All about the money?

Jan. 1, 2020
The first year of the new I-CAR Professional Development Program/PDP is in the books.

The first year of the new I-CAR Professional Development Program/PDP is in the books. Many shops were able to reach Gold Class status. However, there are many MSOs, who began to question if the cost is justified, and are still weighing their options.

There were others, who due to insurer relationships, decided to bear the cost and complete the task. As an Instructor, I heard more than once it was all about the money, and I-CAR made the changes only for financial purposes. It is true that every business has a life cycle; and it is necessary to reinvent ourselves sometimes, but this is just not the case this time.

When I-CAR introduced the 5&2 program for Gold Class in 2007, it was an opportunity for many shops to get on the Gold Class train. There were two assumptions that did not prove to be true. The first assumption was that shops would start training, see the value and train more than the two classes each year once they became Gold. That was not the case.

The second assumption was that shops would make sure their techs trained in areas that pertained to what they did each day. In reality, they put techs in whatever was available. The result, although self-inflicted, led to murmurings that I-CAR training had lost its value. This led to development of the new PDP, and here are some questions that followed:  “How do I achieve the new requirements without breaking the bank? How do I meet the requirement without shutting down multiple locations at one time to get all my techs in the required classes? Is there really value in the training, and is there any way to capitalize on additional value? How do I prevent employee turnover and prepare for the future?” Let’s take a look at these issues one at a time.

The cost of training is always a consideration, even if it has value and is recouped in the long run.  The cost of meeting the requirements of the new I-CAR PDP has a little sticker shock. The question quickly becomes, “How do I minimize the cost?”

First, you will need to appoint someone in your company to be the manager of this process. This person will need to call I-CAR customer service to set your company up on the training manager tool that can be accessed on the I-CAR website. Once you have all your locations and employees listed, you can begin to put people in the right roles.

The mistake that I have seen more than once happens when the I-CAR representative (in an effort to help) suggests role designation based on the classes a technician has had in the past. As a result of techs taking whatever was available in the past, it may not be an accurate reflection of what they actually do; and continuing to train in the wrong path is a waste of money.

At this step of the process, the manager of each location should be consulted to put the best tech in each role. When I say “best tech,” I mean the tech who is skilled in this position, will mentor other techs, and one you feel will be with your company for a while. Once you have a tech in each of the four primary roles, you may want to consider a tech in the other available roles, if they are applicable to your business. 

For example, you may want to designate a mechanical and electrical tech if you do wheel alignment in-house. While some techs may perform multiple tasks, it is more cost effective to initially have each tech in only one role. For example, if a tech does paint-prep and non-structural repair, it is less expensive to classify them as a refinish tech. If a tech does non-structural and structural repair, it is less expensive initially to classify them non-structural.

If they are designated in multiple roles, they will have to meet the requirements for multiple roles. Every tech and estimator must have a designated role, but the requirements that are the most difficult to meet financially are for the required Role Representatives. Once each person is classified correctly, you can use the training planner tool to identify a training plan for each person.        

Once you know the areas that each tech needs to either train or show competency, there are five options: 1) Live Classes – I believe this is the way most techs learn, and is the best bang for the buck. 2) Virtual Classes –require no travel, and allow some scheduling flexibility. 3) Online Classes – available for some classes, and provide the most flexibility. Online classes can/should turn into a workshop for all the staff at a location. 4) Equivalency Tests – available for many competency areas and are the most cost effective way available to meet requirements. The cost is approximately one-third of the other methods. I-CAR will tell you the pass rate is low, but this may be a result of the wrong people taking the exams, or no preparation prior to the exam. It is a consideration to complete a testing session to determine the areas that training is needed, and to eliminate the areas that training is not needed. 5) Industry Alliance Training – many equipment suppliers and supply companies, such as paint companies, have a training alliance with I-CAR. If any of your techs have completed training through another company, you may be able to use this training to meet some of the I-CAR requirements. The cost to convert this to I-CAR hours is next to nothing, and most of these companies will do this training for free.  You might want to review the I-CAR Alliance Training providers to see which ones you can use to your advantage. As you can see, there are ways to save money, but it will take planning. It may be necessary to look for outside help, unless you have the right staff.

The issue of completing the training requirements without interfering with production is probably the most difficult to successfully achieve. To understand that taking a tech off-task for training will affect production is not rocket science. The secret to making training the least destructive to production is scheduling training at the least invasive time.

