2013 AUTOMOTIVE TECHNICIAN SURVEY SUMMARY OF FINDINGS. February 2014

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Emil Washington
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1 2013 AUTOMOTIVE TECHNICIAN SURVEY SUMMARY OF FINDINGS February 2014

2 BACKGROUND PAGE 2

3 FIFTEEN U.S. AUTOMOTIVE OEMS/BRANDS PARTICIPATED IN THE SECOND ANNUAL SYNDICATED TECHNICIAN SURVEY IN 2013 Almost 9,000 technicians across these 15 OEMs/brands completed this survey. The survey was conducted by Carlisle & Company on behalf of the industry, and was administered in September/October of The purpose of this report is to provide feedback and highlights on some of the most relevant findings to the participating technicians. Due to confidentiality issues, the charts in this presentation have either the OEM name removed, or in some cases simply show industry average. Technician support of this survey has been quite strong. Sample comments include: Great survey. I hope it will make changes happen around here. Finally a survey just for the techs! Keep em coming it's good to vent!! I am glad that there is a way now we as technicians can communicate our concerns so that it goes beyond the dealership level so that these concerns can be addressed. I think it s great that we are being given the opportunity to inform xx of our struggles. If it gets read and actually means something then it is a perfect and well thought out survey PAGE 3

4 TECHNICIAN DEMOGRAPHICS PAGE 4

5 THE AVERAGE TECH IS ABOUT 41 YEARS OLD, AND HAS BEEN WORKING FOR 19 YEARS AS A TECHNICIAN Average Age Years of Experience Generally speaking, domestic brands tend to have the oldest technicians. On average, most technicians have spent about half their career with their current dealership. PAGE 5

6 TRADE SCHOOLS AND 2-YEAR COLLEGES ARE BECOMING MORE PREVALENT, WHILE HIGH SCHOOL AND MILITARY ARE BECOMING LESS SO 8 Education by Age Group High School Trade School 2yr College OE Training Military Indep. Training 4yr College 17 to to to to to 64 over 64 *Respondents are allowed to select multiple options PAGE 6

7 CURRENT JOB BACKGROUND PAGE 7

8 BRAND INTEREST, PAY, AND LOCATION TYPICALLY REPRESENT THE TOP REASONS TECHNICIANS CHOOSE THEIR CURRENT JOB #1 Reason for Selecting Current Job % Responses Most Important Reasons Brand Interest Tech Pay Dealership Location Work Env Volume of Business Career Adv. None Personal Rec. Management Working Hours Benefits Tech Training Other Labor Times Award Programs PAGE 8

TECHNICIANS SELECTING JOBS FOR SUPV/MGMT OR WORKING ENVIRON ARE THE MOST SATISFIED THAT THEY SELECTED THE RIGHT JOB 6 Satisfaction w/ Job Choice vs.

9 TECHNICIANS SELECTING JOBS FOR SUPV/MGMT OR WORKING ENVIRON ARE THE MOST SATISFIED THAT THEY SELECTED THE RIGHT JOB 6 Satisfaction w/ Job Choice vs. Reason for Selecting Job Make right decision when selecting current job? Primary Reason for Selecting Current Job Chart displays respondents selecting 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale: Do you feel like you made the right decision when selecting this job? PAGE 9

10 TECH TRAINING AND WORK QUALITY HAVE THE HIGHEST RELATIVE SATISFACTION; COMPENSATION/WARRANTY LABOR RATES THE LOWEST 5 Current Job Satisfaction 45% 4 35% % Top Box 3 25% 2 15% 1 5% Tech Training Work Quality Work Environ Dealer Supv/Mgmt OEM Concern Career Pay Warranty Lbr Rates Each unique color bar represents one of the participating OEMs; Scores show % of respondents selecting 5 on a 5-point satisfaction scale PAGE 10

11 DIAGNOSTIC WORK AVERAGES ABOUT A THIRD OF TECHNICIAN TIME, ROUTINE MAINTENANCE ANOTHER 25%; WARRANTY AVERAGES Technician Time by Repair Type Technician Time by Customer Type Diagnostic Routine Maintenance Heavy Repair LOF Other Customer Pay Warranty Other Technicians spend between 2-4 of their time on diagnostic work; Routine maintenance only represents about 2-25% of the technicians time. Customer pay work averages around 4, while warranty averages around 5 of work time spent. PAGE 11

