When asked what their major business challenges are today, the almost-universal response from dealers is, "finding and retaining good people!"

If it is not at the very top of their list, it is very close - and for good reason. It really is a problem that spans the whole industry, at multiple levels. And unless something is done about it, it is a problem that is certain to get worse, especially with respect to technicians.

There are many factors involved in both the reasons for that situation and the potential for finding solutions. They include the changing national demographic, training, recruiting and retention issues at many levels, the image of the industry, and our own employment practices. And just as they all contribute to the problem, each will have to be addressed as part of the solution.

The consequences of that demographic shift are far-reaching. Not only are they likely to impact who your customers are (the boomers will prevail for a while yet), they will exacerbate your current challenges in finding and keeping good employees, and depending on the retirement potential among your own staff, will determine how soon you will need to find them.

It is a situation that squeezes the employment picture from both ends. Fewer young people are in the job market to draw from, and more are leaving it. According to the CARS study (see sidebar), approximately 47 percent of the sector's workforce is over the age of 40 and 21 percent is over the age of 50. That means that retirement from your workforce, if it is typical, will be a challenge within the next decade, and for at least another to come. It is expected that approximately 12.1 percent of the current work-force (i.e. - all employees, including managers, technicians, support staff, etc.) will retire within the next 10 years.

Retirement is not the only factor that will drive your need for new employees. Beyond business expansion, which is a positive driver, there is also the issue of staff turnover. Statistics suggest that almost one-third of employees in the service sector are likely to leave their jobs within the next five years. Much of that movement - about 30 percent - is typically within the sector, as workers move from one employer to another, so how you look at that number depends on whether you are gaining or losing in the process. What is more important from an overall perspective is that, for various reasons, including retirement, one in five employees will leave their jobs and the sector within the next five years. Gone!

Quebec and Ontario are forecast to have the highest turnover rates, while below-average turnover is expected in Atlantic and Western Canada.

Dwindling resource pool
A lack of graduates from motive power programs was identified by employers as the major challenge in recruiting technicians, according to the CARS study. More than one-half (59.2%) of employers surveyed nation-wide considered it to be a key problem, with the highest proportion (62.7%) in Atlantic Canada.

That being the case, what are the reasons?

·Negative industry image
A major problem is the image of the industry, which has simply not kept up with the reality of its rapid changes. The "grease monkey" stereotype still prevails. It is not a matter of lack of awareness that the jobs exist. Youth surveys have indicated that they are well aware of the technician trade - though not necessarily all the other positions available in the dealership environment. But their image of the business as a whole and the technician's role in particular, is often negative, simplistic, and outdated.

Focus groups with youth across the country revealed their perception as one of dirty working conditions and monotonous tasks - an unattractive career option. That perception is in many cases reinforced by uninformed school teachers and guidance counselors, who know little about current jobs and work in the sector and promote it only to those students who are not academically oriented. They are apparently not aware that these occupations require a good understanding of math and science and that they increasingly involve a high level of computer knowledge.

All that said, the sector's image is showing some signs of improvement for a somewhat surprising and unforeseen reason. A raft of project-based automotive shows on television are making it "cool" again!

·Immigrants and women under-represented
While immigration is helping support the Canadian employee base generally, it plays a lesser role in the technician trades.

Immigrants represent only about 16 percent of workers in the sector, while the total workforce average is 20 percent. Only five percent of employees surveyed for the CARS study were trained in motive power repair and services in a country other than Canada, and that number is declining, according to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. Furthermore, 80 percent of qualified automotive service technicians entering Canada in 2001 were not working at that occupation six months after their arrival.

Women are also under-represented in the auto service sector, according to Statistics Canada, comprising only 18.5 percent of that work-force. They account for 46.9 percent of the overall workforce, as a national average.

What's to be done?
Before considering solutions to these problems and their causes, we need to identify what we can potentially change and what we can't, so as not to waste effort on the impossible. There is not much we can do about the changing demographic, for example. It is something we will have to live with and adapt to. But we may be able to prolong the retirement point for our own workers, for example. And for sure, we can all help to improve the image of the business, thus making it a more attractive choice for those entering the job market.

·Improving the image
As with most complex problems, the solution is not single but multiple. It is a combination of many small things, and perhaps a few big ones, that can combine to improve perception. One thing that is already taking place in many new or renewed dealerships is bringing the "back shop" out into the open. Too long it has been hidden behind block walls, maintaining an aura of mystery for the customer, and reinforcing imagined images of dirty mechanics working in grease-pits.

As our own back-shop guru Jim Bell keeps telling us, we need to impress upon the customer - and the public at large - the professionalism and sophistication of the service department and its technicians. That is just one small step, but it is a beginning. As customers have the opportunity to see the trade for what it really is, the chances are good that their negative impressions will turn around, and they may not balk at the idea when little Johnny or Jennifer announce they want to pursue it as a career.

To that end, a selling job has to be done on teachers and guidance counselors as well. Various dealer and industry groups are active in that regard on your behalf. As an example, the Toronto Auto Dealers Association (TADA) sponsored a Career Academy exhibit at this year's Canadian International Auto Show, which featured not only information on career paths available, with the support of the area's community colleges, but also attractions to highlight some of the technical sophistication and "glamour" of the business.

While it was part of the public show, open to all, school classes were specifically invited to visit en masse, as official school outings, and the response was significant. The purpose of that initiative was not just to inform students and attract them to an automotive career, according to Gerd Reisenecker, the chair of the TADA's education committee, which organized the event. It was also to help bring their teachers and counselors up to date, and prompt them to dig a little deeper into the career paths open to their students.

Of course, the colleges and high-schools that provide training for your potential employees need support, too. That can and does come from many levels throughout the industry. It includes donation of vehicles, components, tools, and equipment, and supply of information from OEMs, suppliers, industry groups - and dealers. It won't be helpful to you if the apprentice you hire got his or her training on obsolete technologies because that was all the school had to work with.

·Recruiting and retaining
Money talks! That is a fact of life. So it is no surprise that wages and benefits are major considerations in both recruiting good people - those who choose the trade because they want to, not because they have no other option - and in retaining them. But the fact is, both wages and benefits within the sector compare poorly with many competing career choices open to them. A lack of perceived opportunity for advancement is also a deterrent for some potential candidates.

According to survey findings, 87.3 percent of those who are considering leaving the sector in the next five years cited better wages, along with better benefits and working conditions, as incentives that could keep them on the job.

As James Bell Jr. pointed out in the November-December 2005 issue of this magazine, the way apprentices are treated and trained once they are hired is a major cause of dissatisfaction, with repercussions in terms of both their retention and recruitment of others within their sphere of influence. Just doing oil changes or other menial tasks and not being given the opportunity to learn is their number one complaint.

In terms of recruiting, the numbers suggest that broadening our traditional scope, to include more women and involve the immigrant communities to a greater extent, could also help in finding new employees for the trade.

Conclusion
Chances are, you already have a problem finding and retaining good people, particularly technicians. If you don't, statistics suggest that you will have in the very near future. Many of the reasons for that situation are outside your control - but not all. There are steps you can take to help improve prospects for recruiting and retaining high quality personnel, both for your own business and for the industry as a whole.

(For a good example of what one dealer group is doing, refer to "O'Regans," page 14.)

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