the job finished sooner?
Was there someone to mentor him/
her on how you do things in your
shop, or were they left to figure it out
on their own? Many of those new
hires have never spent time in a real
" Growing your
workforce from
the communities
you serve is a
better longterm
strategy
than recruiting
techs from other
shops who may
bring their bad
habits with
them and leave
for a dollar an
hour more. "
George Arrants, VP, ASE
Education Foundation
production environment. They need
patience and guidance to grow into
the technicians they want to be. The
best tool for achieving that is having
a seasoned tech serve as a mentor to
those young technicians.
A formal mentoring program
assists in developing entry-level
talent, and even those starting at
your company with previous experience.
Invest the time and resources
to grow your workforce the right way
and avoid wasting all the time and
energy it took to create the hire.
However, be aware that not
every great technician makes a
great mentor. Careful selection and
training of your mentors is important
to on-boarding new hires and
integrating them into the culture of
your shop. When selecting technicians
to be mentors, we suggest that
you look for those already involved
with youth activities (church/temple
or youth sports, etc.), have been in
the industry about four to six years,
and have worked for you at least one
year. Then ask them these two key
questions: 1) Do you like working
in this industry? and 2) Do you like
working for our company? Don't
pair new hires with techs that aren't
enthusiastic about both their career
and thier work with your business.
Finally, treat those mentor technicians
like the assets they are.
Develop a pay plan that ensures that
mentors aren't negatively impacted
for helping grow your workforce and
be sure to recognize them among
their peers.
By extension, simply showing
your employees a little appreciation
can go a long way. Whether
that means celebrating their accomplishements
or making yourself
available to them when they need
tools or are experiencing difficulties
in their personal lives, you need to
ask yourself a critical question about
your working relationship between
yourself and your techs: Do you
survey your employees to understand
what's important to them and
what they think about you? Do you
then honor those results?
Growing your workforce isn't easy,
but you need to recognize it as an
investment and not an expense. And
remember that the business repairs
vehicles, but it runs on people. Treat
them right and ensure that your
shop is a positive and encouraging
environment where people want to
come to work.
delphiaftermarket.com
Delphi Technologies is a brand of BorgWarner Inc.
April 2023 | FleetMaintenance.com
35
Delphi Technologies remanufactured injectors and
pumps will keep the world trucking by keeping parts on
the road and out of landfills.
With over 60 years of technological OE expertise, we are
proud to be able to provide sustainable global solutions
that will prepare our customers for the road ahead.
http://www.delphiaftermarket.com https://qrstud.io/epj0s3r
april2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of april2023
