Tackling the challenges in your repair-shop workforce

Bob Hausler

VP of Transport, North America, AMCS Group

Why is employee turnover a problem?

Technicians capable of repairing heavy-duty trucks and commercial vehicles aren’t easy to come by. The job requires a set of distinct skills. The need for their knowledge is so great that your priority should focus on keeping the technicians that you do have.

Addressing employee churn is just smart business. Keep in mind that the average cost to replace a salaried employee is six-to-nine months of their salary. Now consider that across all industries, 12% of the average company workforce choose to leave each year.

The reasons vary, but for repair-shop employees, feeling undervalued can cause them to leave. So can the lack of a good work/life balance, see source. This is especially important to younger workers.

The bottom line is, you’ll depend more on the workers coming up. Ensuring they feel valued and offering a good work/life balance can save you money and headaches in the long run. It’s also concerning that 70% of employees across all industries do not feel engaged or connected at work. It makes sense, then, that highly engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave.

What you can do

Engage them. As of this writing, Indeed.com has 16,000 openings for jobs that match “fleet mechanic” across the U.S. To engage workers while filling your company’s needs, train them yourself.

Don’t worry that they might leave and take their skills with them. You’re creating a sense of empowerment, which creates a good working relationship. You can also make all workers’ jobs easier and engaging by introducing technology.

“When you invest training into your technicians, you invest time, where you're exposing them to the OEMs. They feel empowered. They feel like you're invested in them, and they feel like they're a part of the system.”

– Harold Graves, Director of Maintenance, Stella Environmental Services

How technology helps

Connecting your maintenance and repair processes gives your team access to accurate data they need to do their jobs, and do them fast. For instance, AMCS Fleet Maintenance software operates on the cloud. So your team has access to all of your fleet information whether they’re at the shop, on a road call, or dealing with a weekend emergency from home.

Using mobile devices, such as tablets, technicians can instantly access repair history. This makes it easier and faster to diagnose and repair problems. They can see repetitive repairs – everything is right there, in front of them. They can capture real-time data, manage work orders, and reduce paperwork, which increases productivity. This is how you streamline your processes and eliminate time consuming, manual ways of working.

This technology doesn’t have to be limited to the shop floor, either. With AMCS Fleet Maintenance, drivers can conduct inspections and report maintenance issues in real time, resulting in faster repairs and reduced downtime.

It’s about working more efficiently and reducing costs. It can help with onboarding, training, career development and more.

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