We are pretty much stuck in a box on this when we consider most I-CAR classes are held in the afternoon or on the weekend. Online classes could be done in one-hour segments during lunch, or in the mornings before regular work hours. You might even consider breaking live classes into segments, if a local instructor is willing to do so. While some of this will have to be addressed with I-CAR, you will find they may be more flexible than you think. 

Overlapping training requirements is another thing to consider as an MSO. Some classes fall in multiple roles, such as corrosion protection being required for painters and structural techs. If you pull half the painters from all locations and half the structural techs in for a class, you may be able to cover a location’s needs with a tech that is not involved in that session. Again, this takes some proactive thought and planning.

One of the ways to help these methods along is to take advantage of two items: 1) Have your training manager become involved with your local I-CAR committee. This will allow you to have some input on the scheduling of classes in your market. 2) Find out who the I-CAR Instructors are that teach in your area. You may have a retired Instructor in the area who has a flexible schedule, or an instructor who is relying on I-CAR as their primary job, and can work with you closely. Most of the time we are in a box, because we have not thought or planned a way out of it; so get busy and put together a training plan that works around your company’s production schedule.

You may be wondering, before going to all this trouble if there is real value in the training, and how to capitalize on this value, if it does exist. There are many ways training is valuable, but three areas come to the surface quickly, and should be used to your advantage: 1) Marketing is the area that we usually think of first when looking at I-CAR training. When you have completed any type of training, it makes good business sense to let the consumer and the insurer know about your accomplishments. All too often I see shops complete the training to meet the DRP requirements of one insurer, and fail to send out a press release to the other insurers and agents they work with. While it may not be required by all insurers, I-CAR Gold & Platinum is always looked on favorably.  I see shops all the time with much larger signage about their frame equipment than their training credentials. As the old saying goes, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it.”

2) You will need to police your training to get the most value out of it. Look for the areas that your techs seem to struggle in, or where cars get hung up in the repair process.  Make sure the techs are training in the areas that will increase their skill set, and not only meet a requirement. Coffee and donuts taste good in the morning, but it doesn’t meet many nutritional needs. Make sure the training you do meets the right objectives, is pertinent to your needs, and is set up and completed correctly. If an instructor needs to do demonstrations, make sure he has the needed parts and materials; make sure the classroom is comfortable and conducive to learning. More than once, I have tried to speak above the noise from a fan or compressor while teaching a class. As an owner or manager, help the instructor set the expectation for the class. I-CAR does hold every instructor accountable for a quality delivery of each class, but it is much easier for the instructor to make that happen when students know their employer holds them accountable.

3) Negotiating strength is the third benefit of any training. As repairers, we get paid for what we do, unless we have conceded that an operation is a cost of doing business, or part of another procedure. Have every tech, and especially estimator, go into each class with a notepad and the following thought process:  What is an operation that I am doing, but not getting paid for, due to either not asking, or not being able to negotiate? You will not be able to discuss payment in the class, but you can make notes for future reference and research.

You may be thinking, “OK I am sold on the fact that I-CAR training is valuable, but how do I protect myself from making an investment, and the technician leaving me with nothing but the bill?” A bigger question may be, “What it is costing me if I am not training?” Studies completed by I-CAR indicated that in one group of eight shops there was an average of $12 gained for every dollar spent on training. At this rate, it may be worth the risk of losing a technician occasionally.

It is becoming more common every day for shops to offer a sign-on bonus for a tech. If this is an acceptable or common practice, why not have a tech sign an agreement requiring them to pay for training that was provided in the last year if they leave the company? That sign-on bonus may not be nearly as attractive at this point. If you require your people to train, and processes like this are put into place, it will prepare you for the future.

Whether I-CAR succeeds or fails, it is a fact vehicle technology is changing at an alarming rate, and we will have to train to survive. We have a great industry partner in I-CAR, why would we not support them and ourselves at the same time?

Tony Nethery is the business development manager at COLORMATCH, a PBE distributor serving the Southeastern United States. He has worked in the collision industry for more than 30 years, having experience as a collision shop technician, manager and estimator. He is an I-CAR instructor and also designs and teaches classes for AMI, NACE and SCRS. He is a published author and has taught collision repair at the college level.

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