Understanding the importance of learning styles and soft skills

March 1, 2018
The concept of learning should be a key element of a body shop’s culture, but the type of training and method of delivery can be tailored to help technicians and leadership retain the knowledge in a way that best fits their needs.

This is the second article in a two-part series on the importance of training. For Part One, which focuses on why rapid advancement in vehicle technologies means technicians need to know how to perform proper repairs by following original equipment manufacturer (OEM) procedures and where to find this information, click here.

The concept of learning should be a key element of a body shop’s culture, but the type of training and method of delivery can be tailored to help technicians and leadership retain the knowledge in a way that best fits their needs.

“After spending 37 years in the collision repair market and more than 20 years in industry education, I have learned that the industry must accept that continuous training is a component of it,” says Jeff Peevy, president of Automotive Management Institute (AMi), a non-profit education organization. “The industry also must realize that learning is the key to business success. Without it, a collision repair business will not survive.”

Photo courtesy of LORD Corporation Fusor Aftermarket Repair Adhesives

However, despite the “Technical Tsunami” of rapidly evolving vehicle technologies, such a technical-focused industry also needs to understand the need for the often-overlooked “soft skills” in training.

Beyond technical training

Soft skills – a.k.a. interpersonal skills – relate to employees' ability to get along well with others, social graces, leadership skills, work ethic and communication abilities, among others. In his research on how soft skills impact retention, it is one of the leading causes a technician leaves a shop – or the industry altogether, says Peevy, who is an Accredited Master Automotive Manager (AMAM).

“A repairer may have a strong background in technical skills and knowledge but may not be able to communicate what is needed to improve their environment,” he points out. “We need to develop their personality traits to manage this, especially as there continues to be a shortage of qualified technicians.”

Graph courtesy of the Automotive Management Institute (AMi) — In a recent AMi survey, 83 percent of collision repair businesses believe improved listening, communications and interpersonal skills – i.e. soft skills – would make a positive impact on their business. The same survey also found that 77 percent believe that more than 30 percent of a technician’s skills believed improved listening, communications and interpersonal skills would make a positive impact on their business.

At AMi, collision repair training has recently been concentrating on soft skills for repairers, particularly on listening skills. This leads to better satisfaction for the technician, and ultimately, the customer.

“If technicians are not listening to fellow staff members or to customers, they will miss important things and will not be as operationally efficient,” Peevy notes. “They need to be trained in soft skills to effectively work together using their technical skills.”

A quick look at soft skills
Available online through AMi instructor-created courses
  • Leadership Skills. Companies want employees who can supervise and direct other workers
  • Teamwork.
  • Communication Skills.
  • Problem Solving Skills.
  • Work Ethic.
  • Flexibility/Adaptability.
  • Interpersonal Skills

A different way of learning

To that end, how training is done – for both technical and soft skills – is important and what will truly give repair shops and its technicians a competitive advantage.

Buying the latest equipment or a new spray booth may seem like the way to get an edge up in the collision repair marketplace, but it’s not a sustainable competitive advantage.

“The willingness to learn and continue to learn is what will sustain you,” Peevy says. “Once this belief is accepted by all leadership, it will become easier.”

There is sometimes a tendency to “fight” this idea. Traditionally, the industry has complained about having to take time to train. However, the businesses that are also learning organizations are the most successful.

“There is so much to know – and what you know today is less important than what you learn tomorrow,” Peevy says. “You have to be in constant learning mode.”

Factors Preventing Receiving More Training
Graphs courtesy of Collision Industry Conference (CIC)/Jeff Peevy

However, a traditional classroom type of training doesn’t work for everyone because people learn differently. Some students may learn better though tactile methods while others prefer auditory or visual methods.

“We need to think beyond training in the traditional way of just taking a class,” Peevy says. “Training is really just a means to learn. The real focus should be on learning, and there are so many different ways.”

AMi’s new Alternate Methods of Learning (AML) program recognizes credit for articles, videos, podcasts, among other ways to provide learning. Taking advantage of the learning strategy that best suits the person participating in the training can help ensure they have a more thorough understanding of the material.

Students can use an “Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire” (http://www.amilearningindex.org) to help determine how they should approach note-taking, frame questions, and the best ways to address an individual’s strengths and weaknesses.

“Knowing how you learn is the first step in maximizing your competitive advantage with training,” Peevy says.

Kevin Creegan, sales manager for LORD Fusor Aftermarket Repair Adhesives, U.S. and Canada, LORD Corporation, echoes this, noting that the way people learn can be vastly different across age groups and experience levels. “Some people learn just by seeing a PowerPoint or reading a printed doc of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs),” he says. “Others learn best by actually doing and ‘getting their hands dirty’ – using or practicing the procedure or product they are learning about.”

Getting buy-in from leadership

With the exception of the dealer repair shops and multi-shop organizations (MSOs), the collision repair industry is comprised of small businesses. This can make it challenging to find time to go to training.

There is also the double standard of leadership asking technicians to attend training but opting out of participating themselves.

Photo courtesy of LORD Corporation Fusor Aftermarket Repair Adhesives

“We need to make sure leadership isn’t just providing ‘lip service’ on training, but actively taking part in it,” states Marie Peevy, owner and president of Automotive Training Coordinators (ATC) LLC, which identifies, provides and promotes qualified business education for the success of automotive service repair professionals. “They must participate in the training themselves so they can lead the way.”