12 EARNING RATIOS VARY FROM 13 DOWN TO JUST OVER yet we found high earned ratios are not a strong driver of high annual pay. Instead, high hourly rates as is typically found at luxury brands are a bigger driver of annual pay. Hours Earned as a Percent of Hours Worked Hours Earned vs. Hours Worked PAGE 12

13 ON AVERAGE, ONLY 27% OF TECHNICIANS STATED THAT THEY ARE SATISFIED WITH THEIR CAREER PROGRESSION 10 Satisfaction With Career Progression Satisfied Somewhat satisfied Somewhat dissatisfied Very dissatisfied Other PAGE 13

14 NOT SURPRISINGLY, TECHNICIANS WHO ARE RELATIVELY SATISFIED WITH THEIR CAREER PROGRESSION WANT TO STAY AT THEIR SAME JOB/SAME DEALER Year Plans for Techs Most Satisfied With Career Progression # Responses Satisfied - Moving along as expected Moving a little slowly, but acceptable Chart identifies 5-year career objectives only for the top 2 categories of technicians satisfied with their career progression PAGE 14

15 WHILE THOSE THAT ARE NOT SATISFIED WANT TO EITHER INCREASE THEIR CERTIFICATION, OR EXIT THE INDUSTRY # Responses Year Plans for Techs Least Satisfied With Career Progression Techs that feel stuck see this as an industry, not a dealer problem Note how few dissatisfied techs simply want to change dealerships I feel stuck in my current position Moving more slowly than I'd like Chart identifies 5-year career objectives only for the bottom 2 categories of technicians satisfied with their career progression PAGE 15

16 LOF/QUICKLUBE SPOTLIGHT PAGE 16

LOF IS SEEN AS AN ENTRY-LEVEL TECHNICIAN POSITION IT IS INCUMBENT UPON DEALERSHIPS TO

On LOF 57% 21% 22% 1-2 21-4 41-6 61-8 81-10 Percent of Time Spent on LOF 10 8 6 4 2

Yes No 21% of technicians spend > 2 of their time on LOF, yet very few dealerships have

Percent Satisfied 35% 3 25% 2 15% 1 5% Satisfaction With Career Progression 1-2 21-4

45% 4 35% 3 25% 2 15% 1 5% Chose Right Job vs.

17 LOF IS SEEN AS AN ENTRY-LEVEL TECHNICIAN POSITION IT IS INCUMBENT UPON DEALERSHIPS TO DEVELOP PROGRESSION PLANS # of Respondents Time Spent On LOF 57% 21% 22% Percent of Time Spent on LOF Formal, Realistic LOF Progression Plan? Yes No 21% of technicians spend > 2 of their time on LOF, yet very few dealerships have a career progression plan for these techs. Percent Satisfied 35% 3 25% 2 15% 1 5% Satisfaction With Career Progression Percent Time Spent on LOF % 9/10 on 10 Point "Chose Right Job" Scale 45% 4 35% 3 25% 2 15% 1 5% Chose Right Job vs. % Time on LOF Percent Time Spent on LOF Further, the more time a tech spends on LOF, the lower their satisfaction with their career progression, and the more they question whether they took the right job. PAGE 17

18 IMPROVING QUALITY REPAIRS PAGE 18

19 IMPROVEMENTS TO PARTS AVAILABILITY AND TECH/SERVICE ADVISOR COMMUNICATION WOULD HAVE THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON IMPROVING REPAIRS 45% 4 35% Improvements to Enable Efficient, Quality Repairs % Respondents Selecting Choice 3 25% 2 15% 1 5% Each unique color bar represents one of the participating OEMs; Respondents could select up to top two choices PAGE 19

20 PARTS AVAILABILITY: TECHNICIANS WOULD LIKE THEIR OWN PARTS DEPARTMENT TO STOCK MORE INVENTORY % Respondents Selecting Choice Dealership doesn't stock enough inventory Top Parts Availability Problem That Prevents You From Performing Quality Repairs? Dealership orders the wrong parts OEM doesn't supply in a timely fashion OEM can't supply recall parts quickly enough OEM doesn't delivery quickly enough Other Parts from OEM arrive damaged Dealership requires lower quality parts PDC ships the wrong parts Each unique color bar represents one of the participating OEMs; Respondents could select up to top two choices PAGE 20

