Aftermarket Dave Baiocchi
Acquiring Talent Happy New Year! I am sure that everyone reading this is trusting that the new year will hold fresh opportunities for us to continue building and refining our engagement with customers. A good way to kick that off is by taking stock of the current economic landscape. The supply chain disruption I spoke about in the last edition is still with us, and it’s expected that shortages of critical manufacturing components will continue deep into the Spring and Summer of 2022. I’ve said before, that the calendar holds no magic. When December gives way to January, annual forecasting efforts are many times driven by hope instead of strategy. In spite of our valiant efforts to “pencil-whip” our obstacles; the same realities blocking our progress on December 31st will, no doubt, still be limiting our progress on January 3rd. There are a lot of factors currently in play that we can do nothing to control. We can’t conquer them; we can only prepare ourselves to work “around” them. One of these obstacles has been looming far longer than the pandemic. Last month I talked about “Job Shock”, and how our inability to hire and retain quality technicians has reached critical levels. With a dearth of new equipment on the lot, our opportunities in CUSTOMER SERVICE will be priority one. Our customers will depend on us to extend the life of the equipment that is tired and worn. These challenges will be impossible to solve without hiring more technicians and putting more vans on the road. It’s difficult however to ramp that up quickly. It’s not necessarily the capital investment (vans, tools, and parts) that is holding us back. Most of the dealers I speak to, have MULTIPLE vans sitting empty on their lot, awaiting new staff. Many dealers could hire 3, 5, even as many as 8 additional technicians without having to invest an additional dollar of capex. Customarily, we have used three venues to locate and acquire technical talent. 1. Competitors: We all know that this is the quickest method to fill a van with a warm body. The strategy is based on the assumption that our 10
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January 2022
dealership is already the “employer of choice” with wages, benefits, and working conditions outpacing competitive employment offerings. This strategy however seldom really provides the quality individuals we were looking for. The fact is…the trainable, self-motivated, and high-caliber technicians in the marketplace already have a sweet deal with their current employer. Most of the hires willing to jump ship and sign on with you, always seem to develop training deficiencies. attendance issues, or behavioral problems that never allow them to really help move the team forward. The reasons are self-evident. This is a competitive industry. You know it…. your competitor knows it. Everyone knows what it takes to retain top talent, and they are already offering it. 2. Automotive and Industrial: Making the shift from automotive or industrial repairs to material handling equipment is not a difficult shift. Yes, there is some training needed to acclimate new automotive techs to working on hydraulics or motive power systems, but the “nuts and bolts” of the job are not usually the limiting factor. The issues inherent with the conversion have more to do with expectations than they do with technical abilities. Most of these candidates come from automotive dealerships where they were guaranteed 40 hours a week, and all repairs are conducted under one roof. They also are certain that they will never be called to work overtime on a weekend or after hours. Training, tools, resources, and facilities in an automobile dealership may also be more robust and modern than in an equipment dealership setting. I am not suggesting that these candidates can’t be successful if they are offered in-shop opportunities. The problem here is that we are looking to fill ROAD. Once that tech gets his third call in three nights to repair units after hours, in the elements, they may not be so willing to see it through. 3. Automotive Trade Schools: Graduates from these institutions have invested heavily in their future and are looking to recoup this investment. These institutions however are geared toward (and many times financed by) automotive OEM direct training programs. Students enter the program for Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, or Nissan
