Toolbelt Generation

 

There is a buzz going around about Gen Z Becoming the Toolbelt Generation.  Let’s dig a little deeper into what impact this will have on the future employees of a dealership.

Let’s start with understanding the Gen Z generation:

·       Includes those born roughly between the mid-1990s and early 2010s,

·       They have grown up in a time of rapid technological advancement. Technology comes easy for most of this generation. Utilizing smartphones, social media and the internet is a part of life. No doubt will continue to be early adopters of emerging technologies

·       They have been characterized with a strong desire for autonomy, flexibility, and they expect work-life balance, and are not afraid to challenge the status quo.

·       They seek meaningful work and opportunities for continuous learning and skill development. They want to provide input about their work and direction.

·       The Gen Z employees are often entrepreneurial-minded and are comfortable with remote work and digital collaboration tools. Working as part of a team can be a challenge.

The term "Toolbelt Generation" may be a little broader than our typical reference point.  This generation is a group of workers who possess a diverse set of skills and are adept at using various tools, both traditional and digital, to accomplish their tasks. These individuals often thrive in roles that require adaptability, problem-solving skills, and proficiency with technology. Jobs considered part of the Toolbelt Generation include.

To better understand how broad the interpretation is of the Toolbelt Generation let’s look at a list of job titles within an Indeed webpage titled “Toolbelt Generation Jobs”.

·                        CNC Programmer Level II

               Automotive Technician

·                      Laborer

·                     Equipment Repair Technician

·                    Carpenter Journeyman

·                   Airline Customer Service Agent

·                   Lead SDLC Process Owner

·                   Lineworker Apprentice

·                   UM/UIM Moderate Represented Adjuster

·                   HVAC Helper

·                   LEAN Six Sigma Greenbelt

·                   Termite Technician

·                   Sr Principal Engineer Quality

·                   Residential Broadband Technician

·                   Regional Quality Specialist

·                   Plant Operator, Electric Power Plant

·                   VRT Quality Analyst- Assembly Plant

·                   Detention Officer I

·                   Lead Installer

·                   LPN- Home Health

To expand on the broadness of the Toolbelt Generation below is a list of programs offered by a technical school focusing on high school students in their junior/senior year and adults wanting to obtain some additional job skills/certificates/certifications.  The list below was taken from the school’s program offering list for the 2024 academic year:

·                   Aesthetics

·                   Automotive Technologies

·                   Barbering

·                   Behavioral Health

·                   Collision Repair

·                   Commercial Baking & Pastry Arts

·                   Construction Technologies

·                   Cosmetology

·                   Culinary Arts

·                   Dental Assistant

·                   Diesel Technologies

·                   Emergency Medical Technician

·                   Fire Science Academy

·                   Plumbing Service & Repair Technician

As can be seen from the job titles and academic program offerings, the types of “Toolbelt” jobs/careers is very broad.  There are also associated costs.  For example, an adult enrolling in the two-year Diesel Technologies program at this one school will cost almost $10,000.  The local community college with a similar program will cost approximately $12,000.  In addition to the cost of tuition the individuals may be required to purchase their own trade tools, which adds to the cost of entering specific career fields.  We need consider the initial cost of hand tools and education needed for the entry level Tool Belt positions of today.

The impact of offering a broad range of careers provides individuals with many options to select from when deciding on a career.  This is a great advantage for the individuals, but for our industry it will continue to make it difficult to fill the open position and fill the openings of the future.  Dealerships will need to be competitive to attract potential candidates and focus on retention of the employees currently employed.

Recruitment and retention are not just the role of the Human Resource department, or the responsibility of the supervisor.  An effective recruitment and retention effort requires an “all hands-on deck” approach.  Below is what I refer to as the four “R’s” of recruitment and retention:

·       Retention- Keep the team members that can move your organization forward. This includes coaching, mentoring, providing opportunities for personal growth, and building a team.

·       Recruitment- Provide various avenues to recruitment talent.  The avenues should be a balance of entry level positions the advanced roles.  Recruiting should include everyone within the organization, not just the recruiters.  Recruitment begins early in the potential applicant’s life. This includes the “Touch A Truck” events, high school students seeking a career that does not require a college degree, and second career individuals such as veterans and automotive technicians looking for a change.

·       Relationships- Develop a positive relationship with each employee and expect the employees to expand their relationships within and across the organization.  Get outside our departmental boxes and get to know the other members of the overall team.  What can we do to support their individual success, while contributing to the success of the overall teams?  Develop cross functional teams to solve issues and identify improvements for the organization.

·       Respect- Be willing to have difficult discussions.  Most employees what an upfront discussion on how to improve and how they can contribute to the team effort.

Being part of the Tool Belt Generation provides great opportunities for the individuals but will require employers to understand the needs of the applicants and employees, while being competitive in the marketplace by providing a work environment that is attractive to this generation.

 

Machine Condition Monitoring Roles as Part of a Dealer’s Product Support Offerings

Over the past few years, we are experiencing a new era emerge in the area of machine condition monitoring.

·       OnStar was introduced in 1996 with a focus on a commitment to the “safety, security and peace of mind to it members”. (The evolution of Onstar- https://www.onstar.com/why-onstar/evolution-of-onstar-innovations)

·       Fluid analysis began sometime around the mid 1940’s with a focus on temperature, pressure and the occasional check for oil color and viscosity. (A History of Oil Analysis, Noria Media January 2023).

·       Payload monitoring has always been important but often was limited to the number of loads estimating the volume based on the bucket size.  I remember my dad operating a wheel loader using two counters (one counting the number of trucks and one counting the number of loads).