21 TECHNICIAN-SERVICE ADVISOR COMMUNICATION: POOR COMMUNICATION LEADS TO WASTED TIME/MONEY 49% % Time Need to Ask SA For RO Clarification 35 Minutes/Day Spent Clarifying RO's 47% 30 45% 43% 41% 39% # Minutes/Day % 5 35% 0 Technicians report that on average, 43% of all repair orders require service advisor clarification which consumes about 30 minutes per day per technician. PAGE 21

22 AS WELL AS MISINFORMATION SUPPLIED TO THE END-CUSTOMER According to technicians, about one third of customers are provided unrealistic waiting times. 45% 4 35% 3 25% 2 15% 1 5% % Time Customers Given Unrealistic Waiting Time PAGE 22

23 TECHNICAL TRAINING: GENERALLY SPEAKING, TECHNICIANS FEEL THEY GET EQUAL SUPPORT FROM BOTH THEIR DEALERSHIP AND THEIR BRAND 7 6 Technical Training Satisfaction 8 % of Technicians Who Describe Technical Training Requirements as "Very Clear" 5 7 % Top Box Overall Satisfaction Brand provides the right technical training My dealership supports me in obtaining training 1 Each unique color bar represents one of the participating OEMs Compared to all the categories assessed on the survey, technicians report the highest satisfaction for Technical Training. However, there is a wide disparity across OEMs concerning the clarity of their training requirements. For the most part, the more clear an OEM s training requirements, the higher the overall satisfaction with their technical training. PAGE 23

24 THE AVERAGE TECH OBTAINS ~100 HOURS OF TECHNICAL TRAINING A YEAR THE AMOUNT AND TYPE OF TRAINING TAKEN IMPACTS SATISFACTION Avg Hours/Year Average Training Hours by Type and Satisfaction The most satisfied technicians: Spend the most hours in training Spend the most training hours at In-person, training center Spend relatively fewer hours at Self-study The least satisfied technicians: Spend the fewest hours in training Spend very few hours in In-person, training center Spent the most hours at Self-study 20 0 Avg. Total Hours In person, training center Self-study, internet Self-study, other Internet, instructor In person, other location Mobile Top Box Average Bottom Box PAGE 24

25 SPECIAL TOOLS: RELATIVELY SPEAKING, SPECIAL TOOLS ARE APPROPRIATE THEY RE JUST NOT BEING STOCKED SUFFICIENTLY 35% Special Tools Satisfaction 10 Use Special Tools Mngt System? 3 8 Top Box % 25% 2 15% 1 5% Tools appropriate for repair Dealership stocks sufficient assortment Yes, frequently Yes, occasionally Yes, rarely Yes, don't use it No Each unique color bar represents one of the participating OEMs The industry averages about a 4% top box satisfaction score for Dealership stocks sufficient assortment. This is one of the lowest satisfaction scores across the entire survey On average, two-thirds of the industry does not have a special tools management system. PAGE 25

26 DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS: SATISFACTION WITH THE SUPPLY OF DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS IS RELATIVELY SIMILAR ACROSS BRANDS; SATISFACTION WITH TOOLS IN WORKING ORDER VARIES WIDELY Diagnostic Tools for Repair Technician to Tool Ratio 25% Top Box % 15% % 4 2 Dealership stocks sufficient assortment Tools in working order 0 Each unique color bar represents one of the participating OEMs Similar to special tools, satisfaction for diagnostic tools is quite low. Significant variation across OEMs with respect to tools in working order. The industry averages slightly more than 7 technicians per tool. PAGE 26

27 SERVICE INFORMATION: HIGHEST SATISFACTION FOR BULLETINS, BUT TECHNICIANS ARE MUCH LESS SATISFIED THAN SERVICE MANAGERS ON THIS SAME TOPIC 6 Service Info: Avg Sat by Category 10 Technical Bulletin Satisfaction 5 8 Top Box % Top Box % Bulletins Wiring Diagrams Online Info Technician Service Manager Each unique color bar represents one of the participating OEMs Average satisfaction for bulletins is the highest, with wiring diagrams and online information about equal. Service information scores on left based on compilation of multiple questions, such as: Easy to understand, Easy to find, Accurate and complete, Up-to-date, etc. Service managers consistently have higher satisfaction with service information than do technicians. Chart on right compares results of 2013 Technician survey vs Service Manager Survey PAGE 27

28 Carlisle & Company, Inc. 30 Monument Square, Concord MA

2013 Automotive Technician Survey:

2013 Automotive Technician Survey: Key Findings February 2014 Carlisle & Company, Inc. 30 Monument Square 978.318.0500 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011* 2012*