“Never let that technician talk to the customer.” Phrases like that are common in the auto repair industry. But there are better ways to handle the problem than keeping technicians away from customers forever. Jim Bennett believes the answer is training, specifically leadership training for the people who lead and teach others.
Jim has owned CarMasters Automotive since 1998 and serves as ATI’s director of technical training and development. In episode 76 of Maximum Octane, he and Kim Hickey talk about the technician shortage, why leadership training matters for managers and A techs, opportunities for technology lovers, five year plans, and the difference between OSHA certification and OSHA training.
What You Will Learn
- Why does the automotive industry struggle to find technicians
- Jim talks about the importance of exposing our leadership team to leadership training
- The massive opportunity for technology lovers to contribute to making cars safer and more reliable
- How a 5 years plan can help you elevate your team
- The differences between being OSHA-certified and OSHA-training
Why the Industry Struggles to Find Technicians
Jim opens with the difficulty shops face hiring new talent, especially technicians. The causes include an aging workforce, fewer young people entering the trades, and competition from other industries. The BLS outlook for automotive technicians shows how many openings the industry must fill each year.
The technician shortage has many causes, including retirements, perceptions of the trade, competition from other industries, and the cost of tools and training. Addressing it requires effort at multiple levels: industry-wide initiatives to promote careers, school partnerships, apprenticeships, and individual shops improving their workplaces. Shops that invest in developing technicians internally are less dependent on the limited pool of experienced candidates.
For an individual shop, the most useful response is to stop relying solely on finding experienced technicians and start building them. That might mean hiring a motivated lube tech or general service technician with a clear path toward diagnostic work, partnering with a local high school or community college program, or pairing newer technicians with a mentor for specific tasks. Shops that can describe a clear career ladder, with defined skills and pay at each step, tend to have an easier time attracting young people who want a future rather than just a job.
Leadership Training for Your Leadership Team
Around the 8 minute mark, Jim explains the importance of exposing managers, team leaders, and A techs to leadership training. Many shops promote their best technicians into lead roles without teaching them how to lead. Technical skill does not automatically translate into the ability to train, mentor, or manage others.
When leaders are trained, they can develop newer technicians, communicate better with advisors and customers, and take pressure off the owner. That makes life easier for the CEO and improves workflow and growth. Chuck Lafferty makes a related case in Transparency and Development, the GPS of Business Growth.
Leadership training helps technical experts learn how to teach, coach, communicate, and resolve conflict. These skills make them more effective mentors and team leaders. When A techs can train others, they multiply their impact, raising the skill level of the whole team rather than just completing their own work.
This also speaks to the old advice about never letting a certain technician talk to customers. Often the issue is not that the technician lacks good intentions, but that nobody has taught them how to explain a problem without jargon, how to listen, or how to stay calm when a customer is frustrated. Those are learnable skills. When shops invest in communication and leadership training, they often find that technicians become valuable voices with customers, especially when a complex repair needs a clear, credible explanation.
Opportunities for Technology Lovers
Jim describes the massive opportunity for people who love technology to help make cars safer and more reliable. Modern vehicles are packed with advanced driver assistance systems, networked modules, and electrification. That complexity is a challenge for shops, but it is also a powerful recruiting message for young people who enjoy technology.
Organizations like ASE and the TechForce Foundation help promote the technician profession to the next generation.
Modern vehicles contain dozens of computer modules, sophisticated sensors, and complex software. Technicians who enjoy technology can find careers diagnosing and repairing these systems, calibrating driver assistance features, and working on electric vehicles. Promoting these aspects of the job can attract young people who might not have considered auto repair.
A Five Year Plan to Elevate Your Team
Around the 19 minute mark, Jim explains how a five year plan can help elevate your team. Leadership development does not happen in a single class. A long-term plan maps out training, responsibilities, and growth milestones for each leader. It also shows employees that the shop is investing in their future, which supports retention.
ATI’s The Training Effect discusses how to build a training program that delivers results.
A five-year plan might include technical certifications, leadership courses, mentoring responsibilities, and gradually increasing management duties. Reviewing the plan annually and adjusting based on progress keeps it relevant. Employees with clear development plans are more likely to stay, because they can see their future at the shop.
