Developing a pipeline of talented, young technicians remains a challenge for many independent tire dealerships. Managing these workers once they have been hired presents another challenge.
In this MTD exclusive, Weston Chapman, owner of Rapid City, S.D.-based Black Hills Tire; Todd Ward, general manager at Chapel Hill, N.C.-based Chapel Hill Tire; Pam Konde, owner of Mac’s Tire Service in Washington, D.C.; and Alvin Chase Jr., president of Rockland, Maine-based Eastern Tire & Auto Service Inc. discuss how they manage young technicians.
One thing they agree on is that there’s no one-size-fits-all formula.
Different expectations
“I wouldn’t say there is a difference in how you manage older technicians compared to younger technicians, but there is a higher expectation of older technicians,” says Konde, whose busy, single-location dealership is open around the clock.
“For example, there is less room for careless mistakes” made by more experienced workers “because you expect these technicians to ‘know better.’”
Konde says that based on what she’s seen, older technicians come with more expectations than younger, less experienced technicians.
Chapman of Black Hills Tire says setting expectations with your younger technicians is even more important than setting expectations with older technicians.
“Not only is it important to set expectations for your younger technicians — and communicate those expectations with them — but it’s also important that we, as managers, follow through and check-up on them and those expectations,” he notes.
He says younger technicians need more guidance and monitoring to make sure they are meeting expectations.
“It’s one of the biggest things I’ve noticed. You need to believe in them and give them a chance, but then make sure they’re following through on those expectations.”
Eastern Tire & Auto’s Chase agrees.
He says that when an older technician with experience is assigned a job, the service manager sets an allotted timeframe that dictates its completion.
However, that timeframe is “probably going to be different for a young person who’s starting out.”
Chase says Eastern Tire & Auto has about 14 bays and 27 technicians.
“We strategically place our younger employees in between our older employees in the bays. That way, we don’t have all of our young people shoved into one corner. They are close to an experienced employee, if they were to have any questions.”
Ward of Chapel Hill Tire says it’s also important to help keep your younger employees’ expectations of themselves realistic.
“What we’ve found with our younger technicians is that they’re eager to learn and they want to learn,” says Ward.
“However, they have little patience when it comes to advancing. They want to grow quickly and climb the ladder quickly.”
This results in younger technicians sometimes jumping into jobs they aren’t ready for, which leads to mistakes they “beat themselves up over.
“We also have to help them manage their emotions and expectations and keep them patient,” he says.
In order to motivate his younger employees, Chapman says his dealership pays younger technicians when they work training hours to “compensate for the lack of experience and all that comes with that experience.
“This way they can take their time and really learn things the right way without having to worry about paying their bills,” which, he says, has been a big motivator.
What motivates them?
“Our younger employees are definitely driven and motivated by money because housing and living are so expensive right now,” says Ward.
Chase agrees and says his younger employees care more about hourly wages than 401(k) plans or health insurance.
“As you’re young and just starting out, you don’t want to be in debt and you want to keep out of debt — and I think that’s great,” he says.
“So we’re going to be fair. We’re going to give you the appropriate wage for your work. We’re not going to only pay you $19 an hour because you’re only 20 years old. There is a job to do and we want our employees to know we’ll compensate them accordingly.”
Flat rates may be a repellent factor for some younger technicians, as well, according to Chapman.
“I think a lot of the younger techs got scared out of the tire industry by a flat rate or being worried that the job wasn’t going to provide for them. I think we take a pretty strong stance there to make sure they’re in charge of their own paycheck.
“The harder they work and the more they produce, the more they make.”
All four tire dealers agree that work-life balance is a main motivator for younger technicians, too.
“When they start, younger technicians seem to be driven by salary,” says Konde.
“But some are definitely more interested in having lots of free time — especially on Saturday nights and during football season.”
Ward believes a big reason why young technicians like working at Chapel Hill Tire is because the dealership is closed on weekends.
Chase says this desire for more off-time is the reason Eastern Tire & Auto cut back on its operating hours.
“We used to work 50 to 60 hours a week — six days a week from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” he explains.
For the past three years, Eastern Tire & Auto has been closed on Saturdays and its employees work 40 hours a week, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“I am confident I’d have a mutiny if I asked my people to work past 4 p.m. or work on a Saturday,” he says with a laugh.
Generational impact
“We’re at the point in time where we must grow our talent instead of looking for it,” says Ward, who adds this is one reason why it’s so important to reach out to and hire younger employees.
“Younger techs are more open to change and they adjust and adapt quicker, whereas older technicians tend to get stuck in their ways and become resistant to change,” he explains.
Konde agrees that younger technicians are more flexible when it comes to learning new technologies and techniques, but says it’s up to tire dealership owners and managers to learn about their employees' work and career objective.
“It’s important for managers to find out their technicians’ ‘why.’ What are their goals? Is working as a tire technician a main goal or is the plan to do (only) this in the short-term?
“Once you know their ‘why,’ then you can work to create a schedule or plan that works to the benefit of the company, but also allows the tech the time that they need to achieve their personal goals.”
Chase says understanding employees’ motivations is critical, adding he is “cautious on giving advice because I don’t want anyone to tell me how to run my business. So I’m sure people don’t want me telling them how to run theirs.
“With that in mind, I think the trick for managing younger employees is to do everything you possibly can to satisfy (them) while (meeting) the demands of your customer base.”
This can be done in a number of ways, according to Ward.
He says managers should be intentional when developing younger technicians by giving them “regular meetings and having scheduled re-occurring meetings to discuss their progress and growth.”
It’s also important, notes Chapman, to celebrate young technicians and introduce them to the “more exciting parts of the industry.
“We have many technicians who work for us right now that are in vocational schools on a scholarship we provided for them.
“Once these younger technicians graduate from their auto tech program, we take them to the SEMA Show. That’s a pretty cool reward for a 21- or 22-year-old kid.”
Chapman took two recent auto tech graduates who recently turned 21 to the 2023 SEMA Show.
“It absolutely blew their mind,” he says. “We were worried taking recently turned 21-year-olds to Las Vegas for the first time, but by the time we got done walking through SEMA every day, they were so tired they went back to the hotel and went to bed!”
Konde notes it’s also important to be realistic while understanding this “information era that we live in.
“It may not be reasonable to ban the use of cell phones during a shift, but you can make a rule not to use the phone while dealing with customers to avoid error and distraction,” she says.
According to Konde, the most important thing to keep in mind when managing young technicians is to “treat them with the same level of respect as you would anyone else, regardless of their age.
“These younger technicians have ideas and valuable input to offer, as well,” she adds.
“This is an amazing industry,” says Chapman, “and we are proud to be a part of it and excited to get young people into it.”