The challenge is that the collision repair industry is mostly made up of small businesses – with the exception of multi-shop organizations (MSOs) and OEM dealer-affiliated repair facilities.

“It’s hard to give up staff to go to training events for a day,” Marie Peevy says. “It is often difficult for individuals in the repair business to go all day to work and then drive a distance to a class.”

Online training has provided a viable and effective means to address this issue. Ironically, even though skilled collision repairers perform very technical repairs on a vehicle, they may not be comfortable with using technology for training, Marie Peevy explains

“It’s not a problem for the younger generation – it’s like second nature to them,” points out Marie Peevy, who is married to Jeff Peevy. “But in today’s world, we have an aging workforce and technicians who have never used a computer or have very little knowledge of it. Training can be both challenging and scary for them.”

That’s where different types of learning come in – especially alternative ways of learning – and understanding how you learn is so important.

 “Training helps everyone in the end,” asserts Marie Peevy. “It has proven to improve business profitability and sustainability. It helps individuals working in businesses make a better living, which improves their ability to provide for their families.”

Reducing risk with certifiable credentials

The collision repair industry is filling the growing need for education and training through readily accessible videos – i.e. on demand – particularly as a non-traditional and convenient learning method. This solution also comes with concerns.

“I can learn to light a water heater by watching a YouTube video, but it doesn’t make me a plumber,” says Peevy. “The industry is challenged with third-party verifiable credentials. With the advent of more and more videos, I am afraid we are going to compromise that even more.”

If a body shop owner is looking to hire a new technician or manager, risk can be minimized when the person hired has some type of credentials such as being ASE-certified from the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence, professional designations from Ami, Inter-Industry Council on Automotive Repair (I-CAR) Platinum status, or other designations. 

“These provide a great value and represent a track of education specific to that role that has been tested and the credential to be verified by a third party to someone trying to fill a position,” expresses Peevy. “It provides a standard.”

The knowledge seasoned technicians have shouldn’t be undervalued, he adds, but having 30 years of experience repairing vehicles isn’t as valuable as it used to be. “Experience alone is becoming less and less important when you are equipped for a world that no longer exists.”

Now, the collision repair industry at a critical point in time with both training and access to collision repair information, adds LORD Corporation’s Creegan. “We are at a pivotal point where we need some standardization, but it’s a whole new game,” he emphasizes.

When a new vehicle is introduced – a particular make and model – instruction on collision repair for that vehicle is made available. However, notes Creegan, if there happens to be a new technique used in the vehicle’s assembly to eliminate sound or to seal a part of a panel, for example, the individual nuances on how to repair or duplicate that new technique might be omitted or excluded altogether.

“The million dollar question is, ‘Why does this happen?’” Creegan queries. “I think part of the reason is that there is a ‘disconnect’ between the engineers designing and constructing the vehicle, and those responsible for collision repair.”

This can result in challenges for those individuals in the aftermarket who need to repair and reassemble the vehicle after an accident or collision to make it whole again – that is to restore to the best of their ability to achieve the OEM look, feel, and finish.

Additional resources

A manufacturer’s primary focus is running assembly plants, building safe vehicles and, and making sure warranties can be handled, Creegan says, while the collision world is about restoring a vehicle to OEM standards. 

“The OEM may not always understand all the possible solutions for adhesive structural repair, plastic repair, seam sealing, and NVH control available in the automotive aftermarket,” Creegan remarks. “It’s all a moving target. We need to bridge these gaps in understanding, by working closely with the OEMs and providing continued training in the field.”

Setting the tone for training

Training for – and keeping up with – the quickly evolving world of collision repair is a huge undertaking. The tone set by an instructor’s approach to teaching technicians makes a difference.

When Dennis Beardsley, North American training manager for Saint-Gobain and an Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Repair (I-CAR) instructor for more than 20 years, conducts training, he uses various approaches but makes one thing clear: Students will complete training knowing how to repair a vehicle properly so it can correctly take a hit in the case of another collision and they’ll do the work necessary to ensure this.

“We have an awesome responsibility as collision repairers and trainers. It’s critical to be real but also to inspire,” said Beardsley.

He likens the job of collision repair technicians to protecting an egg. The car’s job in a collision is to protect the person inside – “the egg” – and keep it intact. This means following original equipment manufacturer (OEM) specifications and understanding proper procedures and use of OEM-approved products.

"I focus on these approvals and explain the difference between metal bonding, aluminum bonding, plastic repair, and the use of adhesives and seam sealers and foams," Beardsley says. “I need to make sure they are able to duplicate what I’ve taught them when they are back at their shop and know how to make repair decisions.”

For example, technicians must follow specific procedures when using adhesives in collision repair and know when and if they are approved. “I key in on OEM product approvals – such as Ford Motor Co.’s approval of LORD Fusor Collision Repair Adhesives for vehicle repair – and when plug welds may be used instead of rivets.”

The simple guideline that Beardsley gives is this: “When the manufacturer tells us to do it.”

What it all really all comes down to, according to Beardsley is the question, “Would I put my kids in the back of that vehicle? If you’ve undergone training and are following OEM procedures, then the answer will be ‘Yes’ and in good conscience.”

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