Jan. 27, 2020—Over the weekend, ASA Colorado held its summit in Denver, Colo.
On Friday, Bryan Dodge, a professional trainer and speaker on leadership, kicked off the summit with a full day of leadership training.
On Saturday, attendees headed to Lincoln College of Technology for a full-day of training. There was a morning session and and afternoon session for technicians and manager to choose from, with networking breaks built-in so attendees could meet other shop workers and owners in their area, as well as visit the vendors that were there.
One of the morning sessions, “Are We Happy or Engaged?” was led by Geoff Berman of ATI. Berman explained that the key to happy employees is to get them engaged, because, most likely if an employee is engaged, he or she is also happy.
Berman shared a number of eye-opening stats, including the fact that the workforce is shrinking. 55 percent of the people in the mechanical trades are Baby Boomers, and 10,000 Baby Boomers retire every day. Because of this, owners need to find a way to attract new talent and once they’ve got them, keep them.
Berman shared strategies to do this, including creating a tribe within your shops through rituals and symbols. For example, celebrate the workers that go above and beyond. Berman also advised attendees to stop hiring for knowledge alone.
“If you hire the right person, you can teach them cars,” Berman says.
The right person will work well for the good of the company and has good people skills. The rest, he says, can be taught.
Build up the culture in your shop and the right people will come.
In the afternoon, the sessions continued, including one entitled “No Excuses: The Secret to Creating Problem Solvers” led by Cecil Bullard of the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence.
Bullard discussed how leaders can make their employees more accountable for their actions. A good leader can make or break the entire team and it is the leader’s actions that dictate whether or not the staff will take accountability.
The day wrapped up with a part at Unser Karting & Events.
