It pays to run a proactive shop instead of reactive shop

CARSability, the new tool that is designed to help automotive repair and service facilities get the best return on their training investment dollar and that has received rave reviews was officially launched to Atlantic Canada on Thursday, February 21st as part of the 8th Annual Automotive Industry Awards Evening in Halifax. The program was first launched in Toronto in November of 2007.

Since this time, a number of automotive shops across Canada have implemented the web-based skills assessment tool as part of their training planning and recruitment procedures. John Watt, Director of Automotive Retailing for Petro Canada Certigard has designated select franchisees within the organization to begin using CARSability and introduce the web-based skills assessment to other franchisees.

"Certigard sees tremendous value in CARSability. Automotive repair and service shop owners need to be proactive when it comes to their business and employees, as oppose to reactive. Proactive training helps to create happy, efficient, well rounded employees, and happy employees have no reason to leave a shop," says Watt. Ensuring employees have the skills and training needed to achieve their full potential is a critical responsibility of the independent owner operator, or the corporations that the service centres are a part of. Although some owners and operators are devoted to on-going training, an abundance of managers find themselves wrapped up with the day-to-day issues in a shop and fail to find the time to take a proactive approach when it comes to training. This is where CARSability comes in.

Corrie Robley, Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Automotive Human Resource Sector Council has seen numerous positive benefits to a proactive approach to training with the implementation of CARSability. Benefits that have stretched beyond Canadian borders. Robley's organization has had a positive working experience dealing with an automotive shop in the Ukraine and using CARSability as a recruitment tool.

CARSability - coming soon to a CERTIGARD near you!)

The Nova Scotia Automotive Human Resource Sector Council worked with an automotive company out of the Ukraine who contacted the Council regarding a gentleman who worked for their organization and wanted to immigrate to Canada and join the Canadian workforce.

With the use of CARSability, Robley's organization was able to assess strengths and weaknesses of this individual which provided his former employer with the necessary feedback to implement a targeted training plan prior to his arrival in Canada. Robley says, "We picked up this particular gentleman from the airport nine months ago and he is now working in the automotive service field in Nova Scotia."

With support from the Government of Canada's Sector Council Program, the Canadian Automotive Repair and Service Council (CARS) has spent the last four years developing the tool that is sure to benefit the automotive service and repair industry as a whole. Industry leaders see the value of technical training and create a training culture in their workplace. Communication plays an extremely important part of getting employees to buy in to the training.

"Employers need to invest in their own professional development before their employees buy in, and internal employee communications are an important tool in achieving this. Creating a training culture in the workplace will help with employee buy in. The employers need to create a training culture in their workplace. This can be done by taking a proactive approach, to stand up and say, I took the training course, I took the skills assessment. Investing in top level managers and repeating steps down the ladder to the labour market will reap benefits for any automotive shop." added Robley.

CARSability is a valuable tool in helping automotive service and repair businesses take the first step in developing a highly targeted, proactive training program for employees. Once a skills assessment is completed, employers are able to easily determine where training gaps exist and design training programs to fill in the gaps. The results of targeted training will be felt positively on the bottom line with lower rates of employee turnover and higher overall employee satisfaction. For more information, please visit www.carsability.ca. CARS activities and strategic direction as a national, not-for-profit sector council are driven by the industry's need for proactive programs and projects that increase workforce skill levels and industry productivity. 

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