Three ways to train and retain quality entry-level technicians

“We don't really have a shortage of technicians; what we have is a shortage of trained technicians—that's the root of the issue,” began Jason Hedman, Noregon System’s product manager, during a recent Fleet Maintenance webinar called “Technician Training: How to Recruit and Hire Top Talent.”

The main takeaway was offered by Hedman early on: “To get good technicians, you've got to train those technicians.”

He pointed out that this has become more difficult as equipment and shop tools are becoming more complex, adding more to be trained on. It’s also made well-trained technicians more in-demand than ever. The roughly 50-minute web chat covered several ways in which shop managers can proactively address training new technicians, starting in technical schools and continuing throughout their careers.

Joining Hedman were Talon Thomas, a Noregon product management technical engineer, and Allen Doub, program coordinator, heavy equipment and transportation technology, at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Thomas, a former shop technician, concurred that even though technicians are in short supply, shops should strive to find those “unicorns” who are adept at the mechanical and technological sides of maintenance. “Anybody can turn a wrench," he explained. "It takes a special skill set and a collection of skills to properly diagnose and repair these vehicles.”

Doub, who attended Forsyth before working for 15 years as an on-highway diesel tech, has now made creating these types of unicorns his professional vocation. His students and graduates often go on to participate in TMC SuperTech and FutureTech. Doub also relayed that 98% of Forsyth’s Diesel and Heavy Equipment program gradates are employed by dealerships and fleets.

Due to the pandemic, Forsyth’s attendance dropped 45% from 2019 to 2021, with 47 enrolled last year. The vast majority are earning associate degrees, followed by diplomas and certificates.

During the session, all three provided insights from their experience working in shops and educating others that fleets and shops can use to make sure they are recruiting and retaining the best applicants coming out of automotive repair and diesel technician programs.

Here are some of the best tips that maintenance managers can use to upgrade the quality in their shops.

Work with schools to make training more hands-on and relevant

Doub noted that the transportation industry changes “by the minute,” and educators, even those like Doub who have spent a lot of time as technicians, need to lean on industry partners to understand what skills students need to be employable.

“The program at Forsyth is a very hands-on program,” Doub said.

Thomas said exposing students to the equipment in a real-world setting is critical to mold quality techs, and weed out those who aren’t fit for the job.

“Because it's modeled around a shop, the students are getting their hands dirty,” Thomas said. “That's so important, because I can't tell you how many coworkers—the first time they have to replace a wiring harness on a garbage truck—they say, ‘What did I get myself into?’”

Those people might have many of the skills needed to be successful, like understanding electrical theory, but find the practical application of that knowledge too demanding.

“It takes a special person to actually want to do this type of work,” Thomas asserted.

To that point, to help these passionate new recruits succeed, they have to work on and with the same equipment and tools the pros use.

“For those students to get a good learning experience, the equipment has to be up to date,” Doub said.

Hedman noted that manufacturers are also “introducing technologies that students have never seen before.” While the industry is starting to understand aftertreatment systems, which Hedman said is “still a big problem,” the industry will have to learn brand new intricacies of electric vehicle maintenance and repair. The OEMs and OEs will have to “step up and get these schools the tools that they need to get the students trained, sooner than later,” he explained.

Hedman advised stakeholders to investigate ASE Education Foundation’s Adopt-A-School program to learn ways to work with local high schools and colleges to help train the next generation of commercial vehicle maintenance professionals.

“Be part of building those skilled technicians that you're wanting to hire,” Doub stressed.

Noregon does work closely with Forsyth to ensure the industry’s future techs will be familiar with diagnostics like JPRO. The OE benefits from having more techs out in the field capable of using the diagnostics tools, and the school produces more work-ready graduates.

For fleets who interact with educational organizations, offering apprenticeships and scholarships can also provide an angle to wrangle those unicorns.

And Doub added he has seen first-hand that work-based learning programs provide students the ability to apply what they learned in class immediately in work settings, which helps them retain information better.

Seek out graduates with a diverse set of soft skills

A new highly-trained technician will likely get to the shop and face a challenge for which they are unprepared and unable to solve through conventional means. That happens to techs with several years of experience. Thomas said this feeling can be “devastating,” but soft skills, such as out-of-the-box thinking and adaptability, will get them through the task.

“You can follow a troubleshooting process or procedure only so far,” he noted. At some point the tech will need to adapt and use what they have learned to come up with a new solution.

Tenacity is another premium quality to hire for, as it can hold more long-term value than a certification.

“You can bring on a technician who has all the skills and qualifications you as an employer are looking for, but if they're not willing to apply themselves, they may not necessarily be the right fit,” Thomas said.

A willingness to use those skills on an array of makes and models, and desire to add more skills, indicates a tech is likely a good fit for certain shops. Those who silo themselves by working on only Mack trucks would be fine for a Mack dealer, but limit the work they can take on in an all-makes shop.

Changing up daily repetitive tasks will also help foster more job satisfaction, Hedman said. Whereas shops historically have put one person on tires and another on oil changes, “there are a lot of people who like to have new challenges every day,” Hedman said.

Switching things up allows technicians to be more excited to come to work each day to solve a new challenge, while also enhancing their skills and becoming more valuable assets to the shop.

Former fleet technician Hedman would ask potential shop employers what type of additional training they offer on the job, and he said if a tech asks that, you know they have one of the most important traits to be a successful maintenance pro.

“If a technician asks that question, you know their grit,” he said.

Plan for continuous improvement

So, you help the schools instill the right skills, then manage to hire the graduates who exude the right character. Now this is where the real work begins, because you want to retain this diesel tech diamond in the rough.

The way to do that is through helping techs fill up their “mental toolbox.” This comes from offering various training opportunities and mentoring opportunities to help them advance.

“Technicians spend thousands of dollars filling up their Snap-on toolboxes with tools for very specific reasons: It gives them more capabilities,” Hedman explained. “It’s the same with a mental toolbox.”

Doub said shops need to be able to provide new hires a plan to provide continuing education. He said his students are “very interested in seeing from the employer standpoint, that they have that initial plan, or stairstep model, in place. That's very appealing to [new] technicians.”

This can also prove that your company is worth staying at. Thomas said he appreciated when his former employer “would go out of their way to offer third-party aftermarket training.”

He called the various training, taught by OEM experts with a lot of experience, invaluable, as these classes helped him see how various diagnostics and products worked together.

These are things you can’t learn without having a little bit of experience yourself, Thomas noted.

“Once you've got your hands on the vehicles, and you're working on them, these aftermarket classes can give you additional mental tools and things to think about, and [allow you] to envision ways of working on something that you may not have done in the past,” he said.

Once you have these quality technicians ready and willing to learn new skills and take on difficult challenges, a final reminder is not to burn or stress them out.

“Pay is obviously an important part of that,” Thomas said. “The last thing you want is your technicians to be worrying about how they're going to pay their bills at home.”