Reversing Reluctance to Leadership Training
Jim also discusses how to reverse the industry’s reluctance toward leadership training. Some owners see it as a luxury. Jim sees it as a necessity. The cost of poor leadership shows up in turnover, mistakes, and missed opportunities.
Some owners resist leadership training because the benefits are less immediate than technical training. Showing the impact, through improved retention, better communication, and reduced owner workload, helps make the case. Starting with small investments, like a book or a short course, can demonstrate value before larger commitments.
OSHA-Certified vs. OSHA Training
Jim closes by explaining the difference between being OSHA-certified and having OSHA training. Many people use the terms loosely, but they are not the same. OSHA offers training programs through authorized trainers, and employers have specific responsibilities for workplace safety. You can learn more on OSHA’s training page.
OSHA outreach training programs, such as 10-hour and 30-hour courses, provide awareness of workplace safety hazards and standards. Completing these courses results in a completion card, but it is not the same as a certification of competence for specific tasks. Employers remain responsible for providing job-specific training on hazards in their workplace. Understanding the difference helps shops meet their obligations and keep employees safe.
Building a Training Culture
A training culture is one where learning is expected and supported at every level. It includes technical training, safety training, customer service training, and leadership development. Shops with training cultures adapt more easily to new technology, retain employees longer, and deliver more consistent quality.
Building that culture starts with leadership commitment. Owners who invest in their own learning and make training a regular part of the shop’s schedule set the example. Jim’s emphasis on training trainers reflects a key insight: when leaders know how to teach, learning spreads throughout the shop.
Common Mistakes When Promoting Technicians to Leadership
Promoting a strong technician into a lead or shop foreman role can work well, but several mistakes show up again and again:
- Announcing the promotion without defining what the new role is responsible for.
- Expecting the new leader to keep producing the same billed hours while also training others.
- Offering no training in coaching, feedback, or conflict resolution.
- Failing to adjust pay plans so that developing others is rewarded, not penalized.
- Leaving the new leader without a mentor of their own.
Addressing these issues before the promotion, rather than after problems appear, gives the new leader a fair chance to succeed and protects the shop from losing a great technician to a poorly designed role.
Training Plan Starter
- List every person in a leadership role and the training they have received.
- Choose one leadership training opportunity for each leader this year.
- Draft a five year growth path for your most promising technician.
- Review your shop’s safety training and documentation.
Angie and Ken Rocha share how training became their shop’s superpower in How to Turn Tech Training Into Your Auto Shop’s Superpower. For a look at changing vehicle technology, listen to Chris Chesney in A Peek Into the Self-Driving Automotive Industry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is there a shortage of auto technicians?
Several factors combine: experienced technicians are retiring, fewer young people are encouraged toward the trades, other industries compete for the same mechanically inclined workers, and the cost of tools and training can be a barrier to entry. Vehicles have also grown more complex, which raises the skill level required. Shops that develop technicians internally and offer clear career paths are less affected by the shortage than those that only hire experienced candidates.
What kind of leadership training do shop foremen and A techs need?
Most benefit from training in coaching and teaching, giving constructive feedback, communicating with advisors and customers, resolving conflict, and managing time and priorities. Technical skill made them valuable, but leading others requires different tools. Training can come from courses, coaching programs, books, and mentoring by experienced leaders. The best results come when training is ongoing and tied to a clear development plan rather than offered as a single event.
Is OSHA certification the same as OSHA training?
No. OSHA outreach courses, such as the 10-hour and 30-hour programs, provide general safety awareness and issue a completion card, but they do not certify that someone is competent at a particular task. Employers are still responsible for training workers on the specific hazards in their own workplace, such as lifts, chemicals, and electrical systems. Using accurate language helps shops understand what their safety obligations really are.
How do I create a career plan for a technician?
Start by talking with the technician about where they want to be in several years. Then outline the skills, certifications, and experience needed to get there, and break them into yearly milestones. Include technical training, mentoring responsibilities, and leadership development where appropriate. Connect each milestone to pay or responsibility so progress is rewarded. Review the plan at least once a year and adjust it as the technician grows and the shop’s needs change.
Resources and Links From This Episode
Connect With the Guests
- Jim: LinkedIn
