Training Tidbit #1

/in /by

Training has long been a problem for many dealerships.

  • The employees should come to the job trained and ready to work
  • The employees should continue their schooling on their own time
  • Why should I train people they just leave me and go work for the competition

On the other hand

  • I don’t want to have under skilled people ever
  • I will support learning in any form
  • I expect my employees to be curious and hungry learners

In the years since 2008 – which I will label “BBS” – “Before Bear Stearns” dealerships have reduced their expenditures on employee training dramatically.

We offer management training through associations and directly to manufacturers and dealers for Parts Management, Service Management, Parts & Service Marketing Management and Product Support Selling via a Company called Quest, Learning Centers. We have developed nine programs each of which is a fifteen hour training class. These Quest classes had an average attendance of 25 to 30 managers and supervisors in our “class room” sessions. Since 2009 that number has fallen to from 10 to 15. One of the many different advantages from class room learning is the interaction between attendees both in the room and after hours.

Our response to this reduction has been to produce and provide alternative forms of learning; The Webinar and Internet Self Study.

As an educator I am not happy with the webinar format. I cannot see the learner. I don’t know if they got it or not. I don’t know if they are paying attention of not. But I have created sixteen webinar classes; eight for parts and eight for service. We offer each of them twice a year, each of them lasts about an hour. Technology is advancing and we now have available a format where we can see the attendees on a webinar and they can see each other and the instructor. On Self Study we have been slow to get to market. It has been a learning curve but we are in the final phases of introducing our internet self-study programs. There will be four for the parts group and four for the service group and each program will take from four hours to six hours to complete.

I believe in learning. I believe that each individual has a responsibility to continue their education through their complete life. I live that belief too. I hope you agree with me and will join me in encouraging everyone to continue their personal development through attending learning sessions whether it is in a classroom or some other format. The time is now.

Last Chance v1.0

/in /by

Tuesday September 25th there will be two more outstanding webinars. Service Pricing and Service Organizaiton. Don’t miss out on these two lively comprehensive and informative webinars. Go to www.rjslee.com under the learning tab and go to webinars. Your registration will be handled right from there. The time is now.

Last Chance

/in /by

Don’t miss the webinars today on Service Management. It is can’t miss webinar day.

Shameless Promotions

/in /by

Don’t miss the webinars tomorrow. It is not too late to register. Either through www.rjslee.com under the learning tab or directly to the AED. The time is now.

Webinar Alert

/in , /by

Don’t overlook this wonderful opportunity. Monday and Tuesday September 24th and 25th there will be a series of webinars for Management and Supervision and other interested people on the Service Department.

Inspections and the Work Order Process on the 24th

Service Pricing and the Service Organization on the 25th.

Join us for this rewarding and strong learning event. Check out www.rjslee.com under the Learning tab. The time is now.

Education Step 8

/in , /by

The Liberal Arts education that has been the push for the past five decades has not delivered what was intended. Slowly in the halls of academia this is being recognized. There are changes underway to address some of the issues. Internet lectures offered for free is one of them.

I want to explore a different direction. One that is tried and proven and comes from Germany. You have heard me say that the battle of the coming decades will be for talented personnel. I have no idea how long this will exist but it will be for some time as the needs and the resources will be slowly rebalanced.

Peter Drucker once said the brightest future business opportunity for going to be in adult re-education. Retraining people who have had the value of their skills eroded as productivity increases have brought dramatic changes. But that does not address the young people starting out in the work force. How do they get opportunities? When the Universities are too expensive (see student loan debate) and the product (the student) that they deliver doesn’t fit the needs of society something is terribly wrong.

In Germany there is a partnership between schools, business and yes even government. “Germany’s apprenticeship programs and its renown as the standard bearer of quality manufacturing are helping companies rejuvenate their workforce with foreigners eager to escape economic malaise at home” – Bloomberg online.

“Germany’s unique educational approach is rooted in a guild system dating back centuries. Trainees receive a modest salary during their education and most get a job offer once they complete their apprenticeships. The country’s vocational training system combines practical training with classroom sessions and has companies pitching in, offering more than half a million high-school graduate’s annually hands-on education in hundreds of professions as well as a respected alternative to a university degree. With the government paying for the schools, the system has helped keep youth unemployment at 7.9%, the lowest rate in Europe.”

We have some schools leading the way with advanced degrees in Industrial Distribution, or partnerships between equipment dealers/distributors and manufacturers of construction equipment and State Universities. But much more needs to be done. The image of vocational schools has been besmirched with the message from colleges and universities over the years that vocational school was a code word for education for the low skilled workers. Nothing could be further from the truth but it fit nicely into the political messages pronounced over the decades. This self-aggrandizing approach from politicians and ivory tower educators has badly hurt two generations, so far hopefully it is going to change soon. The time is now.

Education Step #7

/in , , /by

The Wall Street Journal of May 31st, 2012 had an editorial from John E Chubb and Terry M Moe which discussed internet based University education. It is well worth reading and puts forward one of the directions that education will be following in its pursuit of developing a new model for the students of the world.

We are at the beginning of a radical transformation which will allow many more people on the planet to obtain education from the best teachers that any specific subject matter has in the world. The time is now.

Education Step #6

/in , , /by

Internet Learning and You.

The last time we talked about education we discussed the evolving nature of learning; first classrooms, then webinars, then audio video webinars with a difference. Now I want to explore the internet learning options.

The first step is to take the slide shows of a webinar and add voice to it. This allows the student to order a product, a learning session, download it and watch it at their convenience. The order will expire within a time limit – days or the number of uses. This is some cases is supplemented with an exam that is taken and the results emailed by to the participant. Not a bad approach. Quick and inexpensive and there is a skills testing exam.

The next step is the internet classroom. It is a virtual course with audio and video, sometimes streaming video, with exams interspersed that must have a specific level of accomplishment before you can move on to the next chapter or section. This is the approach we are taking. We will have a series of self-study programs each of which will have four chapters and within each chapter will be four sections. At the end of each section will be a short test with a more complete test at the end of each chapter. I have high hopes for this new approach. We will be bringing out our prototypes of this training approach later this year.

When we have finalized the approach we will offer four self-study programs for Parts Managers and four for Service Managers. This will be in conjunction with the three classroom sessions for each of parts and service, the eight webinars for each of parts and service. The time is now.