For the most part dealers didn’t have a major need, or the ability, to apply condition monitoring within their dealership.  Today condition monitoring is becoming a core piece of assisting the customers manage their fleet in areas such as:

·       Safety that can identify objects in the way of machine operation, operators being distracted, theft of a machine, locking out the use of machine.

·       Health of the machine and its internal components such as overheats, degree of wear/contaminates, condition of the various fluids, and fault codes indicating various potential issues ranging from life of a component to operator practices.

·       Production management in areas of payload, weight distribution, cycle times, fuel burn.

The equipment industry is moving from a Reactive & Preventive maintenance approach to Predictive and Proactive maintenance program at a very fast pace.

Many dealers have implemented roles and responsibilities around the areas of recording, analyzing, reporting, and recommendations based on the results from the various condition monitoring indicators. These roles provide valuable information to the customers and allow them to make decisions based on the data/information received with professional input and experience from the dealership and OEM.

Dealerships have begun integrating three primary roles within condition monitoring to support their customer base.  The customers’ expectations will vary based on their own internal strengths and expertise, while utilizing the variety of information available from each machine and applied across their fleet.

The three roles that have emerged relating to the management, interpreting, and communication of the data/information relating to condition monitoring, in support the Product Support Sales Representatives are:

·       Condition Monitoring Specialist/Analyst- This role includes the collection and analysis of information relating to:

o   Equipment inspections

o   Work order/repair history

o   Fluid/vibration/thermography analysis and trends

o   Fault code information collected remotely, during machine inspections, onsite data downloads

o   Diagnostic test results

o   Predictive analysis-based baseline information and historical data

o   Preparing reports and summary information to be reviewed/reported to the customersTop of Form

·       Equipment Management Consultant- This role may include tasks such as:

o   Equipment acquisition, disposal, and lifecycle management recommendations.  Working with the customer and dealer personnel to develop and maintain a comprehensive equipment lifecycle management strategy relating to rebuilds and replacement.

o   Maintenance planning includes preventive maintenance schedules, maintenance programs and procedures that optimize the utilization and reduces downtime.

o   Compliance and safety requirements are maintained, and all product updates are being addressed.

·       Equipment/Asset Manager takes the information relating to the two roles above while working with the Product Support Sales and Equipment Sales Representatives for the specific customer to develop an overall fleet plan through the lifecycle of the fleet.

·       Understanding the customers fleet planning strategy.  Customers vary in their fleet replacement strategy relating to rebuilds/replacement schedules.

·       Overseeing the fleet maintenance and repair plans.  Keep the maintenance schedule within the parameters developed in cooperation with the customer.

·       Monitor equipment performance compared to the established KPIs and provide early alerts the goals may not be accomplished and provide recommendations.

·       Monitor the customers rebuilds in the shop based on the agreed upon scope of work.  Any variances should be identified and resolved with the various shops, the customer, and the Product Support Sales Representative.

The role of condition monitoring has come a long way from the early days described at the beginning of this article, and the roles are early in their development.

It will be important for the dealerships to keep abreast of the technology introduction of the future, how to apply the data/information in making decisions that not only support the dealership but also supports the customers fleet management expectations and developing the internal skills of the dealership relating to the ever evolving condition monitoring and fleet management.

 Organizations spend a great deal of time, effort, and money on developing employees.  The majority of the focus is on the technical portions of the jobs.  There are three other areas that are equally important.

While visiting with a Human Resource Manager on this topic they explained the majority of terminations are not due to lack of technical skills but lack of skills in at least one of the three other area.

Below is a diagram that shows some of the elements of each areas.

It is important for individuals and managers to provide an environment that focuses in all four areas.

Client requirements from a hydraulic repair provider

The hydraulic repair business is a very competitive market, with many competitors.

Several studies have been conducted and the same critical few expectations.
Clients expectations of hydraulic vendors are shown below.

Top four priorities:
         1.   Price
         2.   Turn time
         3.  Quality
         4.  OEM dealer

Majority of current repairs are related too:
         Hydraulic cylinders- primarily reseal
         Hydraulic Pumps
         Hydraulic Valves

To earn the business of a new client three priorities were identified:
          1.   Turn time
          2.   Price
          3.   Pick-up and delivery

Training and development of technicians is an ongoing challenge for any dealership or company that employs technicians.

The importance training is not only for the entry level technician, but a requirement for all technicians.

Anyone interested in a copy of a training format can send me their email address, the name of their company, and I will forward a copy of the document.

Send a note to wlsonron@aol.com

Cross-Selling and Up-Selling

Cross-Selling and Up-Selling are critical elements of your responsibility as a Parts Counter Sales Person.  Both of these practices not only support the increased incremental sales for the Parts Department, but also add value to the customer by assisting them to identify parts they may have forgotten, or are not aware of the need at the time of placing the order.  It is important to cross-sell/up-sell what will add value to the customers’ need.

·         Cross-Selling is recommending a part that will add to, or support, the part being ordered.  An example of cross-selling is while selling a customer a water pump, to suggest purchasing antifreeze that will be needed after installing the new water pump.  Effective cross-selling requires an understanding what is needed to complete the repair.

·         Up-Selling is recommending additional parts that an improved cost advantage, or equipment efficiencies.  An example of Up-Selling would to discuss the advantages of purchasing extended life antifreeze, when the customer is purchasing standard antifreeze.  Effective up-selling requires the understanding of features and benefits, along with understanding the customer.

Each requires some practice and quick thinking while processing an order for a customer.

Warehouse Training docment

A basic Warehouse Training document is available in Micorsoft Word.  This will allow you to modify the document that will work best for you.

Send me an email and a copy will be sent to you.  wlsonron@aol.com